The ship's pay-ledgers form the basis of the personnel-administration of the 'VOC' or Dutch East India Company. For each departing ship all employees sailing with her were registered, amounting to some 655.000 persons over the period 1700-1794.
Within these ledgers mutations in salary-calculations were also maintained. Naturally this data ends when the employee dies or leaves the VOC. The begin date and end date entered therefore indicate the length of service of an employee.
Photo 1, calculation scheme ship's pay-ledger
Personnel were formally in service at one of the six VOC chambers situated in Amsterdam, Zeeland, Delft, Rotterdam, Hoorn and Enkhuisen. The entry of data from the ship's pay-ledgers of the chambers of Delft, Hoorn, Rotterdam, and Zeeland has been completed, while that of Amsterdam has been in progress since September 2006.
Only information concerning personnel who sailed on a VOC ship to the Cape or Asia can be found in the ship's pay-ledgers. Senior functionaries who sailed as passengers, wives who were sometimes also on board and other passengers are not mentioned. Neither are VOC personnel who worked in the Netherlands.