Patras' house - better known as the Palace on Lange Voorhout - was built in 1760 by order of Anthony Patras, a wealthy man with important positions within the V.O.C. for which he spent time Batavia. On his return to the Netherlands, Patras took a number of enslaved people with him. Their number is not known exactly, but they were probably five people who were made to work here in his house on Lange Voorhout as living proof of Patras' colonial status and power.
We can find very little information about these individuals in the Hague archives. We have only their names and some details.
These are them:
- Adriana Camonie: she came from/from Banja, she was baptised in the Nieuwe Kerk in 1746,
- Jan Kerkwijk: he came from Padam and he too was baptised in the Nieuwe Kerk in 1746,
- Jacoba Willemsie: born in Java and baptised in the Kloosterkerk in 1748,
- Hendrik Adriaans: from Bali, who professed his faith to the Reformed Church in 1747,
- Theodorus van Blasmy; also from Bali, baptised in the Grote Kerk in 1745, died at the age of 30 in the Pest- en Dolhuys in The Hague, in 1827 the name changed to Verbeterhuis.
That is all that can be found of these people; a few details, hidden deep in the records and archives of church and city - like the sparse traces of so many people of colour or people from colonised territories. Dry, factual information: a name, a place, a year for administrative purposes: one-sided, sparse and hurtful.