Cornelis Jansz Langeweg worked for the Dutch East India Company

Cornelis Jansz Langeweg from Lage Zwaluwe, The Netherlands, was an experienced sailor, charged with firing a gun. He worked for the Dutch East India Company (V.O.C.). On May 26, 1748, Cornelis departed from Texel, The Netherlands, as one of the crew of the newly built ship "Bredenhof". The crew consisted of 141 seafarers and 82 soldiers. The ship's captain on this voyage was Frederik Jansz van Winsum. The ship had departed earlier on May 6, but the ship stranded 'at the Haaks' and returned to Texel on the 10th.

They arrived at Cape Hope in South-Africa on September 30, 1748, and stayed there until October 20. After departure from the Cape 2 stowaways were found; one of them was the wife of a sergeant. The ship arrived at Batavia on the island of Java in Indonesia, on February 24, 1749. On May 6, 1749, Cornelis Jansz Langeweg ended his association with the V.O.C. by running away. His mother, Neeltje Huijgens, was listed as his beneficiary.

Batavia, Java, Indonesia

Cornelis' parents were most likely Jan Zegeren Langeweg and Neeltje Huijgens Struijck. In 1708 they baptised a daughter named after Jan's mother Grietje Cornelisse van Strien. The list of children this couple subsequently baptised contains gaps around the years 1709 and 1715. In 1713 they baptised a son Adriaen, who wasn't named after either of his grandfathers. Thus, Cornelis may have been born around 1715, and named after his father's brother Cornelis.

In December 1752 the ship "Bredenhof" embarked on another trip to the East with captain John Nielsen in charge. However, the ship ran aground on a reef on June 6, 1753, in the Mozambique Channel, 13 miles off the cast near the islands of Ago. The ship sunk. Its cargo consisted of 14 kegs with Dutch coins, 29 boxes of silver bars, and a chest with 5,000 gold ducats. These coins were intended to by spices and silk. While the ship was sinking, the silver was thrown overboard, but the crew managed to save the gold ducats.

Sources: VOC Opvarenden bij het Nationaal Archief, vocsite.nl, wrecksite.eu, huygens.knaw.nl and Wikipedia.