Hello Johann, JH> Using his name (with alternative spellings), his family name (with JH> alternative spellings), his place of origin, etc, all as separate JH> search criteria at VOC Opvarenden, failed to find him at all as JH> arriving on a VOC ship. JH> I have also searched the VOC Ships Register for all ships built JH> between 1680 and 1709, but could not find any ship that docked at JH> Cape Town on or around the date he was supposed to disembark And I wrote earlier: JH> As he appears in the muster rolls of 1713 for the first time as a JH> free man http://www.eggsa.org/transcriptions/monsterrollen/1713/mr_1713_intro.htm JH> and the piece that Andre Groenewald quoted (from an unpublished book) JH> is so specific about when he landed and that he was employed by the JH> VOC , I suppose the next place to look would be the muster rolls of JH> VOC employees from 1709 to 1712 (Cape Archives VC 40). These usually JH> do record place of birth and rank. By chance I have learned from a friend that these muster rolls have been transcribed and are (apparently) available on a disc produced by the TEPC Project (Transcription of Estate Papers of the Cape of Good Hope - a joint project of the Universities of the Western Cape and Cape Town in partnership with the Cape Town Archives Repository and the Nationaal Archief in The Hague) He has checked this for me and reports: >> nothing remotly resembling Koekemoer ... So we are still in the dark. As I understand it, not all VOC ships records have survived but if he were a VOC employee landing at the Cape one would have expected him to have been listed in the muster rolls taken there. Cheers, Richard -- Richard Ball, Norfolk, England http://www.ballfamilyrecords.co.uk richard.ball@ballfamilyrecords.co.uk