Article

Inscriptions in St. Paul’s Church, Malacca

From Munshipedia, the MBRAS digital historical encyclopedia

Inscriptions in St. Paul’s Church, Malacca

E.M. Merewether’s 1900 article in the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (Vol. 34, pp. 1–21) documents and translates thirty-six tombstone inscriptions in St. Paul’s Church, Malacca, spanning from 1568 to the early eighteenth century. Working during a temporary residence in the settlement, Merewether produced a systematic epigraphic record before further weathering could render the stones illegible, aided by a previously unknown 1713 inventory compiled by the church sexton Michiel de Bruyn.

Summary

The article is structured as a practical epigraphic survey. Merewether provides a brief catalogue (List A) of names and dates, followed by the full text of each inscription with parallel translations (Section B), a plan of the church showing stone positions, a translation of the 1713 sexton’s report (Appendix C), and a translation of a Dutch document listing fifteen coats of arms that once hung on the church walls (Appendix D). The inscriptions are written in Portuguese, Dutch, and Latin, reflecting the successive phases of European control at Malacca—Portuguese, Dutch, and a brief English interlude.

The individuals commemorated range from the earliest Portuguese-era burials to late Dutch colonial officials. The oldest inscription (No. 24) records Ricardo Gonsalves and his wife Magdalena Trindade, who served as Majordomo of the church for many years, dying in 1568. Among the most historically significant are the tomb of Maria Quevelerius, wife of Jan van Riebeck—founder of the Cape Colony and later Governor of Malacca (No. 18, p. 11); the stone of Johanna van Twist, daughter of Johan van Twist, the first Dutch Governor (No. 10, p. 9); and the monument to Dominus Petrus, a Jesuit and second Bishop of Japan who died at the Strait of Singapore in 1598 (No. 25, p. 14). Several governors and their families are represented, including Jeremias van Vliet’s daughter (No. 23), Balthasar Bort’s wife Joanna Dumoulin (No. 19), and Pieter Rooselaar’s son and wife (No. 33).

The 1713 sexton’s report (Appendix C) is of particular archival value, as it preserves readings of inscriptions that had already deteriorated by Merewether’s time. The coats-of-arms list (Appendix D) documents a now-lost layer of church decoration, naming fifteen individuals—governors, chief merchants, military captains, and their wives—whose heraldic panels once hung in specific positions relative to the pulpit, pews, and choir wall.

Key Findings

  • The earliest inscription dates to 29 March 1568 (Ricardo Gonsalves and Magdalena Trindade, Portuguese-era), and the latest to 16 September 1712 (George Cooke, a Dutch naval captain), establishing a continuous European burial record of over 140 years (pp. 1, 13–14, 18).
  • The 1713 report by sexton Michiel de Bruyn, discovered among old Dutch records, provided critical readings for inscriptions that were already partially or wholly illegible by 1900, though the sexton omitted the Portuguese stones and some difficult Dutch ones (pp. 1–2, 18).
  • Maria Quevelerius’s tomb (No. 18) explicitly identifies her husband as “first Commander and founder of the fort and colony on the Cape of Good Hope,” linking Malacca’s burial record to the founding of the Cape settlement (p. 11).
  • The coats-of-arms list (Appendix D) records fifteen heraldic panels with precise spatial locations in the church, including those of governors Fredrick Gobius (d. 1730), Thomas Slicher (d. 1691), and Gilmen Vosburg (d. 1697), all of which have since disappeared (pp. 19–21).
  • A single English-language tablet commemorates Major Ferrier, 48th Regiment M.N.I., Resident Councillor of Malacca, born in Scotland 1811, died at Pringit 1854, erected by his widow—marking the brief British interregnum (p. 15).
  • Several inscriptions record infant and child deaths, including Theodorus Herbers (died aged 9, 1659), Constantyn Johannes Rooselaar (died aged 4, 1707), and Balthasar Sonmans (born and died within four days in 1667), illustrating high mortality among colonial families (pp. 7, 11, 16–17).

Conclusion

Merewether’s article serves as a foundational epigraphic record for St. Paul’s Church, Malacca, preserving textual evidence that would have been lost to further decay. Its historical significance lies not in any single discovery but in the cumulative picture it provides of the Dutch colonial community at Malacca—its governance, its mercantile hierarchy, its religious life, and its demographic vulnerability—across more than a century of VOC administration, with the Portuguese and Jesuit inscriptions anchoring the earlier phase of European presence.

Context

  • The 1713 sexton’s report and the coats-of-arms list were drawn from the old Dutch records held in Malacca, underscoring the value of the colonial administrative archive for reconstructing the material culture of the settlement.
  • Several loose stones had been removed by D.F.A. Hervey, late Resident Councillor, to Christ Church (the Protestant Church) at Malacca, where their inscriptions were already almost entirely illegible, highlighting the fragility of the epigraphic record even within a single generation (p. 2).

References