Willem Jansz
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Good article about Janszoon, including the explanation that that's his full name and that Jansz (as some non-Dutch historians called him) is the abbreviation (=abbreviated patronymic), so not wrong but confusing and for english readers misleading in the sense they do not recognise it as an abbreviation and that his name is a two syllable word. (compare JFK. Deviating. Good also as it is this year 400 years ago that he landed in Australia. I would like to propose that the VOC (Vereenigde oost-indische Compagnie) be translated with the United East-Indies Company, as that is what it means (with or without indicating they were Dutch or 'from The Netherlands'), rather than the Dutch East India Company. When the company was formed ( 1602) it combined a number of smaller companies and pooled its capabilites, spread over 6 towns. Hence the 'United' part. They were targeting the east-indies, particlularly the spice islands, not what we know to be East india, even though later the Company developed trade at the Coromandel Coast and much of Asia, from Persia to Japan. Indeed the Dutch notion 'Oost-indie', does sometimes refer to the Far East in general and to the Indonesian Archipellago in particular. It does not refer to the east of India specifically. Even though there had been an (English) East India Company founded some 14 months earlier and it may have had an influence on the format or timing, the English company clearly named itself after what was known as East India, rather than the east indies or so I understand. So to translate the Dutch name to English by bringing in the word Dutch and remove the 'united' bit then have it aligned with the EIC in its engish naming seems rather incorrect. It looses some depth and meaning of the name. Not that I loose sleep about it. peter reynders