Plantation Mariënbosch

Mariënbosch was a coffee plantation on the Landgoed Groot Marienbosch, on the Commewijne River in the Commewijne district in Suriname. She was on the left when sailing upstream, downstream next to plantation Guadeloupe and upstream next to plantation De Goede Vriendschap. In Sranan Tongo Mariënbosch was also called Gudoefrow.

History

After the completion of Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam in 1746, the Commewijne River was fully protected and the land at the mouth of the river was reclaimed. In 1747, Isaac Godeffroy obtained a land warrant for 500 acres (1 acre = 10 square chain = 0.43 hectares). Godeffroy called his property Mariënbosch. In 1759 he acquired ownership of the adjacent land of 348 fields and merged it with Mariënbosch, creating a favorable plantation form with a generous width of 51 chains (1 chain = 20.72 metres). In 1752 Mariënbosch was still a relatively modest plantation, with 66 slaves. In 1774 it had grown into a large and wealthy coffee plantation with 170 slaves over the age of 12. At the same time, his brother Charles built the Alkmaar plantation on the other side of the river.

In 1757 the plantation was mortgaged to the negotiation fund of Willem Gideon Deutz in Amsterdam, which was later managed by Jan and Theodoor van Marselis.

In 1793 the plantation was the property of the Dordrecht merchant Frank van der Schoor cs. He invested his capital, together with his trading partner Gerrit van Hoogstraten, in Mariënbosch. He funded the purchase (partly) through a negotiation. The company Gerrit van Hoogstraten and son from Dordrecht was probably already co-owner of Mariënbosch from 1780 onwards.

In 1833 Mariënbosch was 1230 fields in size, and the plantation produced coffee & cocoa. The slave population included 142 people. In 1853, Mariënbosch was listed as a coffee plantation “where sugar is now also planted”. That sugar was probably an experiment. Mariënbosch did not have a processing plant of its own, but was able to supply to the Centraalfabriek on Buitenrust. Later on, the sugar was no longer mentioned.

At the emancipation in 1863, 91 slaves were freed. The owners of the plantation were the Huis van Negocie of Gerrit Hoogstraten and son in Dordrecht, and the Van der Schoor family in Dordrecht. After emancipation, the plantation business was continued with contract workers. A total of 269 Hindustanis and 242 Javanese arrived on the plantation.

In 1891, of the 527 hectares, 95 hectares were under cultivation. This increased to 196 hectares in 1935. The following year the productive area fell sharply, but the plantation was 200 hectares larger. The plantation produced coffee and cocoa, bananas, rice and oranges. From 1906 to 1938, the plantation was owned by the Naamlooze Samen Cultuur-maatschappij Mariënbosch.

Cores Abdulrahman and his wife and children are the most recent owners of the plantation. The property has now been placed in a foundation, in the hope that it will be easier to raise funds for the restoration of the plantation. The buildings were quite neglected in 2002, but the owner at least kept the dams and drainages in good condition. In 2004, the repair of the large plantation house was started on a modest scale and in 2005 family member Saud completed the renovation of the old mansion.

You can take a rented bicycle from Paramaribo (Zus&Zo bicycle rental SU) and drive to Leonsberg along the SurinamRiver direction ocean to take a boat to Fort Nieuw Amsterdam. After visiting the Fort, you can cycle further upstream along the Commewijne River to Marienburg, where there is a jetty on the left where the boats will take you to Plantage Frederiksdorp. Here you can visit the plantation for an entrance fee or book an overnight stay with me. See the Frederiksdorp bubble. From here you cycle 1.6 km further upstream to Plantage Marienbosch. Here you can book a delicious meal for 10 euros and also spend the night in an authentically restored, simple country house with your own bedroom and shared bathroom. An overnight stay with breakfast and dinner the night before costs E 50 p.p. There are also pick-up options on request. If you make a reservation with me, i can give you a description of the road. It is also posssible to drive with a rented car of taxi to plantation Alkmaar and the will pick you up by boat for a lunch and sightseeing! Let me know! A great lunch costs E 10 p.p.