In God we Trust? Support Networks of Unmarried Women in Colonial Cape Town
Gerda-Henkel-Project (2026–2028): Economies of Trust? A New Digital Infrastructure on the Urban Poor in the Cape Colony
Dr. Eva Marie Lehner, Julia Schmidt
The project "In God we Trust? Support Networks of Unmarried Women in Colonial Cape Town" at Bonn University focuses on the visibility of unmarried women in early colonial Cape Town, addressing their complex social realities within a society heavily influenced by the Dutch Reformed Church. It is part of the joint project "Economies of Trust? A New Digital Infrastructure on the Urban Poor in the Cape Colony," funded by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung.
Project at Bonn University
In God we Trust? Support Networks of Unmarried Women in Colonial Cape Town
This project, as part of the joint initiative "Economies of Trust? A New Digital Infrastructure on the Urban Poor in the Cape Colony," focuses on the visibility of unmarried women in early colonial Cape Town, addressing their complex social realities within a society heavily influenced by the Dutch Reformed Church. While existing research highlights the significant role of the Dutch Reformed Church in settler society, there remains a gap in understanding the everyday practices of inclusion and exclusion affecting marginalized groups. The project at Bonn University addresses this gap by centering unmarried women – free, manumitted, and enslaved – who occupied a precarious social position due to the lack of a male guardian and the threat to their honor posed by premarital or extramarital sexual relations. Enslaved women faced an additional layer of exclusion, as they were forbidden from marrying.
By analyzing baptismal records and church council minutes, the project will reveal the complex web of relationships and interactions between these women, their children, the church, its officials, and other community members. The goal is to make visible the role of witnesses, testimonies, and godparents in enabling women to mobilize social support for the baptism of their children. Adopting an intersectional approach, the project will reconstruct the social categorization used by both church officials and the women themselves, moving beyond simplistic dichotomies of 'free' versus 'unfree.' By centering the experiences of unmarried women, the project highlights the support networks they established and the strategies they employed to position themselves within different communities, navigating the social dynamics and power structures of the colonial context.
Joint Project
Economies of Trust? A New Digital Infrastructure on the Urban Poor in the Cape Colony
Who could be trusted in a profoundly unequal, cosmopolitan society? The project "Economies of Trust? A New Digital Infrastructure on the Urban Poor in the Cape Colony" looks beyond colonial paper realities of the Dutch colonial empire to reconstruct bottom-up social networks in 18th century Cape Town and how these were performed vis-a-vis formal institutions.
People
PIs:
Dr. Dries Lyna (Radboud Unversity Nijmegen)
Dr. Eva Marie Lehner (University Bonn)
Dr. Wouter Ryckbosch (Ghent University)
Postdoctoral Researchers
Julia Schmidt (Project: Support Networks of Unmarried Women)
Yannis Skalli-Housseini (Project: Revisiting Credit Networks)
Paul Phillip van der Linde (Project: Constructing Legal Credibility)
News
10 October 2025, Press release University Bonn: Soziale Netzwerke in der Kolonialzeit
