Commewijne · sugar, coffee
Mariënburg: where the first Javanese labourers were sent
Mariënburg in Commewijne was laid out in 1745 by Maria de la Jaille, bought by the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij in 1882 and turned into the largest sugar enterprise in Suriname. The first 94 Javanese indentured labourers, who landed on 9 August 1890, were sent straight here.
Check this This page is compiled from published sources and has not yet been verified on the ground. If you know a name, a date or an ownership detail better than we do, tell us and we will correct it with the source named.
The estate was founded in 1745 by Maria de la Jaille, widow of David de Hoy. Sources disagree on whether it began in sugar or in coffee; both were grown, and from 1882 it was sugar. The land was cleared and worked by people shipped from West Africa, and after them by their children. Ownership changed hands several times in the eighteenth century: Fraisinet, Van Oosterwyk, Moyet, Van Baak.
When slavery was abolished on 1 July 1863, 99 people were declared free at Mariënburg and 21 new surnames were entered for them. For anyone tracing a family name that is the most useful fact on this page: the 1863 emancipation register lists those names against the estate.
In 1882 the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij bought the by then abandoned estate and built a central sugar factory on it, in its day the largest and most modern in Suriname, with its own distillery for rum and molasses. The labour now came from indentured workers: first from British India, from 1890 also from Java. The very first 94 Javanese to land in Suriname, on 9 August 1890, went directly to Mariënburg.
On 29 July 1902 the director, James Mavor, was killed by indentured workers after a dispute over pay. The next day the workers refused to go back to work. When they crossed a line drawn in advance, colonial troops opened fire. Sources give different figures, from sixteen to twenty-four dead and over thirty wounded. It is the bloodiest suppression of labour in the history of Surinamese indenture.
The sugar factory closed in 1986 and rum production moved to Paramaribo. What stands is a large rusting factory site with its chimney, boilers and still house, and workers’ housing in the village around it. In 2010 John Djojo’s sculpture for 120 years of Javanese immigration was placed here, in 2022 Rahied Abdoel’s Monument for the Fallen Heroes, and in December 2023 a Culinary, Craft and Art Center opened on the grounds.
Frequently asked questions
Does Mariënburg appear in the 1863 emancipation registers?
Yes. On 1 July 1863, 99 people were declared free at Mariënburg and 21 new surnames were entered for them. Those names sit in the emancipation register for Commewijne district, searchable through the Nationaal Archief database Emancipatie 1863.
What happened at Mariënburg in 1902?
On 29 July 1902 the director James Mavor was killed during a pay dispute with indentured workers. A day later colonial troops opened fire on the strikers. Sources settle on 24 dead; on the wounded they differ, 32 or 39. A monument to the 24 dead was unveiled in 2006, followed in 2022 by the Monument for the Fallen Heroes.
Can you visit Mariënburg?
Yes. The site is just over 20 km from Paramaribo on the road past Nieuw Amsterdam and is open. The sugar factory closed in 1986 and stands derelict; since December 2023 there is also a Culinary, Craft and Art Center on the grounds. Our Commewijne day tour (€75 per person) can include it on request.