Nettije Hazaart Drysdale's Obituary

Northern Territory Times and Gazette (Darwin, NT : 1873 - 1927) Fri 15 Apr 1910 Page 2 Northern Territory Times.

DEATH OF MRS. DRYSDALE.

WE have received from Koepang-Timor, by the Dutch steamer La Maire,
a few lines from a correspondent respecting the death of an old resident of
Timor, who was well known to many Australians a few years ago, when her
husband was one of the leading merchants in that ancient Dutch island
sea port.

Our correspondent writes :" It may interest you to learn that Mrs. Drysdale died here on the 18th March last, age 77 years. She is the last of the Hazaarts, whose grandfather was the first Governor of Timor, in the good old days when might was right and when slavery was at its height, and he held autocratic powers. In the early 80's Koepang experienced many vicissitudes. In 1813 or there-abouts an English warship entered the
port and demanded the archives and the surrender of the town. Hazaart
refused, and as a result the town was stormed and sacked.: Bligh, of the
" Bounty," landed hero, after travelling thousands of miles in an open boat ;
and many shipwrecked crews from Australia have found refuge here at one
time and another. Many of, the older Territorians, no doubt, will remember
Mrs. Drysdale in the early days, whilst visiting Koepang, for her hospitality,
especially many from West Australia, when here seeking crews for naked
pearl diving. Mrs. Drysdale remembered many noted travellers who visited
Koepang, including Wallace, who subsequently wrote his "Malay Archipelago." The last of the" old liberated slaves, who stayed with her to the end,only predeceased Mrs. Drysdale by a few months. In 1845 her sister-in-law (Miss. A. Drysdale) settled at Port Phillip, near Melbourne, at the time receiving large Imperial land grants,and where some of the roads, etc.,are named after her. So the old order of things changeth R. I. P. 

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Source: National Library of Australia , News-Article3265610 [p22]