Although her Japanese mother was still alive, she was placed in an orphanage in Batavia (now Jakarta) . Almost 20 years later Cornelia van Nijenroode married Pieter Cnoll, a senior VOC merchant. When she was widowed in 1672 she was left with the responsibility of managing her enormous wealth alone . Her second marriage, to Joan Bitter, went downhill rapidly – Bitter was after her money and he mistreated her . Van Nijenroode’s attempt to divorce him led to a legal battle that lasted many years, and by the time she was supposed to appear in court in 1692 it was too late: she had died. Van Nijenroode remains well known for her fight for control of her own assets .
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