List of colonial governors of the Dutch Gold Coast

Last updated September 29, 2024

This article lists the colonial governors of the Dutch Gold Coast. During the Dutch presence on the Gold Coast, which lasted from 1598 to 1872, the title of the head of the colonial government changed several times:^[1]

1675–1798: Director-General (Dutch: directeur-generaal)
1798–1810: Governor-General (Dutch: gouverneur-generaal)
1810–1815: Commandant-General (Dutch: commandant-generaal)
1815–1819: Governor-General (Dutch: gouverneur-generaal)
1819–1838: Commander (Dutch: kommandeur)
1838–1872: Governor (Dutch: gouverneur)

List

Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office.

Direct Dutch rule (1612–1621)

Before the establishment of the Dutch West India Company on 3 June 1621, Dutch traders nominally were at the direct control of the Dutch government. Initially, the regulation of trade was left to the traders themselves, but after the building of Fort Nassau at Mouri in 1612, a general was installed to administrate the new colony.

Name	Title	Took office	Left office
Jacob Adriaensz Clantius	General of the Coast	1612	1614
A.J. Roest	General of the Coast	1614	?
Arent Jacobzen van Amersfoort	General of the Coast	?	?

Dutch West India Company rule (1621–1791)

There are many lists available of Director-Generals of the Gold Coast in service of the Dutch West India Company, all with slightly conflicting names and dates. The most accurate information is available for the eighteenth century, as Harvey Feinberg compiled a list of Director-Generals of that century on the basis of day registries available at the Nationaal Archief.^[2]

Name	Title	Took office	Left office	Notes
Arent Jacobsz. van Amersfoort	Director-General	1624	1631	Based at Fort Nassau, Mouri
Jan Jochemsz. Sticker	Director-General	1631	1635	Based at Fort Nassau, Mouri
Pompeius de la Sale	Director-General	1635	1637	Based at Fort Nassau, Mouri
Nicolaes van Yperen	Director-General	1637	18 July 1639	Based at Fort George, Elmina, from 1637
Arend Jacobszoon Montfort	Director-General	18 July 1639	6 January 1641
Jacob Ruychaver	Director-General	6 January 1641	18 December 1645	1st term
Jacob van der Wel	Director-General	18 December 1645	9 April 1650
Hendrik Doedens	Director-General	9 April 1650	11 June 1650
Arent Cocq	Governor	11 June 1650	15 March 1651
Jacob Ruychaver	Director-General	15 March 1651	24 January 1656	2nd term
Johannes van Valkenburgh	Director-General	24 January 1656	27 April 1659	1st term
Jasper van Heussen	Director-General	27 April 1659	7 April 1662
Dirck Wilré	Director-General	7 April 1662	23 December 1662	1st term
Johannes van Valkenburgh	Director-General	23 December 1662	2 June 1667	2nd term
Huybert van Ongerdonk	Governor	2 June 1667	12 December 1668
Dirck Wilré	Director-General	12 December 1668	12 June 1675	2nd term
Johan Root	Director-General	12 June 1675	13 September 1676
Abraham Meermans	Director-General	13 September 1676	26 March 1680
Daniël Verhoutert	Director-General	26 March 1680	10 April 1682
Thomas Ernsthuys	Director-General	10 April 1682	28 June 1684
Nikolas de Sweerts	Director-General	15 July 1685	29 January 1690
Joël Smits	Director-General	29 January 1690	25 March 1694
Jan Staphorst	Director-General	25 March 1694	9 June 1696
Joan van Sevenhuijsen	Director-General	9 June 1696	16 May 1702
Willem de la Palma	Director-General	16 May 1702	17 October 1705	Died in office
Pieter Nuyts	Director-General	23 October 1705	26 September 1708	Died in office
Henrico van Wesel	Governor	26 September 1708	13 July 1709
Adriaan Schoonheijd	Director-General	13 July 1709	15 March 1711	Died in office
Hieronimus Haring	Director-General	16 March 1711	12 May 1716
Abraham Engelgraaf-Robbertszoon	Director-General	12 May 1716	11 March 1718
Willem Butler	Director-General	12 March 1718	25 September 1722
Abraham Houtman	Director-General	25 September 1722	17 May 1723	Died in office
Mattheus de Crane	Governor	17 May 1723	14 December 1723
Pieter Valkenier	Director-General	14 December 1723	6-7 March 1727
Robert Norre	Director-General	7 March 1727	6 March 1730
Jan Pranger	Director-General	6 March 1730	13 March 1734
Antonius van Overbeke	Director-General	13 March 1734	2 April 1736	Died in office
Martinus François de Bordes	Director-General	7 April 1736	16 March 1740	Died in office
François Barovius	Governor	17 March 1740	8 March 1741
Baron Jacob de Petersen	Director-General	8 March 1741	10-12 April 1747
Jan van Voorst	Director-General	10-12 April 1747	14 July 1754
Nicolas Mattheus van der Nood de Gietere	Director-General	14 July 1754	24 October 1755	Died in office
Roelof Ulzen	Governor	24 October 1755	15 January 1758
Lambert Jacob van Tets	Director-General	15 January 1758	12 March 1758	Died in office
Jan Pieter Theodoor Huydecoper	President of the Council	22 March 1758	5 October 1760	1st Term
David Pieter Erasmie	Director-General	5 October 1760	19 July 1763	Died in office
Hendrick Walmbeek	Governor	24 July 1763	10 September 1764
Jan Pieter Theodoor Huydecoper	Director-General	10 September 1764	11 July 1767	2nd Term; died in office
Willem Sulyard van Leefdael and Cornelis Klok	President of the Council	11 July 1767	27 August 1767	Both acting ad interim until Woortman arrived at Elmina
Pieter Woortman	Director-General	27 August 1767	14 April 1780	Died in office
Jacobus van der Puije	President of the Council	10 May 1780	30 December 1780
Pieter Volkmar	Director-General	30 December 1780	12 March 1784
Gilles Servaas Galle	President of the Council	15 March 1784	14 February 1785	1st Term
Adolph Thierens	Director-General	14 February 1785	26 May 1786	Died in office
Gilles Servaas Galle	President of the Council	2 June 1786	24 August 1787	2nd Term; died in office
Lieve van Bergen van der Grijp	President of the Council	27 August 1787	11-14 March 1790	1st Term
Jacobus Adriaan de Veer	Director-General	11-14 March 1790	31 December 1791	Dutch West India Company liquidated 31 December 1791

Direct Dutch rule (1792–1872)

The Dutch West India Company was dissolved in 1791, and its colonies reverted to the rule of the States-General of the Dutch Republic on 1 January 1792. The last Director-General installed by the Dutch West India Company, Jacobus de Veer, became the first Director-General under the direct authority of the Dutch Republic. The Dutch Republic was succeeded by the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of Holland, which all inherited the rule over the colony.

Although the Kingdom of Holland was incorporated into the First French Empire, the colony on the Gold Coast was never occupied by either France or Great-Britain.^[3] Dutch rule continued under the Kingdom of the Netherlands proclaimed in 1815, until the cession of the possessions on the Gold Coast to the United Kingdom in 1872.

Denotes service as acting governor.

Title	Portrait	Name	Tenure
Title	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office
Director-General		Jacobus Adriaan de Veer	1 January 1792	5 May 1794
–		Lieve van Bergen van der Grijp	5 May 1794	10 January 1795
Governor		Otto Arnoldus Duim	10 January 1795	2 June 1796
–		Lieve van Bergen van der Grijp	2 June 1796	21 August 1796
Director-General		Gerhardus Hubertus van Hamel	21 August 1796	1 May 1798
Governor-General		Cornelius Ludwich Bartels Promoted to Governor-General on 12 August 1801	8 May 1798	28 April 1804
–		Isaac de Roever	28 April 1804	15 June 1805
Governor-General		Pieter Linthorst Acting until 5 August 1805	16 June 1805	21 July 1807
–		Johannes Petrus Hoogenboom	21 July 1807	11 August 1808
–		Jan Frederik König	12 August 1808	5 March 1810
Commandant-General		Abraham de Veer	5 March 1810	11 March 1816
Governor-General		Herman Willem Daendels	11 March 1816	2 May 1818
Commander		Frans Christiaan Eberhard Oldenburg Acting until 1 November 1819	2 May 1818	2 January 1820
–		Johannes Oosthout	10 January 1820	29 August 1821
–		Friedrich Last	31 August 1821	14 February 1822
–		Librecht Jan Temminck	14 February 1822	6 June 1822
Commander		Willem Poolman	6 June 1822	14 June 1823
–		Hendrik Adriaan Mouwe	27 June 1823	11 February 1824
–		Johan David Carel Pagenstecher	17 February 1824	24 February 1824
–		Friedrich Last	24 February 1824	3 January 1826
–		Jacobus van der Breggen Paauw	3 January 1826	26 November 1827
Commander		Friedrich Last	26 November 1827	28 April 1832
–		Jan Tieleman Jacobus Cremer	28 April 1832	1 July 1832
–		Eduard Daniel Leopold van Ingen	1 July 1832	16 March 1833
–		Martinus Swarte	29 March 1833	11 May 1833
Commander		Christiaan Lans	11 May 1833	2 December 1836
–		Hendrik Tonneboeijer	2 December 1836	28 October 1837
–		Anthony van der Eb	29 October 1837	5 August 1838
Governor		Hendrik Bosch	5 August 1838	7 March 1840
Governor		Anthony van der Eb	11 March 1840	9 June 1846
–		Willem George Frederik Derx Acting during the European leave of Van der Eb	9 June 1846	10 July 1847
Governor		Anthony van der Eb Resumed office upon return from Europe	10 July 1847	21 September 1852
Governor		Hero Schomerus Acting until 20 January 1853	21 September 1852	25 September 1856
–		Petrus Jacobus Runckel	25 September 1856	6 November 1856
–		Willem George Frederik Derx	6 November 1856	29 April 1857
Governor		Jules van den Bossche	29 April 1857	9 September 1857
Governor		Cornelis Nagtglas Acting until 21 June 1858	9 September 1857	7 May 1860
–		Cornelis Meeuwsen Acting during the European leave of Nagtglas	7 May 1860	21 January 1861
Governor		Cornelis Nagtglas Resumed office upon return from Europe	21 January 1861	23 June 1862
Governor		Henri Alexander Elias	18 October 1862	12 March 1864
–		Carel van Hien Acting during the European leave of Elias	12 March 1864	13 June 1864
–		Hendrik Doijer Acting during the European leave of Elias	13 June 1864	7 December 1864
Governor		Henri Alexander Elias Resumed office upon return from Europe	7 December 1864	4 May 1865
–		Arent Magnin	4 May 1865	19 February 1866
Governor		Willem Hendrik Johan van Idsinga	19 February 1866	17 April 1867
Governor		George Pieter Willem Boers	17 April 1867	15 May 1869
Governor		Cornelis Nagtglas	15 May 1869	8 June 1871
–		Jan Albert Hendrik Hugenholtz	8 June 1871	17 September 1871
–		Johannes Wirix	17 September 1871	28 October 1871
–		Willem Le Jeune	28 October 1871	15 November 1871
Lieutenant Governor		Jan Helenus Ferguson	15 November 1871	6 April 1872

Notes

↑ Michel Doortmont. "Category:Governors of the Dutch Gold Coast". GCDB-Wiki. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
↑ Feinberg 1974.
↑ Nagtglas 1863 , p. 4

Related Research Articles

The Dutch West India Company or WIC was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors, formally known as GWC. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was granted a charter for a trade monopoly in the Dutch West Indies by the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands and given jurisdiction over Dutch participation in the Atlantic slave trade, Brazil, the Caribbean, and North America.

Governor-general, or governor general, is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy to represent the monarch of a personal union in any sovereign state over which the monarch does not normally reign in person. Governors-general have also previously been appointed in respect of major colonial states or other territories held by either a monarchy or republic, such as Japan in Korea and Taiwan and France in Indochina.

Swedish overseas colonies consisted of the overseas colonies controlled by Sweden. Sweden possessed overseas colonies from 1638 to 1663, in 1733 and from 1784 to 1878. Sweden possessed five colonies, four of which were short lived. The colonies spanned three continents: Africa, Asia and North America.

The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea was a portion of contemporary Ghana that was gradually colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 1612. The Dutch began trading in the area around 1598, joining the Portuguese which had a trading post there since the late 1400s. Eventually, the Dutch Gold Coast became the most important Dutch colony in West Africa after Fort Elmina was captured from the Portuguese in 1637, but fell into disarray after the abolition of the slave trade in the early 19th century. On 6 April 1872, the Dutch Gold Coast was, in accordance with the Anglo-Dutch Treaties of 1870–71, ceded to the United Kingdom.

The Danish Gold Coast comprised the colonies that Denmark–Norway controlled in Africa as a part of the Gold Coast, which is on the Gulf of Guinea. It was colonized by the Dano-Norwegian fleet, first under indirect rule by the Danish West India Company, later as a crown colony of the kingdom of Denmark-Norway. The area under Danish influence was over 10,000 square kilometres.

Loango-Angola is the name for the possessions of the Dutch West India Company in contemporary Angola and the Republic of the Congo. Notably, the name refers to the colony that was captured from the Portuguese between 1641 and 1648. Due to the distance between Luanda and Elmina, the capital of the Dutch Gold Coast, a separate administration for the southern districts of Africa was established at Luanda during the period of the Dutch occupation.

The Treaty of Butre between the Netherlands and Ahanta was signed at Butre, Dutch Gold Coast on 27 August 1656. The treaty regulated the jurisdiction of the Netherlands and the Dutch West India Company over the town of Butre and the surrounding country of Upper Ahanta, creating a Dutch protectorate over the area, and permitting the establishment of Fort Batenstein. The treaty lasted until the Dutch departure from the Gold Coast in April 1872.

The Treaty of Axim was concluded between the Netherlands and the chiefs of Axim in the western region of the Gold Coast and signed at Fort St. Anthony near Axim on 17 February 1642. The treaty regulated the jurisdiction of the Netherlands and the Dutch West India Company in the town and polity of Axim after the Dutch West India Company had successfully attacked the Portuguese who were the occupants of Fort St. Anthony in the town. Over time, the agreement was in part superseded and replaced by new contracts and agreements. The treaty did remain the basis for Dutch jurisdiction and political relations between Axim and the Dutch until the latter left the Gold Coast in 1872.

Fort Saint Anthony was a fort built by the Portuguese in 1515 near the town of Axim, in what is now Ghana. In 1642, the Dutch captured the fort and subsequently made it part of the Dutch Gold Coast. The Dutch expanded the fort considerably before they turned it over, with the rest of their colony, to the British in 1872. The fort is now the property of the Ghanaian state and is open to the public.

The Anglo-Dutch Gold Coast Treaty of 1867 redistributed forts along the Dutch and British Gold Coasts in order to concentrate the parties' areas of influence. All forts to the east of Fort Elmina were adopted by Britain, and all forts to the west by the Netherlands.

The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornelis Nagtglas</span> Dutch politician

Cornelis Johannes Marius Nagtglas was a Dutch politician and civil servant, who made a career in the administration on the Dutch Gold Coast. After originally beginning his career at the advanced age of 36, he was promoted through the ranks to eventually become Governor of the Dutch Gold Coast in 1858. He retired to the Netherlands in 1862, but returned to the Gold Coast as governor in 1869, to restore order in the embattled colony. In 1871, he left the Gold Coast again, one year before the transfer of the colony to the United Kingdom.

Cornelius Ludewich Bartels was a military and colonial officer of German origin employed by the Dutch West India Company. He rose through the ranks and eventually became Governor-General of the Dutch Gold Coast in 1798.

The Dutch–Ahanta War was a conflict between the Netherlands and the Ahanta between 1837 and 1839. Beginning with a mere economic dispute between the Ahanta and the Dutch, who were based at the Dutch Gold Coast, the conflict ended with the hanging of Ahanta king Badu Bonsu II and the reorganization of the Ahanta state, establishing a Dutch protectorate over the Ahanta.

George Emil Eminsang was a prominent Euro-African merchant and political leader on the Gold Coast, who played a prominent role in the last years of Dutch colonial rule on the Gold Coast. After the Dutch Gold Coast was transferred to the United Kingdom, Eminsang became a diplomat for the Netherlands and later for the United States and the Congo Free State. Together with James Bannerman Hyde and James Hutton Brew, Eminsang was one of the first so-called "country lawyers" on the Gold Coast.

Pieter Simon Hamel was a Dutch diplomat who served as Consul General at Elmina, Bangkok and Amoy.

Cornelis Meeuwsen was a Dutch colonial administrator and tobacco farmer, who made a career in the administration on the Dutch Gold Coast and who became interim governor during the European leave of governor Cornelis Nagtglas between 7 May 1860 and 21 January 1861.

Willem Pieter Antonie Le Jeune, born as Willem Pieter Antonie Tenwinkel, was a Dutch colonial administrator and diplomat, who made a career in the administration on the Dutch Gold Coast and who was interim governor between 28 October 1871 and 15 November 1871. After the Netherlands sold its possessions on the Gold Coast to the United Kingdom in 1872, Le Jeune became the first Dutch consul in Elmina.

Frans Christiaan Eberhard Oldenburg was a colonial administrator on the Gold Coast, who served as Commander of the Dutch Gold Coast between 2 May 1818 and his death on 2 January 1820.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Elmina</span> History of the district capital

The documented history of Elmina begins in 1482 with an agreement between the Portuguese navigator Diogo de Azambuja and the ruler of Elmina, called Caramansa by the Portuguese. In it, the Portuguese were allowed to build the first European fortress in sub-Saharan Africa. For the next 150 years until the conquest by the Dutch in 1637, Elmina was the capital of the Portuguese bases on the Gold Coast, then for about 250 years the capital of the Dutch Empire in West Africa. Since the capture of the lease for the two fortresses of Elmina by the Ashanti in 1701, the city was also important to the Ashanti Empire. Until the 19th century, Elmina was one of the most populous cities in the Gold Coast, surpassing Accra and Kumasi. The trade in gold, slaves and palm oil brought the city into direct contact with Europe, North America, Brazil and, through the recruitment of soldiers, also with Southeast Asia. It was not until the takeover and destruction of the city by the British in 1873 that Elmina lost its prominent position in the Gold Coast.

References

Feinberg, Harvey M. (1974). "Director Generals of the Netherlands West India Company: an accurate list for the eighteenth century". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. 130 (2/3). Leiden: KITLV: 306–312. doi: 10.1163/22134379-90002697 . Retrieved 20 February 2017.
Nagtglas, Cornelis Johannes Marius (1863). Een woord aangaande de vraag: "Wat moet Nederland doen met zijne bezittingen ter kuste van Guinea?". The Hague: H.C. Susan, C.Hz.
"Ghana". worldstatesmen.org. Retrieved 15 April 2012.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Michel Doortmont. "Category:Governors of the Dutch Gold Coast". GCDB-Wiki. Retrieved 15 April 2012.

[FOOTNOTEFeinberg1974-2] Feinberg 1974.

[3] Nagtglas 1863 , p. 4

[1]

[2]

[3]