Herman van Speult
Herman van Speult (?? – Mocha, Yemen, August 1626) was a merchant in service of the Dutch East India Company. Van Speult left the island Texel in 1613, heading for Bantam and arrived after a journey of ten months. He was formerly employed in Spain, "whence he came, if report be true, full of the pox."[1] He was active as governor of Ambon from 1618 until 1625.
In 1618 he was appointed as governor of the Governorate of Ambon as the succeeder of Adriaen Maertensz. Block and Steven van der Hagen. On 21 January 1623 had he prepared two ships for an expedition to islands near New Guinea, to map more of New Guinea, and to explore for "the South Land". The crew discovered possibly the present Jardine River and most likely Speult Land and Speult Point were named after him.[2]
Only a few weeks later Van Speult believed that English merchants, helped by Japanese mercenaries, planned to kill him and overwhelm the Dutch garrison as soon as an English ship arrived to support them.[3] This led to the Amboyna massacre. It remained a source of tension between the two nations until late in the 17th century. Harman Van Speult died in the Red Sea.