Willem George Frederik Derx
| Willem George Frederik Derx | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Governor of the Dutch Gold Coast | |
|
In office 1846–1847 | |
| Preceded by | Anthony van der Eb |
| Succeeded by | Anthony van der Eb |
|
In office 1856–1857 | |
| Preceded by | Petrus Jacobus Runckel |
| Succeeded by | Jules Felicine Romain Stanislas van den Bossche |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 8, 1813 Nijmegen, Netherlands |
| Died |
December 10, 1890 (aged 77) Haarlem, Netherlands |
| Spouse(s) |
Jacoba Araba Bartels Anna Frederika Lamslag |
Willem George Frederik Derx (8 May 1813 – 10 December 1890) was a Dutch civil servant, who made a career in the administration on the Dutch Gold Coast.
Biography
Derx was born in Nijmegen to Johan Henrich Derx, who was originally from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, contemporary Germany, and Maria Christina Lijtgen from Zaltbommel.[1] Little is known about his life before he arrived at the Gold Coast in 1837. During governor Van der Eb's year-long leave to the Netherlands, Derx was acting governor.[1]
During this first period at the Gold Coast, Derx married Jacoba Araba Bartels, daughter of the Euro-African trader Carel Hendrik Bartels, with whom he had three sons. His second son Willem Jan Derx would become a vice admiral of the Royal Netherlands Navy. After Jacoba Araba died during childbirth in 1848, Derx fathered a son and a daughter with another, unknown woman while on the Gold Coast.[1]
Derx apparently left the Gold Coast in the early 1850s and married Anna Frederika Lamslag in the Netherlands, with whom he had three sons and three daughters. He briefly returned to the Gold Coast in 1856 to serve as Governor and Government Commissioner, but left office already a year later.[1]
In his later life, Derx was a member of the Haarlem municipal council, serving from 1865 until 1889.[1]