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 (1813-05-08)May 8, 1813
Nijmegen, Netherlands
Died December 10, 1890(1890-12-10) (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]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Michel Doortmont. "Derx, Willem George Frederik". GoldCoastDataBase. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
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