Anthony van der Eb (born 3 January 1813 – 21 September 1852) was a Dutch civil servant, who made a career in the administration on the

Dutch Gold Coast The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea (Dutch: ''Nederlandse Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea'') was a portion of contemporary Ghana that was gradually colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 1612. ...

Biography

Van der Eb was born in Rotterdam on 3 January 1813 to Hendrik van der Eb and Marianne Jacoba Lessueur. On 5 October 1833, he was installed as assistant, with the military rank of second lieutenant, to the Dutch Gold Coast. After Acting Commander

Hendrik Tonneboeijer Hendrikus Jacobus Tonneboeijer (born 18 August 1814 – 28 October 1837) was a Dutch colonial officer, who made a career in the administration on the Dutch Gold Coast. He was Acting Commander of the Dutch Gold Coast in 1836 and 1837. Biograp ...

died during the

Dutch–Ahanta War 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 hang ...

, the young Van der Eb became Acting Commander himself between 1837 and 1838. When major general Jan Verveer visited the Gold Coast to avenge the Ahanta and to reform the government of the colony, he wrote the following about Van der Eb: Even though Verveer's report was not entirely positive, Van der Eb was installed as Governor of the Dutch Gold Coast by royal decree on 11 March 1840. He was licensed to conduct private trade in 1842 and quickly became the head agent for the Rotterdam firm of H. van Rijckevorsel and ordinary agent for the Amsterdam firm of J. Boelen & Co. Van der Eb was granted leave for six months in 1846, and left the Gold Coast on 9 July. His leave was eventually extended until 31 March 1847, and he arrived back on the Gold Coast on 10 July of the said year. On 7 November 1847, he sentenced the Elminese trader

Adjua Gyapiaba Adjua Gyapiaba (c. 1820-1880), also known as Ajua Japiaba, Api-jaba and Afi Jaba, was a woman from Elmina in contemporary Ghana, who after a heated argument with a fellow Elminan was expelled by the Dutch colonial authorities to Suriname, where s ...

to lifelong banishment in the East or West Indies for "serious calumnies and diatribes against the Dutch Government, the Elminese African government and the whole population of this place." Van der Eb was requested by the Dutch government to compile a compendium of local laws and customs, a task which he delegated to a subordinate. The compendium was eventually submitted to the Ministry of Colonies in 1851. This work, which was subsequently published in 1931 in the ''Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië'', has been an important source for social scientists on the Gold Coast societies. Van der Eb died in office, on 21 September 1852, in

Elmina Castle Elmina Castle was erected by the Portugal, Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina (''St. George of the Mine Castle''), also known as ''Castelo da Mina'' or simply ''Mina'' (or ''Factory (trading post), Feitoria da Mina''), in presen ...

. He was buried in the Dutch cemetery of Elmina.

Personal life

Van der Eb married Efua Henrietta Huydecoper, daughter of

Willem Huydecoper Willem Huydecoper (November 1788 – 22 February 1826) was an important Euro-African merchant, politician, and diplomat on the Dutch Gold Coast in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Biography Willem Huydecoper was born in Elm ...

, a Euro-African civil servant for the Dutch government, who had acted as envoy of the Netherlands to the Ashanti Empire. After her death he remarried to Manza Henrietta Bartels, daughter of the prominent Euro-African merchant

Carel Hendrik Bartels Carel Hendrik Bartels (29 September 1792 – 10 February 1850) was the wealthiest and most important Euro-African trader and businessman on the Dutch Gold Coast in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Apart from his entrepreneurial ...

Decorations

* Order of the Netherlands Lion (Knight) * Order of the Oak Crown (Commander)

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eb, Anthony van der 1813 births 1852 deaths Colonial governors of the Dutch Gold Coast People from Rotterdam