Claus Hansen (died 8 February 1706) was Governor of the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies ( da, Dansk Vestindien) or Danish Antilles or Danish Virgin Islands were a Danish colonization of the Americas, Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Thomas ...

from 19 February 1702 until his death. Hansen started his career in the West Indies as one of the soldiers brought by

Jørgen Thormøhlen Jørgen Thormøhlen ( – 25 December 1708) was a German-born Norwegian merchant, shipowner, slave trader and industrialist. Biography Thormøhlen was born in the Duchy of Holstein, at that time a hereditary possession of the King of Denmar ...

on the latter's lesseeship in 1690. He was promoted to

ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

in 1692 by Governor

Frans de la Vigne Frans is an Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish given name, sometimes as a short form of ''François''. One cognate of Frans in English is '' Francis''. Given name * Frans van Aarssens (1572–1641), Dutch diplo ...

. In 1699 Hansen married Anna van Ockeren, the widow of Iver Jørgensen Dyppel, son of deceased Governor

Jørgen Iversen Dyppel Jørgen Iversen Dyppel (February 25, 1638 – 1683), also called George Iversen or Ifversen, or sometimes Doppel in Knox, was the first governor of the renewed establishment of St. Thomas in the Danish West Indies, from 1672 to 1680. His rule wa ...

. She died the same year, leaving him the Dyppel fortune. Upon John Lorentz' death on 19 February 1702, the planters named Hansen as governor, whereas the colony officials decided upon Joachim von Holten. However, the Danish West India Company sided with Hansen, and he was installed in office. He died only four years later, on 8 February 1706. His legacy according to Dansk Biografisk Lexikon is the institution of the island councils.

Bibliography

* ''C. F. Bricka'' (editor), Dansk biografisk Lexikon, first edition, 19 volumes, 1887–1905, Vol. VI. Online edition available: http://runeberg.org/dbl/6/ (page 608. Numbered as 610 in the online edition). Governors of the Danish West Indies Year of birth unknown 1706 deaths 17th-century Danish military personnel 18th-century Danish military personnel 18th century in the Danish West Indies 18th-century Danish politicians {{denmark-mil-bio-stub