List of colonial governors of the Dutch Gold Coast

This article lists the colonial governors of the Dutch Gold Coast. During the Dutch presence on the Gold Coast, which lasted from 1598 to 1872, the title of the head of the colonial government changed several times:^[1]

• 1675–1798: Director-General (Dutch: directeur-generaal)
• 1798–1810: Governor-General (Dutch: gouverneur-generaal)
• 1810–1815: Commandant-General (Dutch: commandant-generaal)
• 1815–1819: Governor-General (Dutch: gouverneur-generaal)
• 1819–1838: Commander (Dutch: kommandeur)
• 1838–1872: Governor (Dutch: gouverneur)

Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office.

Before the establishment of the Dutch West India Company on 3 June 1621, Dutch traders nominally were at the direct control of the Dutch government. Initially, the regulation of trade was left to the traders themselves, but after the building of Fort Nassau at Mouri in 1612, a general was installed to administrate the new colony.

There are many lists available of Director-Generals of the Gold Coast in service of the Dutch West India Company, all with slightly conflicting names and dates. The most accurate information is available for the eighteenth century, as Harvey Feinberg compiled a list of Director-Generals of that century on the basis of day registries available at the Nationaal Archief.^[2]

The Dutch West India Company was dissolved in 1791, and its colonies reverted to the rule of the States-General of the Dutch Republic on 1 January 1792. The last Director-General installed by the Dutch West India Company, Jacobus de Veer, became the first Director-General under the direct authority of the Dutch Republic. The Dutch Republic was succeeded by the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of Holland, which all inherited the rule over the colony.

Although the Kingdom of Holland was incorporated into the First French Empire, the colony on the Gold Coast was never occupied by either France or Great-Britain.^[3] Dutch rule continued under the Kingdom of the Netherlands proclaimed in 1815, until the cession of the possessions on the Gold Coast to the United Kingdom in 1872.

Title	Portrait	Name	Tenure
			Took office	Left office
Director-General		Jacobus Adriaan de Veer	1 January 1792	5 May 1794
–		Lieve van Bergen van der Grijp	5 May 1794	10 January 1795
Governor		Otto Arnoldus Duim	10 January 1795	2 June 1796
–		Lieve van Bergen van der Grijp	2 June 1796	21 August 1796
Director-General		Gerhardus Hubertus van Hamel	21 August 1796	1 May 1798
Governor-General		Cornelius Ludwich Bartels Promoted to Governor-General on 12 August 1801	8 May 1798	28 April 1804
–		Isaac de Roever	28 April 1804	15 June 1805
Governor-General		Pieter Linthorst Acting until 5 August 1805	16 June 1805	21 July 1807
–		Johannes Petrus Hoogenboom	21 July 1807	11 August 1808
–		Jan Frederik König	12 August 1808	5 March 1810
Commandant-General		Abraham de Veer	5 March 1810	11 March 1816
Governor-General		Herman Willem Daendels	11 March 1816	2 May 1818
Commander		Frans Christiaan Eberhard Oldenburg Acting until 1 November 1819	2 May 1818	2 January 1820
–		Johannes Oosthout	10 January 1820	29 August 1821
–		Friedrich Last	31 August 1821	14 February 1822
–		Librecht Jan Temminck	14 February 1822	6 June 1822
Commander		Willem Poolman	6 June 1822	14 June 1823
–		Hendrik Adriaan Mouwe	27 June 1823	11 February 1824
–		Johan David Carel Pagenstecher	17 February 1824	24 February 1824
–		Friedrich Last	24 February 1824	3 January 1826
–		Jacobus van der Breggen Paauw	3 January 1826	26 November 1827
Commander		Friedrich Last	26 November 1827	28 April 1832
–		Jan Tieleman Jacobus Cremer	28 April 1832	1 July 1832
–		Eduard Daniel Leopold van Ingen	1 July 1832	16 March 1833
–		Martinus Swarte	29 March 1833	11 May 1833
Commander		Christiaan Lans	11 May 1833	2 December 1836
–		Hendrik Tonneboeijer	2 December 1836	28 October 1837
–		Anthony van der Eb	29 October 1837	5 August 1838
Governor		Hendrik Bosch	5 August 1838	7 March 1840
Governor		Anthony van der Eb	11 March 1840	9 June 1846
–		Willem George Frederik Derx Acting during the European leave of Van der Eb	9 June 1846	10 July 1847
Governor		Anthony van der Eb Resumed office upon return from Europe	10 July 1847	21 September 1852
Governor		Hero Schomerus Acting until 20 January 1853	21 September 1852	25 September 1856
–		Petrus Jacobus Runckel	25 September 1856	6 November 1856
–		Willem George Frederik Derx	6 November 1856	29 April 1857
Governor		Jules van den Bossche	29 April 1857	9 September 1857
Governor		Cornelis Nagtglas Acting until 21 June 1858	9 September 1857	7 May 1860
–		Cornelis Meeuwsen Acting during the European leave of Nagtglas	7 May 1860	21 January 1861
Governor		Cornelis Nagtglas Resumed office upon return from Europe	21 January 1861	23 June 1862
Governor		Henri Alexander Elias	18 October 1862	12 March 1864
–		Carel van Hien Acting during the European leave of Elias	12 March 1864	13 June 1864
–		Hendrik Doijer Acting during the European leave of Elias	13 June 1864	7 December 1864
Governor		Henri Alexander Elias Resumed office upon return from Europe	7 December 1864	4 May 1865
–		Arent Magnin	4 May 1865	19 February 1866
Governor		Willem Hendrik Johan van Idsinga	19 February 1866	17 April 1867
Governor		George Pieter Willem Boers	17 April 1867	15 May 1869
Governor		Cornelis Nagtglas	15 May 1869	8 June 1871
–		Jan Albert Hendrik Hugenholtz	8 June 1871	17 September 1871
–		Johannes Wirix	17 September 1871	28 October 1871
–		Willem Le Jeune	28 October 1871	15 November 1871
Lieutenant Governor		Jan Helenus Ferguson	15 November 1871	6 April 1872

• Ghana
  • Heads of State of Ghana
  • Heads of Government of Ghana
• Gold Coast
  • Colonial Heads of Ghana (Gold Coast)
  • Colonial Heads of Danish Gold Coast
• Lists of office holders

• Feinberg, Harvey M. (1974). "Director Generals of the Netherlands West India Company: an accurate list for the eighteenth century". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. 130 (2/3). Leiden: KITLV: 306–312. doi:10.1163/22134379-90002697. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
• Nagtglas, Cornelis Johannes Marius (1863). Een woord aangaande de vraag: "Wat moet Nederland doen met zijne bezittingen ter kuste van Guinea?". The Hague: H.C. Susan, C.Hz.
• "Ghana". worldstatesmen.org. Retrieved 15 April 2012.