Mattheus de Haan

Who was Mattheus de Haan?

Mattheus de Haan was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1725 to 1729..

He was born in Dordrecht in 1663. On 26 October 1671 he left for the Indies, where his father had been appoined as Underbuyer in the Dutch East India Company. He then quickly went through posts in the lower levels of that organisation in Dutch Suratte. There, in 1676, he was made Provisional Assistant, and in 1681 he became assistent. He became Bookkeeper in 1683, and, in 1685, onderkoopman. Ten years later, in 1695, he was promoted to Buyer/Merchant. The next year he had to move to Batavia, to take up the post of Second Senior Buyer in the Company's headquarters there. Two years later, in 1698, he was promoted to First Senior Buyer. He became Secretary to the High Government of the Indies in 1700 and, in 1702, Vice-President of the Council of Justice. He was made a Counsellor-extraordinary of the Dutch Council of the Indies in 1704. He was then appointed President of the College van Schepenen in 1705. Five years later, he was made full Counsellor of the Indies and in 1722 he became Director-General.