Hendrik Casper Romberg

Hendrik Caspar Romberg was a Dutch merchant-trader and diplomat in the service of the Dutch East India Company.

Born into a family of bookseller of Amsterdam, Romberg decided to build a career in the service of the Dutch East India Company and settled in the Indies. At that time, the Dutch had an outpost (factory) situated on Dejima island in the harbor of Nagasaki on the southern island of Kyushu.

Hendrik was sent as the head of the company’s activities in Japan on four occasions, starting from 1783 until 1790. During that time, he visited Edo five times.

In the off-years, Hendrik spent time in Batavia, which was at that time the VOC headquarters in the East Indies.