Jan Valckenburgh

Born into a family of modest means, Valckenburgh began his career as an ordinary assistant-trader in the Dutch West India Company and over time he reached the highest ranks serving as director-general of the Dutch Gold Coast on two occasions.

In 1643 he was appointed a commissioner in food supplies in Luanda, Angola and he held that office until 1649, when Luanda was seized by the Portuguese. Valckenburgh returned to Amsterdam, and in a meantime married a daughter of Adriaen Lems, a former governor of Dutch Brazil and later Luanda with whom he had two children. He headed once again to Africa after he was appointed a fiscal, and then a director-general on the Gold Coast in 1656 and again in 1662. However, due to kidney problems he is relieved of his duties in 1667, and died in the same year.