Jeremias van Riemsdijk

Who was Jeremias van Riemsdijk?

Jeremias van Riemsdijk was a Dutch colonial administrator who served as Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1775 to 1777.

Jeremias van Riemsdijk was born on 18 October 1712 in Utrecht, the son to Scipio van Riemsdijk, the minister of Bunnik near Houten, and Johanna Bogaert. He entered into service with the Dutch East India Company as a sergeant left for the Indies, aboard the van de Proostwijk, on 25 February 1735. Very shortly after his arrival in Batavia/Jakarta on 14 September 1735, he entered the civil service. Jeremias was the nephew of the future Governor-General Adriaan Valckenier, who at the time was still a member of the Council of the Indies. H could therefore expect to make rapid progress in his career. In 1736 he became onderkoopman, in 1738 koopman, in 1740 tweede opperkoopman and in 1742 eerste opperkoopman in the castle headquarters at Batavia/Jakarta. In 1743 he became the chief of the company of clerical/writing staff and in October Jeremias van Riemsdijk was named Counsellor-extraordinary to the Council of the Indies. In 1759 he was appointed President of the College van Weesmeesters.