Leopold Willem Ras (1760s–1823) was a Dutch merchant-trader and diplomat.
Life
Ras was the son of Joannes Henricus Ras and Magdalena Elisabeth Putkamer, who baptized children in , a town at the mouth of the
Scheldt
The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...
river. In June 1785, Ras sailed from near his hometown as a ship's boy on board the ''Alblasserdam'' to work in East Asia with the
Dutch East Indies Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock co ...
(or ''Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie'' or VOC in Dutch).
[Leopold Willem Ras, on June 13, 1785 in the service of the Dutch East India Company]
at OpenArchives His father had apparently died before his departure, and until 1805 Ras sent payments home to his mother, Magdalena Elisabeth Putkamer.
[
Before 1798, Ras was sent to Japan as a records keeper/bookkeeper or warehouseman. At this point in Japanese history, the sole VOC outpost (or "factory") was situated on ]Dejima
, in the 17th century also called Tsukishima ( 築島, "built island"), was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1854). For 220 years, ...
island in the harbor of Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in th ...
on the southern island of Kyushu.
Ras became acting Opperhoofd ''Opperhoofd'' is a Dutch word (plural ''opperhoofden'') that literally translates to "upper-head", meaning "supreme headman". The Danish equivalent ''overhoved'', which is derived from a Danish pronunciation of the Dutch or Low German word, is a ...
or chief negotiant and officer of the VOC trading post. His role had to change after the death of Dejima's chief official, Gijsbert Hemmij
Gijsbert is a Dutch masculine given name, which is a variant of the names Gisbert and Gilbert, and means "bright pledge".''Behind the Name''"Given Name Gilbert" Retrieved on 24 January 2016. The name may refer to:
*Gijsbert Bos (born 1973), Dutch ...
.[Janetta, Ann Bowman. (2007). ] In 1798, Hemmij died at Kanegawa near Edo during the return journey to Nagasaki after a formal audience at the shogun's court in Edo
Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.
Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...
.
The difficulties Ras confronted were exacerbated by a fire which destroyed the VOC warehouse and other structures on Dejima.[ He married Christina Abigael Versteegh, with whom he had two daughters before 1815 on ]Banda Neira
Banda Neira (also known as Pulau Neira) is an island in the Banda Islands, Indonesia. It is administered as part of the administrative Banda Islands District (''Kecamatan Kepulauan Banda'') within the Central Maluku Regency in the province of ...
in the Moluccas
The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...
. Ras died there 4 March 1823.''Kwartierstaat van Jeanne Antoinette Lewis'' (Genealogy of ....)
/ref>
See also
* VOC Opperhoofden in Japan
* William Robert Stewart
William Robert Stewart was a US Captain from New York who was active in attempting trade with Japan in the beginning of the 19th century.
In 1797 he was commissioned by the Dutch from Batavia to take the ship ''Eliza of New York'' to Nagasaki ...
Notes
References
* Gourlay, Walter E. (2008)
"A Camel for the Shogun: William Robert Stewart and the Deshima Connection" (abstract paper)
ASPAC 2008. Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives, University of Victoria University of Victoria
The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary insti ...
, British Columbia
* . (1963). ''Historical documents relating to Japan in foreign countries: an inventory of microfilm acquisitions in the library of the Historiographical Institute, the University of Tokyo.''
* Janetta, Ann Bowman. (2007).
The Vaccinators: Smallpox, Medical Knowledge, and the "Opening" of Japan
'' Stanford: Stanford University Press
Stanford University Press (SUP) is the publishing house of Stanford University. It is one of the oldest academic presses in the United States and the first university press to be established on the West Coast. It was among the presses officiall ...
. ;
* Vialle, Cynthia and Ton Vermeulen. (1997). ''The Deshima Dagregisters: Their Original Tables of Contents, Vol. 10, 1790-1800.'' Leiden: Institute for the History of European Expansion.
External links
* De VOC site
Dejima history, ''opperhoofden''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ras, Leopold William
1760s births
1823 deaths
Dutch chiefs of factory in Japan
Dutch expatriates in Japan
Businesspeople from Antwerp