Joan Gideon Loten
Encyclopedia
Joan Gideon Loten (16 May 1710 – 25 February 1789) was a Dutch servant in the colonies of the Dutch East India Company
(VOC), Fellow of the Royal Society
(elected 1760) and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London
(elected 1761). During his time in the colonies he made collections of natural history. In 1758 he moved to Holland
. Nine months after his return from the Dutch East Indies
he moved to London, were he lived for 22 years and interacted with scholarly societies and shared his natural history illustrations and collections.
, near Utrecht
he was the eldest son of secrtary of the waterboard Joan Carel Loten (1669 - 1769) and Arnoldina Maria van Aerssen van Juchen (1685 - 1775). The Loten family originally came from the Southern Netherlands
. Circa 1720 Loten lived with his parents and younger brother Arnout (1719-1801) in Utrecht
. In 1726 he was a student of the Utrecht University
. One of his teachers was Pieter van Musschenbroek
. In March 1728 he left University and became a clerk of the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company
. By means of patronage of members of his family Loten was appointed junior merchant of the Company in 1731.
with the East India man Beekvliet and headed to Batavia (Jakarta). Eleven years later he was elected Governor of Makassar
(Ujung Pandang) (1744-1750). In 1752 he became Governor of Ceylon
(1752-1757). In 1749 he was elected Councillor of the Dutch East Indies
and thus obtained a seat in the government of the Dutch East India Company at Batavia
. He was a capable administrator. He was usually respectful of the native population and did not exercise immoderate forms of supremacy. There is nothing to indicate that he pursued personal wealth by means considered improper or ruthless by his contemporaries. Although he was successful in the Dutch East Indies, in later years he became embittered against the Company and the way the Court of directors in Amsterdam and the Government at Batavia treated its former servants.
. He returned to his homeland with an estimated fortune of about 700,000 Dutch guilders. Part of this East Indian fortune came from private trading and emoluments resulting from his offices.The majority of his Indian capital came from the legacy of Nathanael Steinmetz, a former governor and director of Amboyna
. The capital afforded Loten financial independence during the rest of his life. Once he returned to the Dutch Republic, he felt like an outsider, excluded from the circles of the aristocratic and patrician class and estranged from his orthodox and narrow-minded Utrecht Calvinistic relatives. This led him to travel to England scarcely nine months after his return from the East Indies. Loten lived in London with several interruptions for twenty two years. The city’s amusements and cosmopolitan intellectual atmosphere gave him a feeling of freedom.
Although his early efforts to integrate into English society suggest an inclination towards the British way of life, Loten ultimately remained a Dutchman in his tastes and sympathies. This became increasingly prominent during his stay in England. In the 1770s, his feelings towards his British acquaintances, and towards British society in general, changed. After the outbreak of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
in 1780.In November 1781 he returned to Utrecht.
February 25, 1789 Loten died in is house Cour de Loo at the Utrecht Drift. He was buried in the Utrecht
s Jacobikerk. In the London Westminster Abbey
an impressive monument, made by Thomas Banks
, was erected in his memory in 1795 (see illustration).
, astronomical
, genealogical
and medical literature of his era. Loten’s activities as a collector were those of a virtuoso
in the sense that his interest in natural phenomena was based purely upon a fascination with exotic nature and its unique and rare components. In Engeland he came in touch with naturalists in the just founded British Museum
. He donated watercolours, stuffed birds and mineral stones to the British Museum. Joseph Banks
was in Londen Loten’s neighbour. Joseph Banks, the later President of the Royal Society
, accompanied Captain James Cook as a private naturalist on the HMS Endeavour
(1768-1771). Thanks to Banks, the gentleman naturalist Thomas Pennant
and ‘the father of British ornithology’ George Edwards, Loten’s natural history collection was copied and described in several 18th-century English natural history books.
At present the Loten collection is preserved in the London Natural History Museum
, British Library
, Teylers Museum
in Haarlem
, Rijksprentenkabinet in Amsterdam
and Nationaal Archief
in The Hague
. Documents concerning his colonial career are in the national archive in the Hague. Personal memoirs and letters are dispersed over various collections in England and the Netherlands.
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
(VOC), Fellow of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
(elected 1760) and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
(elected 1761). During his time in the colonies he made collections of natural history. In 1758 he moved to Holland
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
. Nine months after his return from the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
he moved to London, were he lived for 22 years and interacted with scholarly societies and shared his natural history illustrations and collections.
Early years
Joan Gideon Loten, born in GroenekanGroenekan
Groenekan is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of De Bilt, and lies about 3 km west of Bilthoven.In 2001, the village of Groenekan had 829 inhabitants...
, near Utrecht
Utrecht
Utrecht is a city in the Netherlands.The name may also refer to:* Utrecht , of which Utrecht is the capital* Utrecht , including the city of Utrecht* Bishopric of Utrecht* Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht...
he was the eldest son of secrtary of the waterboard Joan Carel Loten (1669 - 1769) and Arnoldina Maria van Aerssen van Juchen (1685 - 1775). The Loten family originally came from the Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands
Southern Netherlands were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain , Austria and annexed by France...
. Circa 1720 Loten lived with his parents and younger brother Arnout (1719-1801) in Utrecht
Utrecht
Utrecht is a city in the Netherlands.The name may also refer to:* Utrecht , of which Utrecht is the capital* Utrecht , including the city of Utrecht* Bishopric of Utrecht* Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht...
. In 1726 he was a student of the Utrecht University
Utrecht University
Utrecht University is a university in Utrecht, Netherlands. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe. Established March 26, 1636, it had an enrollment of 29,082 students in 2008, and employed 8,614 faculty and staff, 570 of which are full professors....
. One of his teachers was Pieter van Musschenbroek
Pieter van Musschenbroek
Pieter van Musschenbroek was a Dutch scientist. He was a professor in Duisburg, Utrecht, and Leiden, where he held positions in mathematics, philosophy, medicine, and astrology. He is credited with the invention of the first capacitor in 1746: the Leyden jar. He performed pioneering work on the...
. In March 1728 he left University and became a clerk of the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
. By means of patronage of members of his family Loten was appointed junior merchant of the Company in 1731.
Servant in the Dutch East Indies
In January 1732 he left the Dutch RepublicDutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
with the East India man Beekvliet and headed to Batavia (Jakarta). Eleven years later he was elected Governor of Makassar
Makassar
Makassar, is the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and the largest city on Sulawesi Island. From 1971 to 1999, the city was named Ujung Pandang, after a precolonial fort in the city, and the two names are often used interchangeably...
(Ujung Pandang) (1744-1750). In 1752 he became Governor of Ceylon
Dutch period in Ceylon
Ceylon was a governorate of the Dutch East India Company between 1658 and 1798 on the island currently known as Sri Lanka.In the early 17th century, Sri Lanka was partly ruled by the Portuguese and the Sinhala kingdom, who were constantly battling each other...
(1752-1757). In 1749 he was elected Councillor of the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
and thus obtained a seat in the government of the Dutch East India Company at Batavia
History of Jakarta
The history of Jakarta begins with its first recorded mention as a Hindu port settlement in the 4th century. Ever since, the city had been variously claimed by the Indianized kingdom of Tarumanegara, Hindu Kingdom of Sunda, Muslim Sultanate of Banten, Dutch East Indies, Empire of Japan, and finally...
. He was a capable administrator. He was usually respectful of the native population and did not exercise immoderate forms of supremacy. There is nothing to indicate that he pursued personal wealth by means considered improper or ruthless by his contemporaries. Although he was successful in the Dutch East Indies, in later years he became embittered against the Company and the way the Court of directors in Amsterdam and the Government at Batavia treated its former servants.
Back to Europe
In 1758 Loten repatriated as Admiral of the Return Fleet in the Dutch RepublicDutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
. He returned to his homeland with an estimated fortune of about 700,000 Dutch guilders. Part of this East Indian fortune came from private trading and emoluments resulting from his offices.The majority of his Indian capital came from the legacy of Nathanael Steinmetz, a former governor and director of Amboyna
Ambon Island
Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of , and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of 2 territories: The main city and seaport is Ambon , which is also the capital of Maluku province and Maluku Tengah Ambon Island is part of the...
. The capital afforded Loten financial independence during the rest of his life. Once he returned to the Dutch Republic, he felt like an outsider, excluded from the circles of the aristocratic and patrician class and estranged from his orthodox and narrow-minded Utrecht Calvinistic relatives. This led him to travel to England scarcely nine months after his return from the East Indies. Loten lived in London with several interruptions for twenty two years. The city’s amusements and cosmopolitan intellectual atmosphere gave him a feeling of freedom.
Although his early efforts to integrate into English society suggest an inclination towards the British way of life, Loten ultimately remained a Dutchman in his tastes and sympathies. This became increasingly prominent during his stay in England. In the 1770s, his feelings towards his British acquaintances, and towards British society in general, changed. After the outbreak of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
Anglo-Dutch Wars
The Anglo–Dutch Wars were a series of wars fought between the English and the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries for control over the seas and trade routes. The first war took place during the English Interregnum, and was fought between the Commonwealth of England and the Dutch Republic...
in 1780.In November 1781 he returned to Utrecht.
February 25, 1789 Loten died in is house Cour de Loo at the Utrecht Drift. He was buried in the Utrecht
Utrecht
Utrecht is a city in the Netherlands.The name may also refer to:* Utrecht , of which Utrecht is the capital* Utrecht , including the city of Utrecht* Bishopric of Utrecht* Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht...
s Jacobikerk. In the London Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
an impressive monument, made by Thomas Banks
Thomas Banks
Thomas Banks , English sculptor, son of a surveyor who was land steward to the Duke of Beaufort, was born in London. He was taught drawing by his father, and in 1750 was apprenticed to a woodcarver. In his spare time he worked at sculpture, spending his evenings in the studio of the Flemish émigré...
, was erected in his memory in 1795 (see illustration).
Loten’s contribution to natural history
Loten was well versed in the zoologicalZoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
, astronomical
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, genealogical
Genealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
and medical literature of his era. Loten’s activities as a collector were those of a virtuoso
Virtuoso
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
in the sense that his interest in natural phenomena was based purely upon a fascination with exotic nature and its unique and rare components. In Engeland he came in touch with naturalists in the just founded British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. He donated watercolours, stuffed birds and mineral stones to the British Museum. Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...
was in Londen Loten’s neighbour. Joseph Banks, the later President of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, accompanied Captain James Cook as a private naturalist on the HMS Endeavour
HMS Endeavour
HMS Endeavour may refer to one of the following ships:In the Royal Navy:, a 36-gun ship purchased in 1652 and sold in 1656, a 4-gun bomb vessel purchased in 1694 and sold in 1696, a fire ship purchased in 1694 and sold in 1696, a storeship hoy purchased in 1694 and sold in 1705, a storeship...
(1768-1771). Thanks to Banks, the gentleman naturalist Thomas Pennant
Thomas Pennant
Thomas Pennant was a Welsh naturalist and antiquary.The Pennants were a Welsh gentry family from the parish of Whitford, Flintshire, who had built up a modest estate at Bychton by the seventeenth century...
and ‘the father of British ornithology’ George Edwards, Loten’s natural history collection was copied and described in several 18th-century English natural history books.
At present the Loten collection is preserved in the London Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
, British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
, Teylers Museum
Teylers Museum
Teyler's Museum , located in Haarlem, is the oldest museum in the Netherlands. The museum is in the former home of Pieter Teyler van der Hulst . He was a wealthy cloth merchant and Amsterdam banker of Scottish descent, who bequeathed his fortune for the advancement of religion, art and science...
in Haarlem
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
, Rijksprentenkabinet in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and Nationaal Archief
Nationaal Archief
The Nationaal Archief is the national archive of the Netherlands, located in The Hague. It houses collections for the central government, the province of Zuid-Holland, and the former County of Holland. There is also material from private institutions and individuals with an association to the Dutch...
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. Documents concerning his colonial career are in the national archive in the Hague. Personal memoirs and letters are dispersed over various collections in England and the Netherlands.
Source
- A.J.P.Raat: The life of Governor Joan Gideon Loten (1710-1789). Hilversum, Uitgeverij Verloren, 2010. ISBN 9789087041519