Abstract
Then, in 1882, the “Annual Report” of the Department of Mines has an inconspicuous, yet most interesting entry under the heading “prospecting by private persons”1:
“No further news has been received regarding a petroleum concession granted by the Pangeran of Langkat (NE Sumatra) to a European”.
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References
“AR/DoM”, 1882, Vol. 11, part II, p. 137.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. 1, p. 57.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. I, p. 58, 59.
See also “AR/DoM”, 1890, Vol. 19, p. 9.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. I, p. 59.
“Telaga” = an oil seep converted into an oil pit by the local people.
“AR/DoM”, 1887, Vol. 16, part II, p. 194.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. I, p. 64.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. I, p. 66.
“AR/DoM”, 1885, Vol. 14, p. 328.
Called by that name by J.B.A. Kessler in a letter which was quoted by F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. I, p. 129.
From a travel report by Professor Dr Giesenhagen, when he visited the Deli plantations in the 1890’s. Quoted in T.J. Bezemer, l.c., p. 61 – 86.
“AR/DoM”, 1890, Vol. 19, p. 1 – 9.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. I, p. 70.
G.P.A. Renaud, “AR/DoM”, 1890, Vol. 19, p. 1 – 9.
“AR/DoM”, 1888, Vol. 17, p. 115, 116.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. I, p. 71.
Otto van Rees (b. 1823, Culemborg, d. 1892, Arnhem). His qualities enabled him to serve the Dutch government both in the Netherlands (in Parliament and Cabinet) and also overseas in many capacities. He was successively Commissioner of Kedu, Bagelen, and Surabaya, and Member and later Vice-President of the Council of the Indies, till 1878. He played an important role in the reshaping of the Preanger coffee-tax regime, which led to less arbitrariness in local levies and to an increase in prosperity for the local population. “King Otto” became Governor-General in 1884 but continuing revolts and riots made him resign in 1888. The importance of his presence at the cradle of the Royal Dutch can hardly be overestimated.
Reinder Fennema (b. 1849, Sneek; drowned November 1896 in Lake Posso during a geological survey of N Celebes). A mining engineer from Delft who joined the Department of Mines in 1874. Extensive geological field work in Sumatra (1874 – 1879), and S Java (1880). Credited with the discovery (in the S Seraju Mountains in 1880) of the Java “subcrop”, the “schiefer-formation”, which discordantly underlies the Java tertiary and quaternary formations and volcanic rocks. Also served with the G.D.S., drilling wells for artesian water in the Departments of Surabaya and Semarang, and later in Medan (1887 – 1888). An extensive obituary by his friend R.D.M. Verbeek was published in 1903 by the “Landsdrukkerij” in Batavia.
G.P.A. Renaud, “AR/DoM”, 1890, Vol. 19, p. 1 – 9.
A. Stoop, “Rapport over de Petroleum Industrie in Noord Amerika”, “AR/DoM”, 1888, Vol. 17, p. 5 – 269. “Stoop’s Bible”, as it came to be called, was the extensive and detailed account of his inventory of the U.S.A. and Canadian know-how and experience.
G.P.A. Renaud, “AR/DoM”, 1890, Vol. 19, p. 1 – 9.
“AR/DoM”, 1889, Vol. 18, p. 96, 97 publishes details of this mishap.
“AR/DoM”, 1890, Vol. 19, p. 179.
R. Fennema, “AR/DoM”, 1890,Vol. 19, p. 10 – 90.
R. Fennema, “AR/DoM”, 1890, Vol. 19, p. 15 – 17.
R. Fennema, “AR/DoM”, 1890, Vol. 19, p. 89, 90.
From a letter of Royal Dutch Company Director J. A. de Gelder, quoted in F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. I, p. 101, 102.
“AR/DoM”, 1891, Vol. 20, p. 40.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. I, p. 89. In the early 1980’s the author personally visited 3 Singapore cemeteries but could not locate Zijlker’s grave.
J.B.A. Kessler, b. December 15, 1853, Batavia; d. December 14, 1900, Naples, Italy.
H. Gabriels, “Koninklijke Olie: de eerste honderd jaar”, Shell Internationale Petroleum Maatschappij”, Den Haag, 1990, p. 15.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. I, p. 131.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. I, p. 133.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. I and II.
About 420 km2, or 105,000 acres. An enormous acreage, compared with the modest 500 bouws (3.5 km2 or 875 acres) requested by and granted to Zijlker.
“AR/DoM”, 1894, Vol. 23, p. 51 – 53.
“AR/DoM”, 1895, Vol. 24, p. 86, 87.
“AR/DoM”, 1896, Vol. 25, p. 72.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. I, p. 269, 270.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. I, 256.
“AR/DoM”, 1898, Vol. 27, p. 35, 36. Concession granted in 1896 to the “Maatschappij tot mijn- en boschbouw exploitatie in Langkat”.
“AR/DoM”, 1898, Vol. 27, p. 36. Concession granted to the “SUMATRA Petroleum Maatschappij”.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. I, p. 258, 259, Vol. II, p. 138 ff.
One of his descendants, the historian Henriette van Voorst Vader, has written an extensive biography of Adriaan Stoop: “Leven en Laten Leven”, Schuyt & Co., Haarlem, 1994; it makes fascinating reading for historians of modern technology. It has been liberally used in the following sections. She also graciously provided me with texts of personal memories of her ancestors.
Archief Stoop (in Gemeente Archief Bloemendaal). Text in: A. Stoop, “Overdenkingen en conclusies…”, 1920.
In his Surabaya posting in 1880 Stoop probably met and succeeded Reinder Fennema.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. II, p. 202.
When shares were issued in 1891 in connection with expansion of its working capital the “Dordsche” was renamed “DORDTSCHE Petroleum Maatschappij”.
“AR/DoM”, 1888, Vol. 17, p. 5 – 269; for many years Stoop’s report would remain the main source of technical know-how for the mining engineers.
Archief Stoop, l.c., p. 8.
As mentioned before (Junghuhn, Bleeker, De Groot/De Grève).
H. van Voorst Vader, l.c., p. 80, 81.
H. van Voorst Vader, l.c., p. 80, 81.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. II, p. 207.
“AR/DoM”, 1890, Vol. 19, p. 176.
Stoop’s wife, Wimelmina van Deventer (1859 – 1934).
Jonkheer C.H.A. van der Wijck (b. March 29, 1840, Amboina; d. July 8, 1914, Baarn). Served the Administration overseas as Commissioner, Vice-President of the “Raad van Indië” (Council of the East Indies) and as Governor-General 1893 – 1899.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. II, p. 208, 209.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. II, p. 208.
“AR/DoM”, 1891, Vol. 20, p. 40.
H. van Voorst Vader, l.c., p. 93, 94.
“AR/DoM”, 1891, Vol. 20, p. 94 – 96.
H. van Voorst Vader, l.c., p. 99.
“AR/DoM”, 1894, Vol. 23, p. 48.
“AR/DoM”, 1894, Vol. 23, p. 49, 50.
“AR/DoM”, 1894, Vol. 23, p. 186.
“AR/DoM”, 1895, Vol. 24, p. 82 – 84. This area is listed already in the oil-seep reviews of De Groot/De Greve and Von Baumhauer.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. II, p. 212.
Stoop immediately explored the oil-seep jungle in detail; in a small stream he observed a clear “saddle” and decided upon that site as his test-well location (ref. H. van Voorst Vader, l.c., p. 117,118).
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. II, p. 212,213.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. II, p. 213.
Adriaan Stoop and his family made their retirement home in Bloemendaal, from where he enjoyed almost 40 more years of active life. Numerous charities and starting entrepreneurs could count on his benevolence. He was also instrumental in developing a mineral-water source named Wiessee at the western edge of the Tegern See, (in southern Bayern, Germany), into a large spa. The pioneer of Java oil industry passed away on September 7, 1935 in his beloved Bloemendaal home.
H. van Voorst Vader, l.c., p. 142, 143.
Data assembled from the 1895 – 1898 Annual Reports of the Department of Mines, which include the oil-exploration reviews covering the years 1893 – 1895. See also Chapter 6.
These exploitation rights were incorporated in the “JAVA Petroleum Company”, founded in 1896 in Amsterdam. (See Chap. 6.3)
This exploitation concession was incorporated in the “NEDERLANDSCH-INDISCHE Petroleum Maatschappij”, founded in Amsterdam in March 1896.
“AR/DoM”, 1899, Vol. 28, p. 40 – 43.
Jacobus Hubertus Menten, (b. Roermond, March 12, 1833, d. the Hague, June 9, 1920). He obtained his degree in mining engineering at Delft in 1860.
Adriaan Stoop, (1818 – 1888), brewer and later banker in Dordrecht.
Hooze’s report includes a map of the area, and is published in the “AR/DoM”, 1888, Vol. 17; p. 330 – 332 cover his oil seep observations.
“AR/DoM”, 1890, Vol. 19, p. 182.
“AR/DoM”, 1891, Vol. 20, p. 96.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. II, p. 161.
D. Yergin, “The Prize”, publ. Simon & Schuster Ltd, London, 1991., p. 115
H. van Voorst Vader, l.c., p. 122.
Geographical Handbook, British Naval Intelligence Division, “Netherlands East Indies”, April 1944, Vol. I, p. 225 – 227.
D. Yergin, l.c., p. 115/116.
D. Yergin, l.c., p. 116.
See, among other publications, the thesis of the German mining engineer H. Jezler, “Das Oelfeld Sanga-Sanga in Kutei”, Berlin, 1916, p. 6.
Granted early 1898.
Even during his oil exploits Menten’s mind remained open to new possibilities: he prospected for silver in NE Borneo and obtained a silver/lead mining concession for Bukit Pondok. Towards the end of the century Menten returned to the Netherlands for a well-earned retirement. The “Royal Dutch/Shell honored him by naming one of its ships after him: the “J.H. Menten”. Menten remains the pioneer of the oil production and the industrial development of East Borneo. For further details on Menten also see “de Ingenieur”, 1920, no. 10, p. 162 – 164.
“de Ingenieur”, 1920, no. 10, p. 164.
Shell World, 1982, no. 1, p. 21.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. II, p. 327.
“Muara” means “mouth” (of a river), like in “Ply-mouth”.
“AR/DoM”, 1890, part I, p. 144.
Sarcode = fleshlike substance, protoplasm. Here probably meaning: remains of animal origin.
R.D.M. Verbeek and R. Fennema, “Geologische beschrijving van Java en Madura”, Amsterdam, 1896, 2 parts, p. 1000.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. II, p. 49.
Hugo Loudon (b. June 18, 1860, the Hague; d. September 6, 1941, Wassenaar). He graduated in Delft in 1885. Would soon deputize for J.B.A. Kessler. Would become Director of the Royal Dutch in 1902. Was President of the Company Board till 1936. The Langkat operations — where he made many friends among the rulers — and his offices were blessed by his integrity, his technical competence and his amiable nature.
Dominicus Antonius Josephus Kessler (b. August 21, 1855, Batavia; d. September 10, 1939, Kapelle op den Bosch, Belgium). He left his plantation near Garut (W Java) for oil exploration and — later — production management. Already early in the 20th century he gave up his Sumatran exploits, and returned to the Netherlands. In the Hague he served the community, a.o. on the town council and in several (private) charities. In 1921 his concern for the homeless in the Hague led him to finance the building of a permanent “home for the homeless” (522 de la Reyweg), and also its extension several years later. His foundation (later named “the Kessler Stichting”, after him) still serves the hundreds of homeless in the Hague.
F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. II, p. 50, 51.
The Kubu tribe had, from times immemorial, lived in isolation as hunters/gatherers on the produce of the forest. No wonder the “need to work” of “civilization” was lost on them.
Henri Wilhelm August Deterding (b. August 19, 1866, Amsterdam; d. February 4, 1939, St. Moritz). Director-General of the Royal Dutch 1902. Board Director 1936 – 1939. Unequalled, constructive “empire-builder”, for the Royal Dutch/Shell.
J.B.A. Kessler did not live to see the crown on his work. His unyielding efforts had undermined his health, and, when returning to Europe for recovery (having first “greeted” the first Perlak oil), he died en route in Naples, Italy on December 14, 1900. As the Board of the Royal Dutch acknowledged: “Never have we known anybody who approached him in working power, in energy and in knowledge”. It was Kessler’s audacity, Kessler’s faith and Kessler’s indomitable pertinacity in the hour of trial which brought the Royal Dutch to where it stood when it lost him (F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. II, p. 172).
J.W. IJzerman (b. April 9, 1851, Leerdam; d. October 10, 1932, den Haag). T.J. Bezemer, in his “Door Nederlandsch Oost Indië”, l.c., p. 180, writes: — The German botanist Professor Giesenhagen remarks after meeting IJzerman: “The life and soul of the enterprise is the Dutch engineer IJzerman, who has contributed so much to the development of the resources of this beautiful country by his brilliant technological designs and his powerful drive, and who is also wellknown for his interesting and colorful portrayals of his cross-country travels.”
See also F.C. Gerretson, l.c., Vol. II, p. 333.
After his retirement IJzerman returned to the Netherlands, where he became Director of the “Muara Enim”, as well as a much-appreciated member of the Amsterdam Town Council and the Dutch House of Representatives. He was a major promotor of the Bandung Institute of Technology (founded in 1920).
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Poley, J.P. (2000). The Era of the Pioneers (1882 – 1898). In: Eroïca. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9568-1_5
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