Jan Samuel Timmerman Thijssen

Jan Samuel Timmerman Thijssen (1783 – 15 January 1823) was a Dutch trader who served as Governor of Malacca from 1818 to 1823.

Early life Jan Samuel Timmerman Thijssen was born in 1783 and became a leading Dutch merchant. Whilst in the Dutch East Indies he became a friend of Thomas Stamford Raffles, who was governor during the British occupation of Java from 1811 to 1816.

Governor of Malacca In 1818, he went to Malacca after the British agreed to allow the Dutch to retake possession of the town which the Dutch had previously captured from the Portuguese and held since 1641, it having been briefly relinquished to the British during the Napoleonic Wars (1803 to 1815). There he met British Resident William Farquhar, who handed over control of the town to Thijssen, as the head of the Dutch commissioners, and Thijssen was installed as the Governor of Malacca. and, despite the friendship between the two men, Thijssen, during his governorship, threatened to send troops to capture the island.

Death Thijssen died on 15 January 1823 whilst in office. The circumstances surrounding his death have never been established which has given rise to speculation as to the cause of death at age 40. No identifiable grave has been found.