Background
Derx was born in Nijmegen to Johan Henrich Derx, who was originally from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, contemporary Germany, and Maria Christina Lijtgen from Zaltbommel.
Derx was born in Nijmegen to Johan Henrich Derx, who was originally from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, contemporary Germany, and Maria Christina Lijtgen from Zaltbommel.
Little is known about his life before he arrived at the Gold Coast in 1837. During governor Van der Eb"s year-long leave to the Netherlands, Derx was acting governor. During this first period at the Gold Coast, Derx married Jacoba Araba Bartels, daughter of the Euro-African trader Carel Hendrik Bartels, with whom he had three sons.
He briefly returned to the Gold Coast in 1856 to serve as Governor and Government Commissioner, but left office already a year later.
In his later life, Derx was a member of the Haarlem municipal council, serving from 1865 until 1889.