[3] In 1755, Gedney Clarke, a Barbados merchant requested political representation,[4] therefore the administration was moved to the island of Borsselen,[3] 20 miles (32 km) upriver near plantation Soesdyke which was owned by the Governor Laurens Storm van 's Gravesande.

[5] Two administrative buildings, a small fort and barracks were built on the island.

[3] The decision was criticised, because the island was hard to defend,[6] and the planters had started to build houses around the guard post near the mouth of the river.

[3] In 1765, Jan Cornelis van den Heuvel became governor of Demarara.

Van den Heuvel owned plantation de Parel across from the island, but the Dutch West India Company forced him to move to the island with his assistants and clerks.