Gerrit Bicker

[1] Born in Amsterdam, Gerrit Bicker was the son of Pieter Pietersz Bicker (1522–1585), a brewer and Amsterdam ambassador to Danzig, and Lijsbeth Benningh, Banninck (an ancestor of Frans Banninck Cocq[2]).

[3] In 1585 Bicker was one of the richest merchants in Amsterdam, initially living on the Oudezijds Achterburgwal and later on the Niezel.

In 1590 he was elected to the town council and six years later he not only became one of the founding directors of the Compagnie van Verre but also invested in Uilenburg, whilst also involved in the sale of plots of land.

In 1597 he and his brother Laurens established the Compagnie van Guinee to trade with Guinea and on the Río de la Plata in South America.

In 1601 Gerard le Roy and Laurens Bicker led the twelfth Dutch expedition to the east Indies, paid for by the Vereenigde Zeeuwse Compagnie (United Zeeland Company), a 'voorcompagnie'.