[2] Tonneboeijer began his career as clerk at the harbour master's office in Willemsoord, a farmers colony established by the Society of Humanitarianism.
[3][4][5] His application in 1831 was turned down for a lack of vacancies, but when a vacancy did open a year later, the minister of colonies himself approached Tonneboeijer for the job, as a voluntary application of a young man of impeccable behaviour was particularly rare for a place which was notorious for its bad health conditions and below-average pay.
Adventurism may well have been a reason for Tonneboeijer to apply for this position, but one must also note that his service excluded him from being drafted in the national army, which in theory was still at war with Belgium.
[1] Tonneboeijer was finally appointed to service on the Gold Coast by a royal decree dated 17 January 1833.
He was appointed provisional resident on 12 May 1834 and became Acting Commander of the Dutch Gold Coast on 2 December 1836, when his predecessor Christiaan Lans left for the Netherlands.