In a place that since the 16th century had been called Santo Amaro das Salinas, of “a plot of 120 feet wide by 200 deep, expropriating and giving that area to the English Consul.

Son of an English businessman from Liverpool, John Theodore Koster, Henry Koster was born in Lisbon, Portugal. The correct date of his birth is unknown, but his arrival in Recife, on 7 September 1809, states he was 25 years old.