Gerard Jacob Theodoor Beelaerts van Blokland (12 January 1843 – 14 March 1897) was a Dutch politician known for serving as European envoy for the

South African Republic The South African Republic (, abbreviated ZAR; ), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer republics, Boer republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it was annexed into the British Empire as a result ...

from 1884 to 1897, and as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1888 to 1891.

Biography

Early life

Gerard Jacob Theodoor was born in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, into the Beelaerts van Blokland family – an old Dutch patrician family and members of the Dutch nobility since 1815. His grandfather served as attorney-general and secretary of justice of the

Dutch Cape Colony The Cape of Good Hope () was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) supplystation in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original supply station and the successive states that the area was ...

and

British Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three other colonies ...

, respectively. His father was born in the Cape.

Career

After completing his studies, Beelaerts started his career working as lawyer at the

Supreme Court of the Netherlands The Supreme Court of the Netherlands ( or simply ''Hoge Raad''), officially the High Council of the Netherlands, is the final court of appeal in civil, criminal and tax cases in the Netherlands, including Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba. Th ...

and as clerk in the Netherlands Department of Justice eventually rising to the rank of legal secretary. As a lawyer, he was a member of various state committees. From 1883 until 1894, he served as member in the Dutch House of Representatives and as Speaker of the House from 1888 until 1891. He also served as member of the

Provincial Council of South Holland The Provincial Council of South Holland (), also known as the States of South Holland, is the provincial council of South Holland, Netherlands. It forms the legislative body of the province. Its 55 seats are distributed every four years in provi ...

from 1888 until 1892. He was appointed Knight of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch honours system, Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815. The Order of the Netherlands Lion wa ...

by royal decree. Gerard Jacob Theodoor Beelaerts van Blokland

The Beelaerts van Blokland family were orthodox Protestants and maintained a long-standing interest in South Africa. Beelaerts was a member of a committee to aid the cause of the Boers in the South African Republic. He served as legal adviser to the Boer delegation to London to review the

Pretoria Convention The Pretoria Convention was the peace treaty that ended the First Boer War (16 December 1880 to 23 March 1881) between the Transvaal Boers and Great Britain. The treaty was signed in Pretoria on 3 August 1881, but was subject to ratification b ...

of 1883. From 1884, Beelaerts served as resident for the South African Republic and from 1889, he served as envoy representing the South African Republic in Europe. He performed this function without compensation until his death in 1897. He also served as ''commissaire général'' of the South African delegation at the 1894 World Exhibition in Antwerp.

Death

Beelaerts died in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

on 14 March 1897. Archives relating to Beelaerts are located in the

Nationaal Archief The Nationaal Archief (NA) is the national archives of the Netherlands, located in The Hague. It houses collections for the central government, the province of South Holland, and the former County of Holland. There is also material from private in ...

in The Hague and the

Zuid-Afrikahuis The Zuid-Afrikahuis (; South Africa House) is a central information point on South Africa in Amsterdam and contains the largest library on South Africa in the Netherlands. The institution also organizes literary evenings with writers and poets as ...

in Amsterdam. A collection of South African objects gathered by Gerard Jacob Theodoor and his son Cornelis were donated to the

Museum Volkenkunde Wereldmuseum Leiden (also known as Museum Volkenkunde) is a List of Rijksmuseums, Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands located in the university city of Leiden. As of 2014, the museum, along with Wereldmuseum Amsterdam, in Amsterdam, and Wereldmuseum, ...

in Leiden in 1941, where they make up part of the South African collection.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beelaerts van Blokland, Gerard 1843 births 1897 deaths 19th-century Dutch diplomats Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Members of the Provincial Council of South Holland Politicians from Rotterdam People of the Second Boer War Diplomats of former countries South African Republic Diplomats from Rotterdam Lawyers from Rotterdam