Cornelis Reinhard Vaillant (26 May 1781 – 9 January 1849) was a Dutch lawyer, judge, and colonial governor. He served as

Governor of Suriname This is a list of colonial governors of Suriname, a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. Suriname was first colonized by the British ...

from 19 July 1816 until 1 April 1822, and as judge on the

Supreme Court of the Netherlands The Supreme Court of the Netherlands ( nl, Hoge Raad der Nederlanden 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 ...

from 1838 until 1849.

Biography

Vaillant was born on 26 May 1781 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

. In 1805, he graduated law at the University of Leiden. In 1811, he started to work as clerk to the ''Cour Impériale en Hollande''. In 1815, he became advocate general at the High Court in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. In 1816, Vaillant went to Surinam where he was appointed ' (prosecutor general) for the Court of Justice. Governor Willem van Panhuys died on 18 July 1816. The next day, Vaillant became acting

. The two regiments in Suriname during the British occupation (1804-1816) had been disbanded, and a temporary corps of Coloureds and Free Negroes had taken its place. In December 1816, the ''

schutterij Schutterij () refers to a voluntary city guard or citizen militia in the medieval and early modern Netherlands, intended to protect the town or city from attack and act in case of revolt or fire. Their training grounds were often on open spaces w ...

'' (militia) was created which was divided in a White, Coloured and Free Negro division. In 1817, the first school law of Suriname passed which outlawed cruel punishment except for moderate birching. The

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

had been outlawed on 13 August 1814, however it continued illegally much to the dismay of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. On 4 May 1818, a joint Anglo-Dutch court was established. In 1821, there was a large fire in Paramaribo which destroyed a large part of the centre. In 1822, Vaillant requested to be relieved, and was replaced by

Abraham de Veer Abraham de Veer (born 8 January 1767 – 1 February 1838) was a Dutch colonial administrator, who served as governor of Curaçao (1803–1804); the Dutch Gold Coast (1810–1816); Sint Eustatius, Saba (island), Saba and Sint Maarten (1817–18 ...

on 1 April. On 3 February 1823, Vaillent was appointed judge on the High Court in The Hague, and on 1 June 1838, he was appointed judge on the

. Vaillent died on 9 January 1849 in The Hague, at the age of 67.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaillant, Cornelis 1781 births 1849 deaths Lawyers from Amsterdam Governors of Suriname Supreme Court of the Netherlands justices 19th-century Surinamese lawyers Leiden University alumni 19th-century Dutch lawyers