George Pieter Willem Boers (born 3 February 1811 – 30 August 1884) was a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

of the

Royal Netherlands East Indies Army The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The ...

, who after his retirement served as Governor of the

Dutch Gold Coast The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea (Dutch: ''Nederlandse Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea'') was a portion of contemporary Ghana that was gradually colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 1612. ...

Biography

George Boers was born in

Hazerswoude Hazerswoude is a former municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland. It contained the towns of Hazerswoude-Dorp and Hazerswoude-Rijndijk Hazerswoude-Rijndijk is a Dutch village located in the province of South Holland. It is a part of the ...

to Charles Guillaume Boers and Henriette Marie Gertrude l'Honore. After the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. T ...

, Boers was mobilised for the Ten Days' Campaign, becoming

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

with the Second Battalion of the First Division of the

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

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 ...

. In 1842, Boers sailed to the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

to join the

Royal Dutch East Indies Army The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The ...

. The journal he kept during his journey from

Hellevoetsluis Hellevoetsluis () is a small city and municipality in the western Netherlands. It is located in Voorne-Putten, South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and it includes the population centres Nieuw-Helvoet, Nieuwenhoorn ...

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

was posthumously published by a relative. Boers retired from the Dutch East Indies Army as a

. In 1867, after his retirement from the army, Boers was installed governor of the

. His most important task was to ensure the smooth transition of power on the forts interchanged with the United Kingdom on 1 January 1868. The trade proved a disaster, however, and Boers was blamed for not dealing with the situation well. After the wealthy Elmina merchant

George Emil Eminsang George Emil Eminsang (ca. 1833 – May 1898) was a prominent Euro-African merchant and political leader on the Gold Coast, who played a prominent role in the last years of Dutch colonial rule on the Gold Coast. After the Dutch Gold Coast was tra ...

and military commander L.H. Meijer went on a mission to

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 ...

to discuss the situation, the Dutch Minister of the Colonies Engelbertus de Waal recalled Boers and replaced him with the experienced

Cornelis Nagtglas Cornelis Johannes Marius Nagtglas (born 16 May 1814 – 19 January 1897) was a Dutch politician and civil servant, who made a career in the administration on the Dutch Gold Coast. After originally beginning his career at the advanced age of 3 ...

, who had been governor of the Dutch Gold Coast before.

Publication

Dagboek Hellevoetsluis 11-5-1842 - Batavia 20-9-1842 van George Pieter Willem Boers (1811-1887)
(Posthumously published by H.R. van der Woude)

Personal life

Boers married Johanna Sophia Catharina van Reede van Oudtshoorn on 27 March 1850 in

Semarang Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. ...

in the

. They had three sons and four daughters. Boers died on 30 August 1884 in

Salatiga Salatiga ( jv, ꦯꦭꦠꦶꦒ) is a Cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java province, Indonesia. It covers an area of and had a population of 192,322 at the 2020 Indonesian census, 2020 Census. Located between the cities of Semarang and Sura ...

on the island of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

in the

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boers, Georg Pieter Willem 1811 births 1884 deaths Colonial governors of the Dutch Gold Coast People from Hazerswoude Royal Netherlands East Indies Army officers