Willem Benjamin van Panhuys (5 December 1764 – 18 July 1816) was a Dutch military officer, planter, 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 27 February 1816 until his death on 18 July.

Biography

Van Panhuys was born on 5 December 1764 in Maastricht, Dutch Republic. At the age of 14, he joined the army. On 24 April 1793, he had been promoted

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

, and fought against the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

in the Austrian Netherlands. He led his troops in the Battle of Fleurus who initially managed repel the French attack, but had to retreat ten days later. On 18 January 1795,

William V, Prince of Orange William V (Willem Batavus; 8 March 1748 – 9 April 1806) was a prince of Orange and the last stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. He went into exile to London in 1795. He was furthermore ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau until his death in ...

fled to Great Britain, and on 20 January, the Dutch army capitulated. Van Panhuys decided to move to Germany. In 1790, van Panhuys had married Alexandrine Elisabeth Reijnsdorp who owned the coffee and cotton plantation

Reijnsdorp Bakkie (old name: Reynsdorp) is a resort and town in Suriname, located in the Commewijne District. Its population was 447 at the 2012 census (541 at the 2004 census). Around 1902, the coffee plantation ''Reynsdorp'' was bought by the government an ...

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

. Alexandrine died on 10 September 1797, and by 1800, he was in Suriname which had been conquered by Great-Britain. On 8 November 1805, van Panhuys married Louise Fredericq Auguste, Baroness von Barckhaus Wiesenhütten. In 1811, they left for Suriname and bought plantation

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

in addition to his plantations of Reijnsdorp and . Louise was a watercolour painter who made many paintings of the landscape and nature. Surprisingly, she would often write down the names of the slaves in the pictures. In 1813, van Panhuys was in Great Britain, and on 27 November, he was appointed to lead a battalion in the

King's Dutch Brigade The King's Dutch Brigade was a brigade of the British army, organised by the Hereditary Prince of Orange out of former officers and lower ranks of the former Dutch States Army, deserters from the Batavian army, and mutineers from the Batavian fle ...

in the reconquest of the Netherlands. On 27 March 1814, his battalion landed in Hellevoetsluis to fight against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. On 11 April, after the reconquest, van Panhuys asked to be discharged which was granted on 10 May with a promotion to Major General. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, it was decided that Suriname should be returned to the Netherlands. On 18 January 1815, van Panhuys was appointed as

, however given the war in Europe, the instalment was delayed until Napoleon was defeated. In late 1815, he left the Netherlands with a 1,000 men, and arrived in Suriname in January 1816. On 26 February, Governor relinquished his command, and van Panhuys was installed on 27 February. Van Panhuys issued a proclamation which had been approved by the

States General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States ...

on 14 September 1815, that all

civil servants The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

and military personnel who had sworn loyalty to the British crown were now dismissed as well as all members of the

Court of Policy The Court of Policy was a legislative body in Dutch and British Guiana until 1928. For most of its existence it formed the Combined Court together with the six Financial Representatives. History The Court of Policy was established in 1732 by the ...

and Court of Justice. He also divided Suriname into eight

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

. After returning from Nieuw Amsterdam, van Panhuys fell ill, and died five days later on 18 July 1816, at the age of 51. His wife Louise would persist in her letters that he was murdered, however there is no evidence to the claim.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Panhuys, Willem Benjamin van 1764 births 1816 deaths People from Maastricht Governors of Suriname Dutch generals Dutch planters Dutch military commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Dutch slave owners