Cornelis Hiddingh - Dutch Envoy To South Africa

Dutch Envoy To South Africa

In 1855 King Willem III of the Netherlands appointed Hiddingh his special envoy to the newly formed Boer republics of the Orange Free State and Transvaal. The visit to the Orange Free State was special, as the main purpose was to present a flag and coat-of-arms, as a gift from King Willem III to the government and people of the Republic. The initiative for the design and production of both parafernalia had come from state president Hoffman and government secretary Groenendaal of the Orange Free State. However, Hofmann was no longer in office when Hiddingh arrived and the new state president, Boshoff, was in the dark about the parafernalia ordered by his predecessor. Boshoff was very cautious, in order not to offend the British government, and hesitated to receive Hiddingh in an official capacity.In response Groenendaal and Landdrost Smellekamp started a press offensive against Boshoff in newspapers in both Bloemfontein and Cape Town, strongly condemning Boshoff for his actions. The latter then had no choice but to dismiss both. Obviously, Hiddingh felt less than welcome on the occasion. However, it dit not deter him from executing his mission and becoming a lifelong supporter of the republic and it people. His successful mission to South Africa earned Hiddingh the gratitude of King and government in the form of a knighthood in the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

The Dutch government had also charged Hiddingh with another diplomatic mission. He was asked to discretely inform the government of the Orange Free State that consul Lauts was perhaps not the best person to represent the republic, and propose a replacement. Hiddingh had Jacob Spengler in mind, president of the Amsterdam Chamber of Commerce. The Volksraad adopted the proposal and decided to offer Spengler the position. However, State President Boshoff did not give a follow-up to the decision, and consequently Spengler was never appointed or even asked.

Hiddingh continued his trip with a visit to the South African Republic which had some hiccups as well. His opinion about that country and its government was probably already negatively influenced by Smellekamp, who had left the Transvaal under a cloud several years before, and with whom Hiddingh had lodged in Bloemfontein. Hiddingh avoided a meeting with state president M.W. Pretorius and showed a lack of understanding about the character of the South African Republic, its government, and people in the report about his trip.