Friedrich Last

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Friedrich Franz Ludwich Ulrich Last
Commander of the Dutch Gold Coast
In office
26 November 1827 – 28 April 1832
MonarchWilliam I of the Netherlands
Preceded byJacobus van der Breggen Paauw
Succeeded byJan Tieleman Jacobus Cremer
ad interim
In office
24 February 1824 – 3 January 1826
MonarchWilliam I of the Netherlands
Preceded byJohan David Carel Pagenstecher
Succeeded byJacobus van der Breggen Paauw
ad interim
In office
31 August 1821 – 14 February 1822
MonarchWilliam I of the Netherlands
Preceded byJohannes Oosthout
Succeeded byLibrecht Jan Temminck
Personal details
Born(1786-01-03)3 January 1786
Rostock, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Died7 May 1833(1833-05-07) (aged 47)
Kampen, Netherlands

Friedrich Franz Ludwich Ulrich Last (born 3 January 1786 – 7 May 1833) was a colonial administrator on the Gold Coast.

Biography[edit]

In 1828, during Last's term in office, Elmina was besieged by Fante, Wasa and other British-allied forces.

Friedrich Last was born in Rostock to Johann Christian Last and Catharina Maria Deichman. He was appointed assistant on the Dutch Gold Coast on 1 October 1815, as part of the new colonial administration under governor-general Herman Willem Daendels, and became bookkeeper and cashier on 10 April 1821.

Last served as interim commander between 31 August 1821 and 14 February 1822.[1][2] During his term in office, on 17 January 1822, Kwadwo Akyampon arrived in Elmina, who was sent by Asantehene Osei Tutu Kwame to establish an Asante residency in Elmina.[3] The purpose of this mission was to secure the loyalty of Elmina and of the Dutch to the Asante Empire, which at the time embroiled in increasingly escalating tensions with the British. After returning to Kumasi to report on his mission to Elmina to the Asantehene, Kwadwo Akyampon took up his residence in Elmina again on 23 July 1823.[4] He would remain in Elmina until his death in 1832.[5]

Last again served as commander ad interim between February 1824 and January 1826,[6][7] and from 26 November 1827,[8] before being appointed as full commander on 4 October 1828.

Another important development during Last's term in office was the commencing of the recruitment of soldiers for the Dutch East Indies Army on the Gold Coast. Captain at sea E. Lucas, who was sent by the Dutch government on a secret mission to the Gold Coast to investigate the possibility of recruitment, recommended to the Ministry of Colonies that recruitment was possible, which in turn responded by instructing Last on 29 June 1831 to assemble a trial detachment of 150 troops.[9][10] The instructions only reached Last on 26 November 1831, because the ship that carried the instructions was shipwrecked off the coast of Sierra Leone.[11] Only ten days later, the merchant ship Rotterdams Welvaren arrived at Elmina harbour to ship the recruits to Java. As a consequence of the short window for recruitment, the Rotterdams Welvaren set sail for Java on 17 December 1831 with only eighteen recruits on board.[12] Last reported back to the Ministry of Colonies that recruitment had not only proved problematic because of the short time window, but also because voluntary emigration was an unfamiliar concept in the region.[13][14] When two additional ships arrived in February 1832, the first one departed with nineteen recruits, and the second one with only seven.[15]

After having been in charge of the colony for three and a half years, Last left the Gold Coast in April 1832 for health reasons and was succeeded in quick succession by three interim commanders, two of whom died in office. Only in May 1833 did his successor Christiaan Lans arrive.[16]

Friedrich Last died in Kampen on 7 May 1833.

Reputation[edit]

Last was described by his British colleague George Maclean as "penurious even to meanness" when he refused Kwadwo Akyampon advance payment of kostgeld.[17]

Personal life[edit]

Last had at least two children with the Euro-African innkeeper Elisabeth Atteveld: Frans Friedrich Ludwig Ulrich Last (1822–1883), who would move back with him to Kampen in the Netherlands and who would later become Attorney General at the Supreme Court of the Dutch East Indies, and Herman Willem Frederik Last (1825–1850), who remained on the Gold Coast.[18][19] In November 1831, he fathered another son named Carl Christian Daniël with a woman named Esseboe, who was the slave of Elisabeth Atteveld.[20][18][19][21]

On 15 June 1827, while on leave in the Netherlands, he married van Petronella Johanna Aleida van Vlierden in Kampen. Petronella Johanna Aleida van Vlierden was a niece of Aleida Elisabeth Reiniera van Vlierden, the wife of Herman Willem Daendels.[18]

Decorations[edit]

Last was decorated with the Military Order of William, Knight 4th class, on 2 December 1832 for his long service on the Gold Coast.[22]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "Nederlandse Bezittingen op de Kust van Guinea, nummer toegang 1.05.14, inventarisnummer 351". nationaalarchief.nl. Nationaal Archief. 30 August 1821. Retrieved 7 May 2020. 31 Augustus 1821. De fungerende Boekhouder en Kassier F. Last, riep heden de leden van de Raad bijeen, tot het houden enige deliberatien welke tijds omstandigheden noodzakelijk maakten. In dezelve vergadering wierd eenparig besloten denzelven met het bestuur van Zijner Majesteits bezittingen alhier ter Kuste, optedragen onder den titel van Kommandeur.
  2. ^ "Nederlandse Bezittingen op de Kust van Guinea, nummer toegang 1.05.14, inventarisnummer 351". nationaalarchief.nl. Nationaal Archief. 14 February 1822. Retrieved 7 May 2020. 14 Februari 1822. Ingevolge het beslotene in de gehoudene Vergadering van den Raad op voorgisteren, verzamelde zich de Leden op heden ten klokke Negen uren, teneinde de Installatie en voorstelling van den Nieuwen Kommandeur aan den volke te doen plaatshebben. Den Weledele Heer L.J. Temminck legde in handen van den Raad af, den Eed voorgeschreven bij de Instructie voor het Tijdelijk opperhoofd.
  3. ^ Yarak 1990, p. 42.
  4. ^ Yarak 1990, p. 44.
  5. ^ Yarak 1990, p. 31.
  6. ^ "Nederlandse Bezittingen op de Kust van Guinea, nummer toegang 1.05.14, inventarisnummer 802". nationaalarchief.nl. Nationaal Archief. 24 February 1824. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Nederlandse Bezittingen op de Kust van Guinea, nummer toegang 1.05.14, inventarisnummer 354". nationaalarchief.nl. Nationaal Archief. 3 January 1826. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Nederlandse Bezittingen op de Kust van Guinea, nummer toegang 1.05.14, inventarisnummer 355". nationaalarchief.nl. Nationaal Archief. 26 November 1827. Retrieved 7 May 2020. Maandag den 26 November 1827. Om tien uren heden morgen ontving ik uit de handen van de Heer Van der Breggen Paauw de Staf van Kommando, welke ZEd mij met ommestaande aanspraak overhandigde
  9. ^ Van Kessel 2005, p. 39.
  10. ^ Kol. aan de kommandeur ter Kuste van Guinea, exh. 29 juni 1831 no. 77k geheim, available at Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Ministerie van Koloniën, nummer toegang 2.10.01, inventarisnummer 4222
  11. ^ Van Kessel 2005, p. 45.
  12. ^ Van Kessel 2005, pp. 45–46.
  13. ^ Van Kessel 2005, p. 47.
  14. ^ Last aan Kol., 7 dec. 1831, available at Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Ministerie van Koloniën, nummer toegang 2.10.01, inventarisnummer 4001
  15. ^ Van Kessel 2005, p. 52.
  16. ^ Yarak 1990, pp. 217–218.
  17. ^ Yarak 1990, p. 50.
  18. ^ a b c "Friedrich Franz Ludwich Ulrich Last, Commander". geni.com. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  19. ^ a b Ulzen 2013, p. 118.
  20. ^ Baesjou 1979, p. 40.
  21. ^ Doortmont 2004, p. 449.
  22. ^ "Militaire Willems-Orde: Last, F.F.L.U." defensie.nl. Dutch Ministry of Defence. 2 December 1832. Retrieved 21 October 2019.

References[edit]

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