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Resident minister

A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indirect rule.

A resident usually heads an administrative area called a residency. "Resident" may also refer to resident spy, the chief of an espionage operations base.

Resident ministers
This full style occurred commonly as a diplomatic rank for the head of a mission ranking just below envoy, usually reflecting the relatively low status of the states of origin and/or residency or else difficult relations.

On occasion, the resident minister's role could become extremely important, as when in 1806 the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV fled his Kingdom of Naples, and Lord William Bentinck, the British Resident, authored (1812) a new and relatively liberal constitution.

Residents could also be posted to nations that had significant foreign influence. For instance, the British sent residents to the Mameluk Beys who ruled Baghdad province as an autonomous state (1704–1831) in the north of present-day Iraq, until the Ottoman sultans reasserted control over it (1831) and its Wali (governor). After the Congress of Vienna restored the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in 1815, the British posted a resident to Florence to handle their affairs there.

As international relations developed, it became customary to give the highest title of diplomatic rank – ambassador – to the head of all permanent missions in any country, except as a temporary expression of down-graded relations or where representation was merely an interim arrangement.

Pseudo-colonial residents
Some official representatives of European colonial powers, while in theory diplomats, in practice exercised a degree of indirect control. Some such residents were former military officers, rather than career diplomats, who resided in smaller self-governing protectorates and tributary states and acted as political advisors to the ruler. A trusted resident could even become the de facto prime minister to a native ruler. In other respects, they acted as an ambassador of the government of the country they were posted to, but at a lower level, since they were protectorates or tributaries of Western nations. Instead of being a representative to a single ruler, a resident could be posted to more than one native state, or to a grouping of states which the European power decided for its convenience. This could create an artificial geographical unit, as in Residency X in some parts of the Indian Empire. Similar positions could carry alternative titles, such as political agent and resident commissioner.

In some cases, the intertwining of the European power with the traditional native establishment went so far that members of the native princely houses became residents, either in other states or even within their state, provided that they were unlikely ever to succeed as rulers of the state. A resident's real role varied enormously, depending upon the underlying relationship between the two parties and even upon the personalities of the Resident and the ruler. Some residents were little more than observers and diplomats, others were seen as unwanted interlopers and were treated with hostility, while some won enough trust from the ruler that they were able to exercise great influence. In French protectorates, such as those of Morocco and Tunisia, the resident or resident general was the effective ruler of the territory. In 1887, when both Boers and gold prospectors of all nationalities were overrunning his country, the Swazi paramount chief Umbandine asked for a British resident, seeing this as a desirable and effective form of protection. His request was refused.

British and dominion residents
The residents of the governments of the United Kingdom and the dominions to a variety of protectorates include:

Residents in Africa

 * In the Sultanate of Zanzibar, the second 'homeland' of the Omani dynasty, since 1913. From 1913 to 1961 the Residents were also the Sultan's vizier. There were Consuls and Consuls-general until 1963.
 * In present-day Kenya, in the Sultanate of Witu, after the British took over the protectorate from the German Empire, which had itself posted a Resident.
 * In British Cameroon (part of the former German Kamerun), since 1916, in 1949 restyled Special Resident (superior to the new two provinces) for Edward John Gibbons (b. 1906 – d. 1990), who stayed on in October 1954 as the first Commissioner when it became an autonomous part of Nigeria.
 * in Southern Africa:
 * when the military party sent from Cape Colony to occupy Port Natal on behalf of Great Britain was recalled in 1839, a British Resident was appointed among the Fingo and other tribes in Kaffraria until the definite establishment of British rule in Natal and its 1845 organization as an administrative entity, when the incumbent Shepstone was made Agent for the native tribes.
 * In KwaZulu, which since 1843 was under a British protectorate, after it became the Zulu "Native" Reserve or Zululand Province on 1 September 1879: two British Residents (William Douglas Wheelwright, 8 September 1879 to January 1880, then Sir Melmoth Osborn until 22 December 1882). Thereafter there were Resident Commissioners until Zululand was incorporated into the crown colony of Natal as British Zululand on 1 December 1897.
 * in 1845 the resident 'north of the Orange River chose his residency at Bloemfontein, which became the capital of the Orange River Sovereignty in 1848. In 1854 the British abandoned the Sovereignty, and the independent Boer republic of the Orange Free State was established
 * in the Boer Republic of Transvaal at Pretoria
 * with the Matabele chief at Bulawayo
 * in Ghana, with the rulers of the Asanteman Confederation (established in 1701), since it became 1896 a British protectorate; on 23 June 1900 the Confederation was dissolved by UK protectorate authority, and on 26 September 1901 turned into Ashanti Colony, so since 1902 his place was taken by a Chief Commissioner at Kumasi
 * in various parts of the Northern Nigeria Protectorate, and Southern Nigeria Protectorate and after their joining Nigeria protectorate, notably in Edo state at Benin City (first to the British-installed ruling council of chiefs, later to the restored Oba), with the Emir of and in Bauchi, to the jointly ruling bale and Balogun of Ibadan (a vassal state in Yorubaland), with the Emir of Illorin, with the Emir of and in Muri (Nigeria), with the Emir of Nupe

Residents in Asia

British residents were posted in various princely states – in major states or groups of states—in the days of British India. Often they were appointed to a single state, as with the Resident in Lucknow, the capital of Oudh; to the Maharaja Gaekwad of Baroda; to the Maharaja Sindhia of Gwalior; to the Nizam al-Mulk of Hyderabad; to the Maharaja of Jhalawar; to the restored Maharaja of Mysore, after the fall of Tipu Sultan; to the Maharaja Sena Sahib Subah of the Mahratta state of Nagpur; to the (Maha)Raja of Manipur; to the (Maha)Raja of Travancore; to the Maharana of Mewar in Udaipur. Even when Lord Lake had broken the Maratha power in 1803, and the Mughal emperor was taken under the protection of the East India Company, the districts of Delhi and Hisar were assigned for the maintenance of the royal family, and were administered by a British Resident, until in 1832 the whole area was annexed to British Residents were also posted in major states considered to be connected with India, neighbouring or on the sea route to it, notably:
 * in Aden (while subordinated to the Bombay Presidency), the only part of present-day Yemen made a colony in full British possession. The last of three British Political Agents since 1939 stayed on as first Resident since 1859, the last again staying on in 1932 as first Chief Commissioner; he was the only diplomatic representative to the various Arabian rulers who over time accepted British protectorate, but since the 1935 legal separation from British India was followed in 1937 by a reorganisation into an Eastern and a Western Aden Protectorate (based at Mukallah and Lahej; together covering all Yemen), the British Representatives in each were styled British Political officers
 * in Afghanistan, a kingdom entitled to a gun salute of 21 guns (the highest rank among princely states, not then among Sovereign monarchs): the first British Residents were Sir Alexander Burnes (1837 – 2 November 1841); William Hay McNaghten (7 August 1839 – 23 December 1841); Eldred Pottinger (December 1841 – 6 January 1842). After that, four native Vakils acted on behalf of the British government: Nawab Foujdar Khan (1856 – April 1859), Ghulam Husain Khan Allizai (April 1859 – 1865), Bukhiar Khan (February 1864 – January 1868, acting), Attah Muhammad Khan Khagwani (January 1868 – 1878); then there were two more British Residents Louis Napoleon Cavagnari (24 July 1879 – 3 September 1879), Henry Lepel-Griffin (1880); next came two Military Commanders (8 October 1879 – 11 August 1880) and until 1919 ten native British Agents, one of whom served two non-consecutive terms.
 * Capt. Hiram Cox (died 1799) was the first British Resident to the King of independent Burma (October 1796 – July 1797), and there were more discontinuous postings to that court, in the 19th century, never satisfactory to either party; after the Third Anglo-Burmese War there were two separate British Residents in a border zone of that country: in the Northern Shan States and the Southern Shan States (each several tribal states, usually ruled by a Saopha=Sawbwa) in 1945–1948 (each group had been under a Superintendent from 1887/88 till 1922, then both jointly under a Resident Commissioner till the 1942 Japanese occupation)
 * after five military governors since the East India Company started chasing the Dutch out of Ceylon in August 1795 and occupying the island (completed on 16 February 1796), their only Resident there was Robert Andrews, 12 February 1796 – 12 October 1798, who was subordinate to the presidency of Madras (see British India), afterward the HEIC appointed Governors as it was made a separate colony
 * to the Sultan of the Maldives archipelago since he formally accepted British protection on 16 December 1887 (informally since 1796, after the British took over Ceylon from the Dutch), but this office was filled ex officio by the colonial Governors until 4 February 1948, abolished on 26 July 1965
 * in Nepal since 1802, accredited to the Hindu Kings (title Maharajadhiraja), since 15 March 1816 exercising a de facto protectorate—the last staying on 1920 as Envoy till the 1923 emancipation
 * with the Imam/Sultan of Oman, 1800–1804, 1805–1810, and 1840 (so twice interrupted by vacancy), then located with the African branch of the dynasty on the island of Unguja, since 1862 his role was handed over to a Political Agent

And elsewhere:
 * in Transjordan (present Jordan) from April 1921 – 17 June 1946 four incumbents accredited to the Hashemite Emir/King

Even in overseas territories occupied ('preventively' or conquered) to keep the French out of strategic trade and waters, residencies could be established, e.g. at Laye on Sumatra, an island returned to the Dutch East Indies

Residents in (British) European protectorates
Since on 5 November 1815, the United States of the Ionian Islands became a federal republic of seven islands (Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante, Santa Maura, Ithaca, Cerigo, and Paxos), as a protectorate (nominally of the allied Powers; de facto UK protectorate; the highest office was the always-British Lord High Commissioner), until its 1 June 1864 incorporation into independent Greece, there were British residents, each posted with a local Prefect, on seven individual islands, notably: Cephalonia (Kephalonia), Cerigo (Kythira), Ithaca, Paxos, Santa Maura (Leucada/Lefkada) and Zante (Zakynthos)

Residents on (British and dominion) ocean island states

 * in the period before British sovereignty was declared over New Zealand and a lieutenant-governor was appointed, James Busby from 10 May 1833 till 28 January 1840.
 * at Rarotonga since the 1888 establishment of the British protectorate over the Cook Islands; the third and last incumbent stayed on as first Resident Commissioner since 1901, at the incorporation in the British Western Pacific Territories (under a single High Commissioner, till its 1976 dissolution, in Suva or Honoria), until the abolition of the post at the 1965 self-government grant as a territory in free association with New Zealand, having its cabinet (still under the British Crown, which after 1976 appoints a special King's/Queen's Representative, as well as a High Commissioner).

Residents in protectorates of decolonised Commonwealth states

 * Sikkim, where the Maharaja had been under a British protectorate (1861 – 15 August 1947; the crown representative was styled Political Agent), became immediately afterward a protectorate of newly independent India (formally from 5 December 1950; in the meantime, the Indian representative was again styled Political Agent, the first incumbent being the former British Political Agent—India was a dominion, still under the British crown, till 26 January 1950) until 16 May 1975, it was annexed as a constituent state of India.

Dutch colonial residents
In the Dutch East Indies, Dutch residents and lower ranks such as assistant residents were posted alongside a number of the many native princes in present Indonesia, compared to Regentschap.

For example, in Sumatra, there were Dutch residents at Palembang, at Medan in Deli sultanate; another was posted with the Sultan of and on Ternate, and one in Bali.

French colonial residents
France also maintained residents, the French word being résident.

However the 'Jacobin' tradition of strict state authority didn't agree well with indirect rule, so often direct rule was preferred.

Many were part of a white colonial hierarchy, rather than truly posted with a native ruler or chieftain.

Style résident

 * A single post of resident was also created in Côte d'Ivoire, i.e. Ivory Coast (from 1881 subordinated to the Superior Commandant of Gabon and the Gulf of Guinea Settlements; from 1886 subordinated to the Lieutenant Governors of Guinea), where in 1842 France had declared protectorates over the Kingdoms of Nzima and Sanwi (posts at Assinié 1843–1870, and Grand Bassam, Fort Dabou 1853–1872, part of the Colony of Gorée and Dependencies in Senegal]):
 * 1871–1885 Arthur Verdier (to 1878 Warden of the French Flag) (b. 1835 – d. 1898)
 * 1885–1886 Charles Bour -Commandant-particular
 * 1886 – 9 March 1890 Marcel Treich Leplène (b. 1860 – d. 1890)
 * 9 March 1890 – 14 June 1890 Jean Joseph Étienne Octave Péan (acting)
 * 14 June 1890 – 1892 Jean Auguste Henri Desailles
 * 1892 Éloi Bricard (acting)
 * 1892 – 12 November 1892 Julien Voisin (acting)
 * 12 November 1892 – 10 March 1893 Paul Alphonse Frédéric Heckman; thereafter it had its Governors
 * On the Comoros, in the Indian Ocean, several Residents were posted with the various native sultanates on major islands; they were all three subordinated to the French administrators of the Mayotte island protectorate (itself constituting the native Maore or Mawuti sultanate):
 * On Ngazidja (Grande Comore island, divided into eleven sultanates, some of which on occasion had the superior title of Sultani tribe): November 1886 – 1912
 * On Ndzuwani (Anjouan island) with the Phany (sole Sultan): only two incumbents 188x–189x
 * On Mwali (Mohéli island) from 1886; then 1889–1912 filled by the above residents of Anjouan
 * On Wallis and Futuna, after a single French Representative styled chargé de mission (7 April 1887 – 26 June 1888, Maurice Antoine Chauvot), there was a long list of Residents from 7 April 1887; since 3 October 1961, when both islands were joined as the Wallis & Futuna overseas territory, their successors were styled Administrateur supérieur 'Administrator-superior', but the native dynasties remain; they represented the French government by the protectorate treaties with the Tui (ruler) of 'Uvea (Wallis island, 5 April 1887; 27 November 1887 administratively attached to New Caledonia) and on 16 February 1888 with the two kingdoms on Futuna—Tu`a (also called Alo) and Sigave

Résident supérieur
This French title, meaning "Superior" (i.e. Senior) Resident, indicates that he had junior Residents under him.
 * In Upper Volta (present Burkina Faso), which has had its own Lieutenant governor (before) or Governor (after) and intermediately has been part of one or (carved up) more neighbouring French colonies, there has been one Résident-Superieur of "Upper Ivory Coast", 1 January 1938 – 29 July 1940, while it was part of the Ivory Coast colony: Edmond Louveau
 * In Cambodia, where the local royal government was theoretically maintained, the resident at Phnom-Penh was the Resident-Superior, over the various Residents posted throughout Cambodia. The Resident-Superior of Cambodia answered to the Governor-General of Indochina, however.

German colonial residents
In the German colonies, the title was also Resident; the post was called Residentur.

 * in Wituland: Ahmed ibn Fumo Bakari, the first mfalume (sultan) of Witu (on the Kenyan coast), ceded 25 sqmi of territory on 8 April 1885 to the brothers Clemens and Gustav Denhardt's "Tana Company", and the remainder of the Wituland became the German Schutzgebiet (Protectorate) of Wituland (Deutsch-Witu) on 27 May 1885. The Reich was represented there by the German Residents: Gustav Denhardt (b. 1856 – d. 1917; in office 8 April 1885 – 1 July 1890) and his deputy Clemens Andreas Denhardt (b. 1852 – d. 1928) until 1 July 1890 imperial Germany renounces its protectorate, ceding the Wituland to Great Britain which had on 18 June 1890 declared it a British protectorate).
 * in German East Africa
 * A resident of Ruanda: 1906 – 15 November 1907 Werner von Grawert (d. 1918), formerly the last military district commander of Usumbura (the other district being Ujiji)
 * A resident of Urundi (present Burundi): 15 November 1907 – June 1916, starting with the same as above; formally accredited to the native Mwami (King; on 8 October 1905 the Germans recognized the already ruling Mwezi IV Gisabo as "Sultan" of Burundi and its only supreme authority)
 * A resident of Bukoba west of Lake Victoria overseeing an area of 32,200 km2;
 * in German Kamerun
 * A resident of Garua
 * A resident of Mora
 * A resident of Ngaundere
 * in German South-West Africa (present Namibia)
 * A resident of Schuckmannsburg for the Caprivi Strip.

Portuguese colonial residents

 * In Cabinda (in present Angola), five incumbents from 1885 (18 July 1885 Portuguese Congo district created after 14 February 1885 confirmation by the Berlin Conference of the 1883 Portuguese protectorate over "Portuguese Congo") to 1899 (end of autonomy under the Governors of Congo district which had its seat in Cabinda since 1887)
 * In the Fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá (in present Benin), a country that was named Dahomey until 1975, civil residents served from 1911 (withdrawal of the Portuguese military garrison) until 31 July 1961 (invasion of the fort by the Dahomey military forces)

British Malay states and possessions
At the "national" level of British Malaya, after the post of High Commissioner had been filled (1 July 1896 – 1 April 1946) by the governors of the Straits Settlements (see Singapore), Britain appointed the following residents-general:
 * 1 July 1896 – 1901 Frank Athelstane Swettenham (b. 1850 – d. 1946; from 1897, Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham)
 * 1901–1904 William Hood Treacher (b. 1849 – d. 1919)
 * 1904–1910 Sir William Thomas Taylor (b. 1848 – d. 1931)
 * 1910–1911 Arthur Henderson Young (b. 1854 – d. 1938)

Then there were various British chief secretaries 1911–1936 and two federal secretaries until 31 January 1942; after three Japanese military governors, the British Governor (1 April 1946 – 1 February 1948) stayed on as first of four High Commissioners as de facto governor-general of the Federation of Malaya until independence on 31 August 1957 saw the creation of an elective federal paramount ruler styled Yang Dipertuan Agong (since 16 September 1961 with the addition bagi Malaysia).

There were specific residents accredited in most constituent Malay states:
 * 1885–1911 British Residents were appointed to the Sultans (until 1886 styled Maharaja) of Johore, an confederated state until 1946; thereafter the British crown was represented by General Advisers until the Japanese occupation, and finally by Commissioners 1945–1948
 * 1888–1941 to the Yang Di Pertuan Besar (state's elective ruler) of the nine member-confederation Negeri Sembilan, which accepted a British protectorate in 1888 and acceded in 1896 to the Federation; again British Commissioners after the Japanese occupation
 * 1883–1895 additional British Residents were appointed to the Yang Di-Pertuan Muda (ruler) of Jelebu, a major member principality
 * 1875–1889 additional British Residents were also appointed to the Undang Luak Sungai Ujong (ruler) of Sungai Ujong, another major member principality
 * 1888–1938 British Residents were appointed to the Sultans (until 1882 styled Bendahara Seri Maharaja) of Pahang from the start of the British protectorate; again British Commissioners after the Japanese occupation
 * 1874–1941 British Residents to the Sultans of Perak as written in the Pangkor Treaty of 1874, since they exchanged Thai sovereignty for a British protectorate; since 1 July 1896 part of the Federated Malay States; after the Japanese occupation a single British Commissioner
 * 1875–1941 British Residents to the Sultans of Selangor during the Klang War, a year after accepting British protectorate (never under Thailand), 1 July 1896 part of Federated Malay States; after the Japanese occupation British Commissioners

A similar position, under another title, was held in the other Malay states:
 * 1909–41 British Advisers replaced the Thai king's Advisers in the sultanate of Kedah, an unfederated state; after Japanese and Thai occupation, British Commissioners were appointed
 * 1903–41 British Advisers replaced Thai ones in the sultanate of Kelantan, an confederated state; after Japanese and Thai occupation, British Commissioners were appointed
 * 1909–1941 British Advisers replaced Thai ones with the Rajas of Perlis, since the acceptance of British protectorate as an confederated state instead of the Thai sovereignty (since the secession from Kedah) and were appointed again after Japanese and Thai occupation, until 1 April 1946 it joins the Malay Union (from 16 September 1963, Malaysia)
 * 1904–25 British Agents were appointed to the Sultans of Terengganu, i.e. even before the 9 July 1909 exchange of Thai sovereignty for a British protectorate as unfederated Malay state, then Advisers 1919–1941 (overlap merely both titles for the same incumbent); after Japanese and Thai occupation, British Commissioners were appointed.

In the Straits Settlements, under direct British rule:
 * in Singapore, after two separate British Residents (7 February 1819 – December 1822 William Farquhar, then John Crawfurd), the Governors of the Straits Settlements filled the post 1826 – 15 February 1942; after four Japanese Military Administrators and two Japanese Mayors, a British Military Administrator 12 September 1945 – 1 April 1946, then four British Governors and the second incumbent stayed on as first of two gubernatorial 'Heads of state' styled yang di-pertuan negara, his Malay successor also becoming the first President after independence
 * In Malacca (Melaka), a former Dutch colony, seven consecutive British Residents were in office 1795–1818, followed by three Dutch governors; after the final inclusion in the British Strait Settlements, 1826, most were titled Resident Councillor, except the period 1910–1920 reverting to the style Resident; after the Japanese occupation, Resident Commissioners took their place until the 1957 independence installed Malaysian Governors and Chief Ministers
 * In Penang (Pinang), after three Superintendents for the British East India Company (1786–1799; only Prince of Wales Island had yet been ceded to the British by the Sultan of Kedah), then two Lieutenant-governors (in 1801 Province Wellesley on the mainland was added) and many Governors after 1805 (since 1826 as part of the Strait Settlements), only Resident Councillors were in office 1849–1941 (name Penang assumed in 1867); after four Japanese and since 1945 two British military governors, four Resident Commissioners 1946–1957, since then Malaysian-appointed "heads of state".

On Northern Borneo, contrary to the Malay peninsula, no such officials were appointed, in Sarawak and Sabah as there were white rulers or governors; but to the still sovereign Sultans of Brunei, lying between those larger states, British Residents were appointed 1906–1959 (interrupted by Japanese commander Masao Baba 6 January 1942 – 14 June 1945), afterwards only High Commissioners for the matters not transferred under autonomy (and 1971 self-government) until full independence went in force 1 January 1984. The administrative head of Sarawak's geographical Divisions was, however, titled as Resident.

French
The French word is Résident-général.

Africa

 * In Morocco, accredited with the Sultan: Residents-general 28 April 1912 – 2 March 1956 (first incumbent previously military governor)
 * In Tunisia, accredited with the Basha Bey Residents-general 23 June 1885 – 31 August 1955; first incumbent was the last of the two previous Resident ministers
 * On Madagascar: 28 April 1886 – 31 July 1897

Indochina

 * In present Vietnam & Laos: Residents-general for Annam-Tonkin (at Hué) 11 June 1884 – 9 May 1889
 * Residents-Superior for Annam (also at Hué) 1886–1950s (at least 1953)
 * Residents-Superior for Tonkin (at Hanoi; subordinated to Annam until 1888) 1886–1950s (at least 1953)—but none in Cochinchina
 * Residents-superior for Laos September 1895 – 5 April 1945
 * In Cambodia Residents-general 12 August 1885 – 16 May 1889;
 * later downgraded (under Hué) to Residents-superior 16 May 1889 – 15 October 1945
 * several regional Résidents

Belgian
(Belgium mainly used French in the colonies; the word in its other official language, Dutch, is Resident-generaal)
 * Ruanda-Urundi (cfr. German above; there were Belgian Residents ): 1960 – 1 July 1962 Jean-Paul Harroy (b. 1909 – d. 1995), staying on after being its Belgian last Governor (and Deputy Governor-General of the Belgian Congo)

Japanese (original title)
In the protectorate Korea, accredited to the Choson Monarch (rendered as King or Emperor) 21 Dec 1905 – 1 Oct 1910 three incumbents (including Hirobumi Ito the former Prime Minister of Japan), all Japanese peers (new western-type styles, rendered as: Marquess/Duke or Viscount); the last stayed on as the first Governor-General after full annexation to Japan. See: List of Japanese Residents-General of Korea

Postcolonial residents
On occasion, residents were maintained, notably by former colonial powers, in territories in a transitional process to a new constitutional status, such as full independence. Such function could also be performed under another title, such as Commissioner or High Commissioner.

Thus after World War I, there were residents in some mandate territories:
 * after the French and British occupation of the former German colony Kamerun (since 26 September 1914), Britain started appointing a long line of residents (some were district officer or senior district officer, others deputy resident or senior resident) in its zone from 1916, even before the 28 June 1919 formal division into French and British Cameroons and the 20 July 1920 British Cameroons, League of Nations mandate; they continued in the 13 December 1946 created British Cameroons United Nations trust territory, until 31 December 1949; next a single special resident was appointed (although in 1949 Southern Cameroons was divided into two provinces: Bamenda, capital Bamenda, and Southern, capital Buea) until 1 October 1954 when British Cameroons became an autonomous part of Nigeria; next two commissioners were appointed instead, until on 1 October 1961 Southern British Cameroons was incorporated into the Republic of Cameroon (the former French Cameroun), the northern part was already united with Nigeria on 1 June 1961.
 * Present Jordan was part since 12 May 1920 of the British mandate of Palestine (under a British high commissioner), but in August 1920 the British create autonomous local administrations in Ajlun, Salt, and Karak—with limited success; 11 April 1921 the Emirate of Transjordan (under British mandate); 26 May 1923 Transjordan formally separated from Palestine; 28 Feb 1928 Britain recognizes Transjordan mandate as independent, but maintains military and some financial control; 25 May 1946 proclamation of the Hashemite Kingdom (style Malik) of Transjordan (present Jordan); the 17 June 1946 formal independence from Britain finally ends the term of the last of four British Residents:
 * April 1921 – 21 November 1921 Albert Abramson (b. 1876 – d. 19..)
 * 21 November 1921 – April 1924 Harry St. John Bridger Philby (b. 1885 – d. 1960)
 * August 1924 – March 1939 Henry Cox (from 1937, Charles Henry Cox) (b. 1880 – d. 1953)
 * March 1939 – 17 June 1946 Alec Seath Kirkbride (b. 1897 – d. 1978)

Also after World War II, and not only in former mandate territories; e.g. in parts of Libya, a former Italian colony, put under UN administration since 1946 prior to their unification as a Libyan kingdom, Britain maintained a Resident in Tripolitania April 1949 – 24 December 1951 and another in Cyrenaica 17 September 1949 – 24 December 1951, and France one in Fezzan 1950 – 24 December 1951.

In a later phase a former colony could itself appoint such Residents, as India did 5 December 1950 – 16 May 1975 in its Himalayan protectorate Sikkim, then still an independent monarchy (afterwards absorbed into India as an additional constitutive state) where Britain had obtained a protectorate over the Maharaja in 1861, see above.

Western Australia
In the Colony of Western Australia, colonial administration and local government were sometimes controlled at the regional level, by government residents, under the direction of the Colonial Secretary (i.e. the "Governor in Council").

The main responsibility of a government resident was the role of Resident Magistrate, and the two titles were often used interchangeably. However, they also often directed the day-to-day activities of police, explorers, surveyors, customs officers and other public servants. Government residents were appointed (at various times), at Augusta, Busselton, Carnarvon (Gascoyne District), Champion Bay (Geraldton), Derby (Kimberley District, later West Kimberley), Fremantle, Guildford, King George's Sound (Albany), Newcastle (Toodyay), the North District (Camden Harbour/Roebourne), Port Leschenault (Bunbury), Wyndham (East Kimberley) and York.

Northern Territory
In the Northern Territory, government residents were appointed by the Government of South Australia from the establishment of the territory in 1864 until its transfer to the Australian Government on 1 January 1911. The last incumbent stayed on as first of six administrators; then again 1 February 1927 Robert Hunter Weddell was Government Resident for North Australia, until from 12 June 1931. Administrators were (and still are) appointed, even after 1978 when self-government was granted.

Central Australia
1 March 1927 – 12 June 1931, while the Northern Territory was split, there were two consecutive incumbents for Central Australia.

title: Resident minister


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Peter Tordenskjold

Peter Jansen Wessel Tordenskiold (28 October 1690 – 12 November 1720), commonly referred to as Tordenskjold (lit. 'Thunder Shield'), was a Norwegian nobleman and flag officer who spent his career in the service of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy. He rose to the rank of vice-admiral for his services in the Great Northern War. Born in the Norwegian city of Trondheim, Peter Wessel travelled to Copenhagen in 1704 and eventually enlisted in the navy.

He won a name for himself through audacity and courage and was ennobled as Peter Tordenskiold by King Frederick IV in 1716. His greatest exploit came later that year, as he destroyed the supply fleet of Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Dynekilen, ensuring his siege of Fredriksten would fail. In 1720, he was killed in a duel. He ranks among the most famous naval captains in Denmark and Norway. He experienced an unusually rapid rise in rank and died when he was only 30 years old.

Name
His birth name was Peter Jansen Wessel. His name occurs with spellings as Peder and Pitter. Upon his ennoblement in 1716, he received the name Tordenskiold meaning "Thunder Shield". This was also the orthographical form which he used. In newer times, the form Tordenskjold has become usual.

Biography
Born in Trondheim in Norway, he was the tenth child of alderman Jan Wessel and the brother of later Rear-Admiral Caspar von Wessel. Peter Wessel was a wild, unruly lad who gave his pious parents much trouble, eventually stowing away on a ship heading for Copenhagen in 1704. In Copenhagen, he unsuccessfully sought to become a navy cadet. He befriended the king's chaplain, Peder Jespersen, who sent Wessel on a voyage to the West Indies and finally procured a vacant cadetship for him. After further voyages, this time to the East Indies, Wessel was appointed second lieutenant in the Royal Danish-Norwegian Navy on 7 July 1711 and went on to serve on the frigate Postillion. While on Postillion, he befriended Norwegian admiral baron Waldemar Løvendal, who was the first to recognize the young man's potential as a naval officer. Løvendal soon made Peter Wessel the captain of the four-gun sloop Ormen (HMS Serpent (1695)).

Early service
Wessel started his navy service during the Great Northern War against Sweden, cruising about the Swedish coast in Ormen picking up useful information about the enemy. In June 1712, Løvendal promoted him to the 18-gun frigate Løvendals Galei, against the advice of the Danish admiralty, who considered Wessel unreliable. After officially complaining about his dreary commanding officer Daniel Jacob Wilster in Norway, Wessel was transferred to the Baltic Sea command of Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve, who appreciated and utilized Wessel's courage. Wessel was already renowned for two things: the audacity with which he attacked any Swedish vessels he came across regardless of the odds and his unique seamanship, which always enabled him to evade capture.

The Great Northern War had now entered its later stage when Sweden, beset on every side by foes, employed her fleet principally to transport troops and stores to the distressed Swedish Pomerania provinces. The audacity of Wessel impeded her at every point. He was continually snapping up transports, dashing into the fjords where her vessels lay concealed and holding up her detached frigates. He was a part of Gyldenløve's fleet which succeeded in destroying a large number of Swedish transport ships at Rügen on 29 September 1712, and was promoted from second lieutenant to captain lieutenant. His successes compelled the Swedes to post a reward for his capture, while his free and easy ways also won him enemies in the Danish navy, who deplored his almost privateer-like conduct.

Court-martial
In 1714, Wessel was court-martialled after an indecisive sea battle with a Swedish frigate. The legal proceedings from November 1714 verify the account of the incident. On 26 July 1714, he encountered a frigate under the British flag near Lindesnes while flying a Dutch flag on the Løvendals Gallej himself. The other frigate was De Olbing Galley carrying 28 guns, which had been equipped in Great Britain for the Swedes and was on its way to Gothenburg under the command of a British captain named Bactmann. De Olbing Galley signalled for Løvendals Gallej to come closer. As Wessel raised the Danish flag, Bactmann fired a broadside at him. In the British captain, Wessel met a tough match. The combat lasted all day, and when De Olbing Galley tried to escape in the evening, Wessel set more sails and continued the duel. The fight was interrupted by nightfall, and renewed again indecisively the following morning. Both ships were severely damaged after around 14 hours of fighting, when Wessel was running out of ammunition. He then sent an envoy to the British ship, cordially thanking the British for a good duel, and asked if he could borrow some of their ammunition to continue the fight. His request was denied, and the captains drank to each other's health before the ships dispersed.

When he heard about the incident, King Frederick IV of Denmark asked for the admiralty to court-martial Wessel. He stood trial in November 1714, accused of disclosing vital military information about his lack of ammunition to the enemy, as well as endangering the ship of king Frederick IV by fighting a superior enemy force. The spirit with which he defended himself and the contempt he poured on his less courageous comrades took the fancy of Frederick IV. He successfully argued a section of the Danish naval code which mandated attacking fleeing enemy ships no matter the size, and was acquitted on 15 December 1714. He then went to the king asking for a promotion and was raised to the rank of captain on 28 December 1714.

Greatest exploits
When, in 1715, the return of King Charles XII of Sweden from Turkey to Stralsund put new life into the dispirited Swedish forces, Wessel distinguished himself in numerous engagements off the coast of Swedish Pomerania, under the command of Admiral Christian Carl Gabel. He did the enemy considerable damage by cutting out their frigates and destroying their transports. During a battle at Kolberg on 24 April 1715, Wessel captured the Swedish Rear-Admiral Hans Wachtmeister, as well as the frigate Hvita Örn (White Eagle), which he was granted as his new flagship under the name Hvide Ørn. He then transferred to the main fleet under the command of Peter Raben.

On returning to Denmark at the beginning of 1716, he was ennobled by Frederick IV under the name of Tordenskiold. In 1716, Charles XII invaded Norway and laid siege to the fortress of Fredrikshald. Tordenskiold compelled Charles to raise the siege and retire to Sweden. Tordenskiold did so by pouncing upon the Swedish transport fleet, laden with ammunition and other military stores, which rode at anchor in the narrow and dangerous Dynekil Fjord. With two frigates and five smaller ships, he conquered or destroyed around 30 Swedish ships, with minor damage to himself during the Battle of Dynekilen on 8 July 1716.

For this his greatest exploit, he was promoted to the rank of post-captain, commanding the Kattegat squadron – but at the same time incurred the enmity of Christian Carl Gabel, whom he had failed to take into his confidence. Tordenskiold's first important command was the squadron with which he was entrusted at the beginning of 1717 to destroy the Swedish Gothenburg Squadron, which interrupted the communications between Denmark and Norway. Owing to the disloyalty of certain of his officers who resented serving under the young adventurer, Tordenskjold failed to do all that was expected of him. His enemies were not slow to take advantage of his partial failure. The old charge of criminal recklessness was revived against him at a second court-martial before which he was summoned in 1718. Nevertheless, his old patron Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve intervened energetically on his behalf, and the charge was quashed.

In December 1718, Tordenskiold brought Frederick IV the welcome news of the death of Charles XII and was, in turn, made Rear-Admiral. Tordenskiold captured the Swedish fortress of Carlsten at Marstrand in 1719. The last feat of arms during the Great Northern War was Tordenskiold's partial destruction and partial capture of the Gothenburg Squadron, which had so long eluded him, on 26 September 1719. He was rewarded with the rank of vice-admiral.

Death
Tordenskiold did not long survive the termination of the war. On 12 November 1720, at the age of 30, he was killed in a duel by Livonian colonel Jakob Axel Staël von Holstein. During a trip to Hannover, Tordenskiold got in a fight with von Holstein, who had been in Swedish military service. The confrontation ended in a duel on the Sehlwiese in Gleidingen near Hildesheim, in which the sword of von Holstein ran through Tordenskiold. The circumstances around the death of Tordenskiold were set in a conspiratorial light, as summed up in the contemporary three-volume Tordenskiold biography (1747–1750) by C. P. Rothe.

The duel was encouraged by a dispute with von Holstein, whom Tordenskiold offended by labeling him as a cheat at gambling. At a dinner party, Tordenskiold told of a friend who had been cheated while gambling with a man who claimed to own a Hydra, to which von Holstein announced he was the owner of the said creature and took offence at being called a cheat. This dispute turned into a fight, in which von Holstein unsuccessfully tried to pull a sword, after which Tordenskiold used the pommel of his own sword to beat him up. von Holstein demanded satisfaction through a duel. The details of the duel – besides its ending with Tordenskiold's death by a single wound by von Holstein's sword – are not well known.

Tordenskiold's corpse was brought to Copenhagen to the Holmen Church without much ceremony, as duelling was not allowed according to Danish law. In 1819, he was buried in a sarcophagus.

Legacy
Although – Dynekilen excepted – Tordenskiold's individual victories were of less importance than Christen Thomesen Sehested's at the Siege of Stralsund and Ulrich Christian Gyldenløve's at Rügen, he is seen as the most heroic figure of the Great Northern War, after Charles XII. He is mentioned by name both in the Danish national anthem "Kong Christian stod ved højen mast" from 1778 and the Norwegian national anthem "Ja, vi elsker dette landet" from 1864.

Statues of him have been erected in Copenhagen (1876), Trondheim, Stavern, Oslo and Haakonsvern. In the United States, Tordenskjold Township in the state of Minnesota was settled in 1871 by Danish brothers who named it after him. The coat of arms of Holmestrand included his ship HDMS Hvide Ørn until the municipal merger in 2020, after which a new coat of arms was introduced.

The Royal Danish Navy has named several ships after him, including an early 20th century coastal defence ship. The Niels Juel class corvette HDMS Peter Tordenskiold (F356), served from around 1980 to August 2009. The Royal Norwegian Navy has also named ships after him, such as the coastal defence ship Tordenskjold, and the Royal Norwegian Naval Training Establishment in Bergen is named KNM Tordenskjold.

The Danish city of Frederikshavn has hosted an annual summer festival in his memory since 1998. Tordenskiold was stationed there and wrote 67 letters from there between 1717 and 1719. In 2008, the Festival attracted more than 30,000 visitors. In 2009, the Days of Tordenskiold were celebrated on 26, 27, and 28 June.

Several Danish and Norwegian cities have streets named Tordenskjoldsgade (Tordenskjold Street) after him.

The most popular brand of matches in Denmark is called Tordenskjold. In the late 1800s, Sweden had a large export production of matches, so a Danish manufacturer put Tordenskiold's portrait on his matchbox in 1882, in the hope he could once more strike at the Swedish (give de svenske stryg). The Tordenskjold brand was bought by a Swedish company in 1972.

In fiction
Though his victories were not decisive during the war, he eventually attained mythic status as one of the most successful Dano-Norwegian military commanders. As the Danish-Norwegian Union ended in 1814 with the Treaty of Kiel and Denmark consigned itself to the status of a minor power following the Napoleonic Wars, Tordenskiold was revived as both a Danish and Norwegian national symbol. He was portrayed as the little guy outsmarting his far more powerful adversaries, and his exploits were enhanced by mixing in myths and fiction.

A comprehensive fictionalized account was collected in the 1858 popular song "Jeg vil sjunge om en Helt", and a great number of fictional plays and novels were subsequently published. These accounts served as background for the 1910 Danish film "Peter Tordenskjold", based on a Carit Etlar play, and the 1942 film "Tordenskjold går i land". In 1993, the two-act musical Tordenskjold opened, a mix of fact and fiction, with Øystein Wiik as Peter Wessel. The musical was performed in Gladsaxe and Aarhus. The 2016 film "Satisfaction 1720" is another mix of fact, fiction, and speculation about Tordenskjold after the Great Northern War and the duel that ended his life.

One of the myths about Tordenskjold has entered the Danish and Norwegian languages. During the negotiations for Marstrand's surrender in 1719, it is told that Tordenskjold's men moved from block to block as he walked the Marstrand commander through his positions, thus convincing the commander that his strength was much greater than it was. This gave birth to the idiom "Tordenskjold's soldiers" (Tordenskjolds soldater), denoting the same group of people (feeling compelled to) repeatedly taking charge and fill multiple roles.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Peter Tordenskjold


text:
Thomas Muir of Huntershill

Thomas Muir (24 August 1765 – 25 January 1799), also known as Thomas Muir the Younger of Huntershill, was a Scottish political reformer and lawyer. Muir graduated from Edinburgh University and was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1787, aged 22. Muir was a leader of the Society of the Friends of the People. He is included in the Political Martyrs' Monument in Edinburgh.

In 1793 Muir was sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay Australia for sedition. Two years later in 1796, Muir escaped from Botany Bay on the American ship Otter. The Otter reached Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island in June 1796. From there Muir travelled to Mexico City, where he asked to be allowed to travel to California. He was later imprisoned in Havana, Cuba and taken by Spanish ship to Cádiz, Spain. In September 1797, the Spanish Government released Muir. Muir made his way to France. In November 1797, he arrived in Bordeaux, where he was hailed as a 'Hero of the French Republic.' Muir then traveled to Paris. Muir's confidant in 1798 was Dr Robert Watson and Muir learned of the United Scotsmen, which replaced the Friends of the People. In November 1798, Muir moved to the Île-de-France village of Chantilly. He died there on 25 January 1799. Shortly before his death, he said, "we have achieved a great duty in these critical times. After the destruction of so many years, we have been the first to revive the spirit of our country and give it a National Existence."

Early years
Thomas Muir was born above his father's grocers shop on the High Street of Glasgow. His father, James Muir, was the son of the 'bonnet laird' of Birdston in Milton of Campsie, he married Margaret Smith and they had two children Thomas and Janet. As a younger son James Muir had little prospect of inheriting his father's property. His family, however, had in Maidstone, Kent, relations who were prosperous hop-growers and it was towards this branch of trade that young James was persuaded to direct his energies. In this business venture he achieved considerable success and by the time of his marriage in 1764 he was firmly established as a hop-merchant in the High Street of Glasgow. Here, in the heart of the town's ancient University quarter, he settled with his wife, living in a little flat above his shop.

By all accounts Muir senior was a man of some education, whose interest in commerce extended far beyond that of his fellow businessmen, for he has been credited with the authorship of a pamphlet on 'England's Foreign Trade'. In the 1780s he purchased the property of Huntershill House, together with adjoining lands. Of Muir's mother, Margaret Smith, nothing of a biographical nature has been recorded. However, it is known that both Muir's parents were orthodox Presbyterians, consequently young Thomas's early upbringing was very much within the confines of the rigid moral and social ethic of ‘Auld Licht’ Calvinism. Early accounts described him as 'a pious child of modest, reserved nature'.

Education
Muir's education began at the age of five when his father hired William Barclay, a local schoolmaster, as a private tutor. In 1775, at the early age of 10, he was admitted to the "gowned classes" of Glasgow University. After five sessions he matriculated (1777) and took up divinity: like his parents he supported the Auld Licht or popular party in Kirk politics.

Graduation
In 1782, at the age of 17, Muir graduated with an M.A. Influenced by the teachings of John Millar, he abandoned his studies for the Church. At the beginning of the 1783–4 term he was accepted as a student in Millar's classes on Law and Government. His target was Scottish political conservatism in the form of the Faculty of Advocates and he recruited young Whig advocates imbued with a due reverence for the law. Muir joined students' clubs and societies in which the major topics of the day (American Independence, Patronage, and Burgh Reform) were debated.

Expelled from university
In May 1784, a dispute occurred between Professor John Anderson and other members of the Faculty, including Principal William Leechman and Professors Richardson and Taylor. Senior students issued a pamphlet A Statement of Fact against Leechman and the Faculty. After Anderson had departed for London, disciplinary proceedings were launched. Muir, McIndoe, Humphries and ten others were named as ringleaders; a ban was enforced on their attendance at lectures awaiting the result of hearings. Muir and his fellow students requested legal representation, but this request was rejected. Muir gave notice of his voluntary self-expulsion from the university.

At the beginning of the new academic year Muir, with the assistance of Millar, obtained a place at Edinburgh University under the Whig Professor of Law, John Wylde. Here he completed his studies and having passed his Bar examinations was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1787 at the age of 22.

Tribune of the people
An Elder of the Church of Scotland for his home parish of Cadder, Muir became embroiled at the beginning of 1790 in a dispute with the local landlords led by James Dunlop of Garnkirk, a rich owner. Muir acting on behalf of the elders challenged the attempt of the landlords or heritors to pack the selection committee for a new minister with "Parchment Barons". Upon the case being referred to the Synod at Glasgow, Muir was appointed as Counsel for the congregation and fought a protracted case on their behalf all the way to the General Assembly. In the event the case of the landlords was thrown out, and Muir and his party emerged victorious.

Muir acquired a reputation as a man of principle. His outspoken conviction that many existing laws were biased against the poor, won him the respect of younger advocates who nicknamed him "the Chancellor". His views on law reform were, however, unacceptable to members of the High Court: Lord Braxfield and Robert Dundas.

Revolution in France
The French Revolution of 1789 revived the hopes of all members of the Whig party in Scotland and England, in their campaign for burgh and county reform. Foxite Whigs in Parliament and the Lords inaugurated in April 1792 the London Association of the Friends of the People. Led by the Scots Lords, Lauderdale and Buchan, this society enjoyed widespread initial support from leading Whigs throughout Britain.

Since 1789, many clubs and societies had sprung up in the principal towns and villages of Scotland in support of the Revolution and its principles. In June 1792, the members of these societies and, in particular, those at Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Perth, began a regular correspondence with the object of forming a Scottish counterpart to the London Association. By the end of June 1792, a plan of organisation, principally drawn up by Muir and William Skirving, a Fife farmer, was set in motion. In distinct contrast to the London Association, which was deliberately exclusive, Muir and his associates, taking into consideration the vital educational differential between the working people of Scotland and England, opted for a nationwide association of reform clubs unlimited to any social class. After some initial difficulties due to the entrenched opposition of Henry Erskine, the Dean of the Faculty and leading Scottish Whig, the Scottish Association of the Friends of the People was formed at Edinburgh on 26 July 1792. Supported by two new publications, the Edinburgh Gazeteer and the Caledonian Chronicle, plus James Tytler's Historical Register, the new movement rapidly expanded.

Muir travelled to meet with the leaders of the Friends of the People in London. Sharing their concern that the execution of Louis XVI would be a disaster for the reform movements in the British Isles, Muir agreed to go to France and join Tom Paine in his attempts to persuade the leaders of the revolution to spare the life of the King. Muir had talks with the Girondist leaders, but their influence was waning.

The Edinburgh Convention and the United Irish address
Muir returned to Scotland on 23 August 1792. At the beginning of October he helped form Glasgow Society of Friends of the People and undertook a propaganda tour of Stirlingshire, Dunbartonshire, and Renfrewshire from which emerged new societies in Kirkintilloch, Birdston, Lennoxtown, Campsie and Paisley. On 21 November, Muir, having been elected vice-president of the movement at the Edinburgh monthly meeting, called for a General Convention of the popular reform societies in Great Britain to be held there in December.

On 8 December, as the first of the delegates were arriving in the capital, an Address of Fraternity from the United Irishmen arrived at Muir's lodgings in Carrubers Close. Drawn up by William Drennan, its appeal to the republican and independent spirit of the Scottish people were entirely to Muir's satisfaction. However, he appears to have unwisely circulated a copy of it among the delegates prior to the first sitting of the convention. Although "there was much in the address that was attractive to the delegates, many objected to the 'intemperate and dangerous nationalistic language".

As Muir rose in the first session Muir to present the Address he was vigorously opposed by a powerful unionist section among the delegates led by Col. William Dalrymple, Lord Daer and Richard Fowler. The Address contained "Treason or Misprison of Treason against the Union with England". Although the Address 'in its original form' was ultimately rejected, Muir was able to read it out and to declare: "We do not, we cannot, consider ourselves as mowed and melted down into another country. Have we not distinct Courts, Judges, Juries, Laws, etc.?".

Charged, convicted and transported for sedition
Muir spent the days following the Convention preparing a defence brief for James Tytler, arrested on a charge of sedition the previous month. Robert Dundas the Lord Advocate initiated an investigation of Muir's movements during the previous three months. Muir, on his way to Edinburgh on the morning of 2 January 1793 to attend Tytler's trial, was himself arrested on a charge of sedition and brought under guard to Edinburgh. After interrogation before the Sheriff and refusing to answer any questions, Muir was released on bail.

On 8 January Muir set out for London, to tell the Reformers there of the plight of the Scottish Association. The trial of the French King had changed attitudes. Both Charles Gray and Lord Lauderdale were now considering giving up the campaign for Parliamentary reform. Muir went to France, hoping vainly to persuade the French leaders to spare the life of the King. He met personalities of the National Convention including Condorcet, Brissot, Mirabeau and Madame Roland. While in Paris he also met Thomas Paine and Dr William Maxwell of Kirkconnel, the future doctor and associate of Robert Burns.

With the outbreak of war with France the anti-reform party in Scotland became increasingly militant, and Dundas advanced the date of Muir's trial from April to 11 February. Learning this, Muir drafted an open letter stating his intention to return as soon as passport difficulties would admit. Dundas set in motion legal steps to ensure Muir's outlawry for non-appearance on 25 February 1793, when Lord Braxfield pronounced him a fugitive from justice.

On 6 March 1793, Henry Erskine convened a meeting of the Faculty of Advocates at which Muir, with no one to speak in his defence, was unanimously expelled and his name struck from the register. At the end of June Muir obtained a passage from Havre de Grace in an American ship, The Hope of Boston.

Disembarking at Belfast, he made his way south to Dublin where he was feted by William Drennan and other leading United Irishmen, and taking Drennan's membership test was inducted into their society. Urged on by the secretary of the society, Archibald Hamilton Rowan, Muir decided to ignore his father's advice to remain in exile, and to return to Scotland to face down his accusers. He travelled back via Belfast where he was hosted by the publisher of the United Irish paper, the Northern Star, Samuel Neilson.

Landing in Portpatrick on 24 August 1793, he was immediately arrested. Brought under guard to Edinburgh and incarcerated in the Tolbooth prison, on 30 and 31 August he was brought before Braxfield, to answer charges "seditious speeches, circulating seditious publications, e.g. The Rights of Man, and reading a seditious document in public, viz. the United Irishmen's address". The judge seized on Muir's connection to the "ferocious" Mr. Rowan (Rowan had challenged Robert Dundas, the Lord Advocate of Scotland, to a duel) and on the United Irishmen papers found in his possession.

Muir was sentenced to 14 years transportation. The reform movement then stiffened their resistance to Government coercion. Muir was removed to an armed cutter, the Royal George, at Leith Roads. There he was soon joined by Thomas Fyshe Palmer, who had received a sentence of 7 years transportation in similar circumstances at Perth. Skirving resolved to convene a new Convention, better organised and more representative than its predecessors. Dundas reacted by ordering the immediate removal of Muir and Palmer to the Hulks at Woolwich, ahead of their departure for Botany Bay.

The third Convention
The third Convention of the Friends of the People and its successor the 'British Convention' were, like their predecessors, largely dominated by the delegates of the Edinburgh Societies. Moreover, by means of arrests and desertions, the Scottish movement had been deprived of most of its articulate leadership. Into this vacuum stepped three English delegates: Maurice Margarot, a merchant with a university education, Joseph Gerrald, friend and correspondent of William Godwin and an orator of flawless eloquence, and Matthew Campbell Browne, an actor turned reformer. After the early departure of Lord Daer, who was already suffering from the tuberculosis which led to his death the following year, these three men came to dominate the convention and its proceedings.

Only they and Muir realised the true nature of the extraordinary organisational differences existing between the reform movements in England and Scotland. Where the English societies remained psychologically and geographically divided, the Scots had an unprecedented degree of national unity backed by the general sympathy of the common people. Finding themselves almost by accident at the head of such an organisation, they threw all discretion to the winds. Urged on by Campbell Browne's wild histrionics, the movement's covert aims now became an open secret. Aping the Convention at Paris, the terms Citizen President, Secretary General, etc. were now introduced into its published reports, while the convention was rechristened the 'British Convention'.

What Muir thought of this reckless exposure to destruction of the organisation which he and William Skirving had so carefully nurtured is revealed by his description of it in 1797 as 'a miserable plaything of the English Government'. Ultimately it was a motion of Charles Sinclair, delegate from the Society for Constitutional Information (London), which gave Dundas his much sought-for excuse to disperse the convention.

Commenting upon the Convention Bill recently passed in Ireland as a means of suppressing public assemblies, Sinclair moved that a secret committee of four, together with the Secretary, be invested with the power to fix the meeting of a Convention of Emergency. This convention would, if necessary, declare itself permanent and resist attempts to disperse it. When the diligent spy, 'J.B.', duly delivered his report of this discussion, the authorities moved swiftly. Early on the morning of 5 December arrest warrants were issued and served by armed bailiffs upon Skirving, Margarot, Gerrald, Sinclair and Matthew Campbell Browne. In the trials which followed, Skirving, Margarot and Gerrald were each respectively given sentences of 14 years transportation. While these events were occurring, Muir and Palmer were being held in the prison hulks by night and being forced to labour in a chain gang on the banks of the Thames by day. An attempt to ship them out to Botany Bay in the convict transport Ye Canada had failed, when in true 'coffin-ship' tradition, her timbers were found to be rotten. After spending some time in Newgate Jail where they were joined by the newly convicted associates, Palmer, Skirving and Margarot, they were removed by coach to Portsmouth and placed aboard a new transport Surprize. In spite of belated and somewhat reluctant attempts on behalf of the Whigs in Parliament and the Lords to obtain a pardon for the radicals, they were abruptly shipped out for Botany Bay on the morning of 24 May.

Journey and arrival in Australia
On the first of May 1794, the Surprise, convict transport, sailed from Spithead (St. Helen's) for Sydney with Muir, Palmer, Skirving, and Margarot on board. The French Admiralty, by order of the Comite du Salut Public, sent out frigates to attempt their rescue; but the Surprise sailed with a strong convoy of East Indiamen and some of His Majesty's ships, and it does not appear they ever sighted the French frigates. The Surprise reached Sydney on 25 October 1794.

During the long voyage out to Australia an attempt was made (with or without official connivance) to discredit Muir, Skirving and Palmer by implicating them in an alleged mutiny led by the first mate. This affair, however, was so badly bungled that, in spite of having to endure much harsh and brutal treatment at the hands of the captain, the reformers had little difficulty in refuting the evidence against them upon arrival at Port Jackson.

Confinement at Sydney Cove
Muir's term of confinement at the penal colony appears to have been fairly uneventful. As political prisoners, and men of talent and education, Muir and his associates were accorded far greater freedom of movement than ordinary convicts. Prior to their departure from Portsmouth, each had received a considerable sum of money raised as a subscription on their behalf among the wealthy London Whigs. By this means they were able to sustain themselves without recourse to the official colonial stores, and thereby keep free of the compulsory manual labour normally demanded from all dependents.

In November, Judge Advocate Collins records that:

"The Lieutenant-Governor having set apart for each of the gentlemen who came out from Scotland in the Surprise a brick hut, in a row on the east side of the cove, they took possession of their new habitations, and soon declared that they found sufficient reason for thinking "the bleak and desolate shores of New Holland " not quite so terrible as in England they had been led to expect."

By December all four had spent the bulk of their remaining cash in purchasing plots of land. Skirving and Muir both seem to have acquired the services of some time-served convicts as servants. Palmer purchased 100 acre of land for £84, and was soon waxing eloquent about his new occupation as a farmer. Unlike his companions, or indeed his father, Muir had little or no taste for farming and with an eye to ultimate escape from the settlement, he purchased a small hut and several acres of land on the opposite side of the bay. Muir's farm was located in the area that is now Jeffrey Street in Kirribilli.

By this means he was able to remove himself from the direct observation of the Governor and his soldiers and at the same time was provided with a legitimate excuse for keeping a small boat.

Early in 1796 with the assistance of Pierre François Péron, a French sailor, he succeeded in arranging his escape from the settlement on board the American maritime fur trade ship Otter, of Boston.

Some accounts state that Muir's rescue or flight was not the first of such escapes may be judged from a remark of William Robert Broughton, Royal Navy, who sailed from Port Jackson in HMS Providence (1791), 13 Oct 1795, "We abstained from following the example of other ships that have touched at this colony, by not taking away any of the convicts, a practice very general in merchant ships gay".

The captain of Otter, Ebenezer Dorr, had, however, made it a precondition of his part in the escape plan that Muir and any who chose to go with him should effect their own escape from the harbour at Port Jackson, as this was carefully guarded by a blockading frigate. Muir swiftly contacted his fellow prisoners. However, in the event, none but himself was able to go. Skirving who had suffered from a recent bout of yellow fever was too weak, and would shortly be dead. Gerrald who had recently arrived in the settlement was in the final stages of acute tuberculosis and the Revd Palmer, who was nursing him, refused to leave his charge. Only Margarot might have availed himself of Muir's plan; however he was absent at a farm deep in the hills at Parramatta, and in any case he had been sent to Coventry (i.e. exiled) by his former colleagues because of his part in supporting the mutiny allegations.

Escape to America
On the evening of 17 February 1796, Muir, together with two convict servants, loaded up his small boat with one day's provisions and stealthily rowed their way out of harbour. Hugging close to the shore, they successfully eluded detection by the watch on the frigate, and navigated their way towards their prearranged point of rendezvous. About 12 am. on the following day, wet and exhausted, they were hauled aboard Otter. Muir, who had been unable to bring with him any of his personal property, left behind a note giving his books and papers to Palmer, with whom he also left a letter for the Governor thanking him for his tolerance and stating his intention of practising law at the American Bar. After a highly adventurous voyage across the as yet largely uncharted Pacific Ocean to Vancouver Island, Otter finally dropped anchor in Nootka Sound on 22 June 1796.

The chronicles of Pierre François Péron describe Muir's escape and the voyage across the Pacific and as far as Monterey, California.

In conversation with the Portuguese José Tovar, the piloto (master) of the Sutil, a Spanish vessel at anchor in the bay, Muir learned to his dismay of the presence in neighbouring waters of HMS Providence (1791), a British sloop-of-war under William Robert Broughton. This vessel had visited Port Jackson shortly before Muir's escape and, since he had almost certainly become acquainted with the captain or members of the crew, his life was now in real danger. To be captured while under sentence of transportation meant immediate execution. Once again Muir's extraordinary luck held out. While a student at Glasgow, he had acquired a fluent command of Spanish and he was now able to persuade Tovar to break his regulations regarding the admission of foreigners into Spanish territory. Changing vessels he sailed with Tovar down the coast of California to the port of Monterey, California. On arrival at this important Spanish outpost, Muir was introduced to the Governor, Don Diego Borica, who was favourably impressed by his character and intelligence, and allocated him accommodation along with his own family in the Presidio.

However, when Borica in due course submitted a report on Muir to his superior, the Viceroy at Mexico City, matters took a turn for the worse. Ignoring Muir's request to pass through Spanish territory to the United States, the Viceroy, instead, ordered the severe disciplining of Tovar for violating his orders. Muir's use of Washington's name and his claims of friendship with many of the leading personalities of the French Revolution, had rendered him highly suspicious to the Spanish authorities. Accordingly, Borica was directed to have Muir conducted with all haste to the capital 'without open sign of his being under arrest'. Accompanied by two officers detached from the Governor's staff, Muir, after a gruelling and often dangerous trek across the mountains, reached Mexico City on 12 October. For some days he was held in detention and closely questioned as to his purpose in entering California. It is evident, however, that his explanations were disbelieved by the sceptical Viceroy, who resolved to ship him out to Spain as a suspected spy. Under heavy guard, Muir was now dispatched on the road for the port of Vera Cruz where he arrived on 22 October. In spite of his demands to be put on board an American ship, he was now shipped out to Havana, Cuba to await the departure of a convoy for Spain.

Return to Europe
For some time, Muir appears to have regained his liberty in Havana, for he spoke to several American merchants explaining his plight. He also appears to have attempted an escape, only to be recaptured and imprisoned for three months in the dungeons of the La Principia Fortress. However Muir was nothing if not resourceful and it was while he was in La Principia that he succeeded by some means in contacting Victor Hughes, the French Agent for the Windward Islands. On learning of Muir's situation Hughes wrote to the Directory in France, thus providing them with the first concrete news of Muir's escape and survival. He also wrote an indignant letter to the Governor of Cuba protesting bitterly at Muir's harsh treatment and demanding his release. However, by the time this letter arrived in Havana, Muir had already sailed for Spain.

Whatever misgivings or fears Muir may have had for his safety at the hands of his Spanish jailers, there was one danger which had not occurred to him – that of confrontation with a British fleet. On the morning of 26 April 1797 as Muir's ship, the Ninfa, approached the entrance to Cadiz Harbour, he was confronted by several Royal Navy Men o' War who for some weeks had been blockading the port. Seeing at once that a conflict was inevitable, Muir approached the captain and asked to be put ashore as he was unwilling to bear arms against a ship which almost certainly contained some of his fellow countrymen. The captain, however, faced with the likely destruction of his vessel, had no time to consider the feelings of a prisoner. Turning about, the Ninfa and her sister ship the Santa Elena headed up the coast, hotly pursued by the British ships. After a chase of some three hours duration, the Ninfa and the Santa Elena were engaged in battle opposite Conil de la Frontera. In the action which followed, the Ninfa was seriously damaged, while the Santa Elena, reputedly a rich bullion ship, was deliberately scuttled by her captain. During the last few moments of the engagement, Muir received a glancing blow to the face from a piece of shrapnel which smashed his left cheek bone and seriously injured both his eyes. One of the crew under interrogation appears to have revealed the fact of Muir's presence on board, and a careful search was made for his body. However, the Spanish captain insisted that Muir was among the dead and in the event he was so badly disfigured that his would-be captors failed to identify him, and he was sent ashore with the wounded. Now began a long and painful recovery, while the French and Spanish authorities, from Consular to Ambassadorial and ultimately at Ministerial level, indulged in a bitter diplomatic wrangle over Muir's release.

The last days in France
Finally on 16 September 1797, the Spanish Government relented and decreed Muir's release and perpetual banishment from Spanish territories. Still weak and emaciated from his sufferings, Muir made his way to France by way of Madrid and San Sebastian, aided and assisted by a young officer from the French Consulate at Cadiz. In early November 1797, he arrived exhausted at Bordeaux, where he was hailed publicly as a 'Hero of the French Republic' and a 'Martyr of Liberty'. Feted by the civic authorities and literary societies, his last portrait, commissioned for display in public buildings, shows him with a large black patch over his left eye. The loss of his left cheekbone had caused that side of his face to droop, revealing the teeth in a perpetual grimace. Muir, weak and half blind, slowly made his way north to Paris where he arrived on 4 February 1798.

Muir's arrival in the capital was heralded by a great outburst of popular adulation. David, the great French artist and propagandist was officially appointed to welcome him to the city, in a front page eulogy in the Government journal Le Moniteur. From the very outset, however, Muir made it abundantly clear to his benefactors that, flattered though he was by their attentions towards him, it was their intentions on behalf of his suffering countrymen which were now to be his chief concern. He associated with Thomas Paine and James Napper Tandy of the United Irishmen, from whom he learned the exciting news of the near-insurrection in Scotland over the Militia Act. During 1798 he submitted many letters and memoranda to the Directory urging them to intervene militarily on behalf of the people and thus aid them in establishing a Scottish Republic.

Muir's chief confidant and informant during 1798 was Dr Robert Watson of Elgin, emissary to France on behalf of the United Englishmen. From him he learned for the first time details of the strength and extent of the United Scotsmen, the new revolutionary association which had replaced the Friends of the People. From Watson he also learned of the impending arrival in Paris of James Kennedy of Paisley and Angus Cameron of Blair Atholl as delegates of the new movement. Since Muir was by this time the principal intermediary between the Directory and the various republican refugees in Paris he was aware that his movements were under scrutiny by Pitt's agents. Accordingly, in his last known communication with the Directory in October 1798, he requested permission to leave Paris for somewhere less conspicuous, where his crucial negotiations with the Scots emissaries could be conducted in safety. Thus it was that sometime in the middle of November 1798, Muir moved incognito to the little Île-de-France village of Chantilly to await the arrival of his Scots compatriots. The only surviving documentation of his death is the record in the Chantilly town register, pictured on the right. The record, in French, is dated 7 pluviôse VII, the 26th of January 1799 in the Gregorian calendar. It states that Muir was found dead at half past six on the morning of the previous day, the 25th of January, by a boy of around twelve years old named Labussière. Muir's name was known only by word of mouth and because a man named as Citoyen Lepauve brought him personally addressed newspapers.

When several days later the news of Muir's passing finally reached Paris, a brief obituary notice was inserted in le Moniteur universel to the effect that he had died from a recurrence of his old wounds. Shortly before his death, he said:

"We have achieved a great duty in these critical times. After the destruction of so many years, we have been the first to revive the spirit of our country and give it a National Existence."

The Political Martyrs
Thomas Muir was the most important of the group of two Scotsmen and three Englishmen commemorated at the Political Martyrs' Monument the others being Thomas Fyshe Palmer, William Skirving, Maurice Margarot. and Joseph Gerrald). In 1793 these men were also sentenced to transportation to Australia for sedition and for writing and publishing pamphlets on parliamentary reform.

William Muir
William Muir the Campsie Poet was a relative of Thomas Muir's.

Thomas MUIR was also a cousin of William MUIR (1767–1843) a shipowner and merchant living in 1798, in Altona, Denmark (now part of Hamburg, Germany). Thomas wrote, asking William to remember him to his (Thomas') parents, who lived in Bishopbriggs. The letter was kept by William MUIR and found in the loft of his 'William MUIR, Bond 9 Distillery', about 1815, in Leith, Scotland, where Wm. MUIRl had relocated. (ref. Christina BEWLEY, Muir of Huntershill, pg. 175)

Thomas MUIR was buried, not in the Old Chantilly Burial Ground, but outside the graveyard of the church in town, as he was not Catholic. As of 1971, this graveyard had been covered over by a parking lot. (source: Groundskeeper of Old Chantilly Burial Ground, who said people often came looking for Thomas MUIR. He knew all the people in his graveyard, and MUIR was not one of them, but had died alone,"comme clochard". Site visited by Janet WHITE, 1971, a descendant of William MUIR)

Honours
After the Reform Act of 1832, Charles Tennant, chemical manufacturer in Glasgow, started the campaign to mark the work of Thomas Muir and his fellow reformers. After years of searching for a site to celebrate them, two large obelisks were funded by public subscription raised by the radical MP Joseph Hume and others. The first was in Edinburgh and the second in Nunhead Cemetery in South East London, unveiled in 1851.

The obelisk in the Old Calton Cemetery in Edinburgh was designed in 1844 by architect Thomas Hamilton (1784–1858) and stands 90 ft high.

The monument speaks for itself:

"To The Memory of Thomas Muir, Thomas Fyshe Palmer, William Skirving, Maurice Margarot and Joseph Gerrald. Erected by the Friends of Parliamentary Reform in England and Scotland, 1844."

It includes the following two quotations, the first by Muir, and the second by Skirving:

"I have devoted myself to the cause of The People. It is a good cause – it shall ultimately prevail – it shall finally triumph."

And:

"I know that what has been done these two days will be Re-Judged."

The Nunhead obelisk was erected in 1837 and stands 40 ft high.

A Cairn and Martyrs Gate were erected at Huntershill Village by John S. L. Watson of Huntershill and partly funded by the East Dunbartonshire Council.

John Watson and Thomas Muir Coffee Shop commissioned Bishopbriggs local artist John Spinelli to paint a series of watercolours, depicting Thomas Muir's dramatic escape from Botany Bay and his adventures that led him to France. They're displayed throughout the coffee shop.

There is a permanent exhibition to Thomas Muir at Bishopbriggs library, which includes a specially commissioned bust of Thomas Muir by celebrated Scottish artist Alexander Stoddart. Thomas Muir Street in Greenock is named after him. A school in Bishopbriggs, the Thomas Muir High School which opened in 1981, was named after him. It was merged with another school in 2003 to form Bishopbriggs Academy.

A mural of Thomas Muir was painted by graffiti artist ‘Rogue One’ in 2022 in the Trongate area of Glasgow.

Robert Burns wrote Scots Wha Hae on the day Muir's trial started. The letter he wrote to George Hamilton (about 30 August 1793) with the first draft made it clear who he had in mind; Wallace was an allegory for the real hero*...

So may God defend the cause of TRUTH and LIBERTY, as he did that day! – Amen!

P.S. I shewed the air to Urbani, who was highly please with it, & begged me to make soft verses for it; but I had no idea of giving myself any trouble on the subject, till the accidental recollection of that same struggle for Freedom, associated with the glowing idea's of some other struggles of the same nature, not quite so ancient*, roused my rhyming Mania. –Clarke's set of the tune, with his bass, you will find in the Museum; though I am afraid that the air is not what will entitle it to a place in your elegant selection. – However, I am so pleased with my verses, or more properly, the subject of my verses, that although Johnson has already given the tune a place, yet it shall appear again, set to this song, in his next & last Volume.- RB

title: Thomas Muir of Huntershill