Charles Watkin Williams Wynn (1775–1850) was a British statesman who, with George Canning, served as British plenipotentiary at the negotiations which produced the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of London of 17 March 1824. In the Achehnese record he is chiefly significant for his share in the eleventh-hour raising of the Acheh treaty of 1819 during the London negotiations.
The London Negotiations of 1824
The British and Dutch plenipotentiaries — Canning and Wynn on the one side, Fagel and Falck on the other — had been negotiating since late 1823 on the basis of unfinished financial questions left over by the Convention of 24 January 1817. A draft convention had been initialled and was about to be sent to The Hague for the King’s approval when, on the eve of Captain Elout’s departure, the British plenipotentiaries unexpectedly introduced a new matter. There existed, they said, «a British treaty with Acheh» which they would wish to see maintained; it was, they assured their Dutch colleagues, «nothing in particular — nothing else than a promise of Acheh to grant hospitality and assistance in shipwreck to British ships».
Van der Kemp observes that «neither Canning nor Wynn were aware of» the Acheh engagement until the London administration drew their attention to it; and that the British plenipotentiaries’ express request for its maintenance was at the same time an indirect admission «that we, and we alone, should henceforth have the say on Sumatra». The Dutch plenipotentiaries, who had not seen the treaty and trusted the British description, raised no objection to the Achehnese harbour being included in some form within the convention.
The Reading of 23 February 1824
The truth emerged only when Captain Elout returned to London and the full text of the Acheh treaty of 1819 was laid before the conference on 23 February 1824. The treaty, by its sixth article, established the exclusion of other European powers; in Van der Kemp’s phrase, «Raffles had taken care of that». The British plenipotentiaries «were surprised, on the reading of it», and were forced to acknowledge that «English sovereignty was thereby sufficiently established». The Dutch plenipotentiaries, in their dispatch of 21 February 1824, observed that the treaty was «read and recognised on both sides as, in the new state of things, no longer capable even of partial maintenance», but recorded the British concern that the United States of America or other foreign powers might seek to establish themselves at Acheh.
Significance
The episode is treated by Van der Kemp as a representative case of the casual handling of Achehnese affairs by the British government — an handling made possible by the fact that neither Canning nor Wynn had read the treaty they were seeking to maintain, and that the Dutch plenipotentiaries, in their turn, had no copy at hand. The result was the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of London (1824) of 17 March 1824, in which the Acheh question was left to be settled by a separate exchange of notes — and ultimately by the Dutch government’s unilateral assumption, after 1871, of the responsibilities that had been shifted onto it in 1824.
See Also
- George Canning
- Hendrik Fagel
- Anton Reinhard Falck
- Captain Elout
- Ridder Reinhold
- Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
- Anglo-Dutch Treaty of London (1824)
- Convention of 24 January 1817
- Acheh treaty of 1819
- Raising of the Acheh treaty in London negotiations
- Dutch plenipotentiaries’ dispatch of 21 February 1824
- First draft of 1824 Anglo-Dutch treaty
- Concept-convention of 24 July 1820
Source
Raffles’ Atjeh-overeenkomst van 1819, by P. H. van der Kemp, in Bijdragen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië, 6e Volgr., Deel VII (1900), pp. 159-239. Universiteitsbibliotheek Vrije Universiteit, LS.08781.
Charles Watkin Williams Wynn (1775–1850) was a British statesman who, with George Canning, served as British plenipotentiary at the negotiations which produced the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of London of 17 March 1824. In the Achehnese record he is chiefly significant for his share in the eleventh-hour raising of the Acheh treaty of 1819 during the London negotiations.
The London Negotiations of 1824
The British and Dutch plenipotentiaries — Canning and Wynn on the one side, Fagel and Falck on the other — had been negotiating since late 1823 on the basis of unfinished financial questions left over by the Convention of 24 January 1817. A draft convention had been initialled and was about to be sent to The Hague for the King’s approval when, on the eve of Captain Elout’s departure, the British plenipotentiaries unexpectedly introduced a new matter. There existed, they said, «a British treaty with Acheh» which they would wish to see maintained; it was, they assured their Dutch colleagues, «nothing in particular — nothing else than a promise of Acheh to grant hospitality and assistance in shipwreck to British ships».
Van der Kemp observes that «neither Canning nor Wynn were aware of» the Acheh engagement until the London administration drew their attention to it; and that the British plenipotentiaries’ express request for its maintenance was at the same time an indirect admission «that we, and we alone, should henceforth have the say on Sumatra». The Dutch plenipotentiaries, who had not seen the treaty and trusted the British description, raised no objection to the Achehnese harbour being included in some form within the convention.
The Reading of 23 February 1824
The truth emerged only when Captain Elout returned to London and the full text of the Acheh treaty of 1819 was laid before the conference on 23 February 1824. The treaty, by its sixth article, established the exclusion of other European powers; in Van der Kemp’s phrase, «Raffles had taken care of that». The British plenipotentiaries «were surprised, on the reading of it», and were forced to acknowledge that «English sovereignty was thereby sufficiently established». The Dutch plenipotentiaries, in their dispatch of 21 February 1824, observed that the treaty was «read and recognised on both sides as, in the new state of things, no longer capable even of partial maintenance», but recorded the British concern that the United States of America or other foreign powers might seek to establish themselves at Acheh.
Significance
The episode is treated by Van der Kemp as a representative case of the casual handling of Achehnese affairs by the British government — an handling made possible by the fact that neither Canning nor Wynn had read the treaty they were seeking to maintain, and that the Dutch plenipotentiaries, in their turn, had no copy at hand. The result was the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of London (1824) of 17 March 1824, in which the Acheh question was left to be settled by a separate exchange of notes — and ultimately by the Dutch government’s unilateral assumption, after 1871, of the responsibilities that had been shifted onto it in 1824.
See Also
- George Canning
- Hendrik Fagel
- Anton Reinhard Falck
- Captain Elout
- Ridder Reinhold
- Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
- Anglo-Dutch Treaty of London (1824)
- Convention of 24 January 1817
- Acheh treaty of 1819
- Raising of the Acheh treaty in London negotiations
- Dutch plenipotentiaries’ dispatch of 21 February 1824
- First draft of 1824 Anglo-Dutch treaty
- Concept-convention of 24 July 1820
Source
Raffles’ Atjeh-overeenkomst van 1819, by P. H. van der Kemp, in Bijdragen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië, 6e Volgr., Deel VII (1900), pp. 159-239. Universiteitsbibliotheek Vrije Universiteit, LS.08781.