page_title: Jan Helenus Ferguson
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: Jan Helenus Ferguson / Biography
caption_attribution_description: English: Jan Helenus Ferguson (19 May 1826 – 13 April 1908) was a Dutch colonial government official and diplomat, who made a career in the administration of the Dutch West Indies and the Dutch Gold Coast, before becoming consul general of the Netherlands to China. Ferguson also authored several works on international law, sociology and philosophy.
context_page_description: Jan Helenus Ferguson was a Dutch colonial government official and diplomat, who made a career in the administration of the Dutch West Indies and the Dutch Gold Coast, before becoming consul general of the Netherlands to China. Ferguson also authored several works on international law, sociology and philosophy.
context_section_description: Jan Helenus Ferguson was born on the Caribbean island of Curaçao to Jonathan Ferguson from Amsterdam and Helena Elizabeth Martijn from Curaçao. He initially made a career in the colonial administration of the Dutch Caribbean islands, becoming lieutenant governor of Aruba in 1866. He was appointed lieutenant governor of Bonaire in June 1871, but never took office as the Dutch government needed someone to hand over the Dutch Gold Coast to the British in 1872 after governor Cornelis Nagtglas had left the colony.
  After the Dutch flag was lowered for the last time in Elmina on 6 April 1872, Ferguson was appointed consul general of the Netherlands in China. He lived and worked in Chefoo, Hong Kong and Beijing, before retiring to the Netherlands in 1895. He then lived in Wageningen and Amsterdam. He died in Padang in the Dutch East Indies in 1908.
  Ferguson was a member of the Institut de Droit International. His main publication as an international lawyer was his 'Manual of international law for the use of navies, colonies and consulates' (1884), which was even translated into the Chinese language. He was awarded recognition by the Chinese emperor in the same year as an officer in the Order of the Double Dragon.
caption: Portrait of Jan Helenus Ferguson in uniform.
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