Gerald Portal Information
Sir Gerald Herbert Portal (1858 – 1894) was a British diplomat, who was the Consul General for British East Africa and British Special Commissioner to Uganda, and a main figure in the establishment of the Uganda Protectorate.[1]
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Diplomatic career
Portal was educated at Eton College in England. He joined the diplomatic service as an attaché in 1879, and was posted to the Egyptian Agency the same year. In 1886 he became, Acting Agent and Consul General, and the following year he was sent to Ethiopia. In 1889 he was appointed to Zanzibar as the Consul General for British East Africa.[1]
Mission to Uganda
In 1892 Portal was appointed British Special Commissioner to Uganda. His mission was to report to the British Government on the desirability of setting up a British Protectorate to replace the Imperial British East Africa Company. The British East Africa Company, which was the administrator of British East Africa (including the territory of Uganda), was becoming increasingly ineffective in its venture as a commercial company with colonial administrative rights – amidst conflicts between rival factions, including the Kabaka (King) of Buganda, French Catholic, and British Protestant missionaries.[2]
Portal established a settlement between the French and British Missionaries in Uganda, and on May 29, 1893, he signed a treaty with Kabaka Mwanga of Buganda. On April 1, 1893, Portal hauled down the flag of the British East Africa Company at Mengo (the Kabaka's residence) and hoisted the Union Jack.[3]
Portal returned to Britain and recommended the declaration of Uganda as a protectorate. He died from typhoid fever in London on January 25, 1894. On June 18, 1894, Uganda was declared a British Protectorate.[1][4]
The town of Fort Portal in western Uganda, where Portal had his base, is named after him.
Honours
- Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) - 1886
- Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) - 1893
References
- ^ a b c "The Obituary Record" (PDF). New York Times. 1894-01-26. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9B05E7D91638E233A25755C2A9679C94659ED7CF. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
- ^ Apter, David Ernest (1997). The political kingdom in Uganda: a study of bureaucratic nationalism.
- ^ Portal, Gerald H. (1894). The British mission to Uganda in 1893. http://www.archive.org/stream/britishmissionto00portuoft/britishmissionto00portuoft_djvu.txt. Retrieved 2006-02-17.
- ^ Hertslet, Edward (1896). The map of Africa by treaty url=http://www.archive.org/details/mapofafricabytre03hertuoft.
| Persondata | |
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| Name | Portal, Gerald Herbert |
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| Date of birth | 1858 |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | 1894 |
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Categories: 1858 births | 1894 deaths | Companions of the Order of the Bath | Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George | British diplomats | History of Uganda | Deaths from typhoid fever | I Zingari cricketers
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