Guillaume Delcourt

Guillaume Delcourt (31 March 1825 – 2 February 1898) was a Belgian Royal Navy officer, navigator, naval engineer, and maritime advisor to King Leopold II. He was one of the major players of early Belgian expansion around the world.

Early years and family

Guillaume Delcourt's parents died young, leaving him an orphan as a child. His mother was Barbara Wittouck (died in Brussels on 17 June 1830), daughter of the jurisconsult Guillaume Wittouck, whom Delcourt was named after. His father Napoleon Joseph Delcourt, a brewer born in Ath, was injured while fighting for the Belgian Revolution in 1830 and died three years later in Antwerp on 30 July 1833. After the death of his parents he was raised by his mother's sister, Jeanne Wittouck and her husband Jean-Louis Van Dievoet, secretary of the Belgian Supreme Court. He descends from the Houses of Serhuyghs, Sleeus, t'Serroelofs, Coudenbergh, and Roodenbeke of the Seven Noble Houses of Brussels through his mother.

Education

After a brief career in banking, Delcourt was admitted at the Royal Military Academy in 1842 as an officer candidate of 2nd class. He graduated after 2 years as an officer candidate of 1st class.

Career

Starting in, 1845 he sailed on the Macassar on board which he had to face numerous challenges in the China Seas: typhoons, storms, grounding, etc.. He then sailed for Batavia. While in route for Singapore in 1847, his ship was attacked by pirates in the Riau straight. On his way back it was almost shipwrecked.

Delcourt, then aboard the Louise Marie, sails for the Rio Nunez, where Leopold I had created a colony, and arrived there on 10 February 1849. He participated in the Rio Nuñez incident on 23 March 1849. During his return, his ship silted up and found itself in a bad position, taking shots from partisans of Mayoré, but was saved by the Africans that stayed loyal to the Belgians.

After this successful campaign, Leopold I promoted him to the rank of Ensign at sea.

He makes another trip in 1850 to the Rio Nunez but the situation had worsened. He then leaves for the Belgian colony of Santo-Thomas in Guatemala that was also collapsing.

In 1851, he leaves once more on board the Louise-Marie to the Rio Nunez; while on the island of Gorée, the Belgians receive a message from the consul of Belgium L. Bols-Wittouck, a cousin of Delcourt, asking them to get back to Rio-Nunez rapidly as the situation was getting worse.

Delcourt was made Lieutenant at sea, 1st class on 1 July 1863.

In 1865, he was named engineer of maritime constructions, he helped develop the port of Antwerp. He became the maritime advisor of Leopold II and advised the king on the necessary maritime equipment for Sir Henry Morton Stanley and his expedition.

His many writings are kept at the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History. These include his logbooks from his travels to Manila, Indonesia, and the West coast of Africa as well as his "extremely interesting" correspondence.

His publications

• 1872 : « Cours de navigation » (Navigation lessons).
• 1875 : « Précis du cours de construction et armement maritimes » (Summary of the maritime construction and armament course), Institut supérieur du commerce, Antwerp.
• 1876 : « Notice sur la vie et les travaux d'Auguste-Joseph-Ghislain-Aintoine Stessels » (Note on the life and work of Auguste-Joseph-Ghislain-Aintoine Stessels) as a member of the commission directrice des Annales des Travaux publics.
• 1879 : « Rapport sur l'amélioration des canaux, leur exploitation par réseaux » (Report on the improvement of canals, their exploitation by networks).
• 1879 : « Analyse de l'ouvrage de M. Finet » (Analysis of the work of M. Finet).
• 1880 : He collaborated on « Rapport sur les moyens d'étendre les débouchées de la Belgique dans les pays d'outre-mer » (Report on the Ways to extend Belgium's opportunities to overseas countries).
• 1881 :« Les moyens d'étendre les débouchées de la Belgique dans les pays d'outre-mer » (Ways to extend Belgium's opportunities to overseas countries), in the Bulletin de la Société de Géographie d'Anvers.
• 1886 : « Rapport sur les bâtiments de tous genres, materiel, etc. » (Report on buildings of all kinds, materials, etc.) as a jury member of group VII of the classes 70, 71 and 72 of the Antwerp World Fair of 1885.
• 1886 : « Sauvetage maritime, éclairage et balisage des cotres, sauvetage pour incendies et autres accidents » (Maritime rescue, lighting and marking of cutters, rescue for fires and other accidents).
• 1887 : « Notice sur le Stern-Wheel Ville de Bruxelles » (Notice on the Sternwheeler Ville de Bruxelles), in the Bulletin de la Société de Géographie d'Anvers.
• 1894 : « Notice sur le gaz à l'eau » (Notice on water gas).

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