EARLY BELGIAN COLONIAL EFFORTS - The University of Texas at ...

As some of the earliest settlers returned with stories of woe and death, the
company attempted to raise additional sums and gather more settlers to dispel what was
becoming a din of criticism. The company sent a succession of on-site directors to the
colony between May 1843 and November 1845 in a frantic attempt to stem the
deteriorating condition of the colony. 247
By 1845, however, it became obvious that of Santo Tomas, at least as managed
by the Compagnie, was not and could never be a viable entity. A few settlers,
especially from the German states, continued to come, but the dreams of the early
colonists and quick profits for the Compagnie were gone. Some of the settlers who had
not returned to Belgium or died dispersed to other parts of Guatemala. A few, perhaps
twenty, settled in Guatemala City and became relatively prosperous. The fate of the
company was eventually sealed by the inability of Count Hompesch, its leading
promoter, to successfully negotiate sufficient additional loans or capitalization. The
colony proved so disastrous for Hompesch himself that his failure to adequately
guarantee company loans with his personal assets resulted in his flight to France and
later imprisonment and death. 248 Despite direct intervention by the Belgian government
over the next ten years, 249 the dream had become a nightmare. 250
247 Captain Philippot (May 19- October 24, 1843); a colonial council, headed by various colonists
including the Jesuit Father R. P. Walle (October 24,1843-March 6, 1844); Major Guillaumont (March 6,
1844-November 1844); Captain Dorn (April 1, 1845-November 1845); and Baron von Bulow
(November 5, 1844-April, 1845).
248 After his death, his wife, Madame de Hompesch, wrote a defense of her husband that
attempted to show that the problems with the company and the colony arose from conditions outside the
control of her husband. Greindl, 251-264.
249 Leopold, based upon his relationship with the House of Rothschild in Paris, arranged for a
credit up to 1,000,000 Belgian francs to the Compagnie for perspective lot sales in late 1842.
250 The government of Guatemala rescinded the grant to the Compagnie in 1855.
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