Alfred Pelldram

Alfred Leopold Robert Moritz Pelldram (1847 – 22 February 1906) was a German diplomat who served as the Consul-General for Australia, Resident Minister to Haiti and Minister to Venezuela.

Early life and background Born in Sagan in the Prussian Province of Silesia in 1847, Pelldram passed the matriculation examination in 1865, and studied jurisprudence at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg and the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin from 1866 to 1869. In 1867, whilst a student in Berlin, Pelldram entered the 2nd Guards Uhlans Regiment, a reserve cavalry guards regiment of the Prussian Army in Berlin.

He was promoted to Leutnant (the equivalent of Second Lieutenant) in 1869 and on the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, served with his regiment as a part of the 2nd Guards Infantry Division in the Second Army commanded by Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia. Pelldram served with distinction throughout the war, including in such engagements as Mars-la-Tour, Gravelotte, Sedan, the Siege of Paris, Orleans and Le Mans. For his service he received the Iron Cross Second Class in 1870. In 1886 Pelldram was sent to Cairo as Consul-General and then Consul for Caucasia and Transcaucasia at Tiflis in 1887.

In 1888 arrived in the Colony of New South Wales to serve as Consul-General of Germany for Australia based in Sydney, with additional responsibilities for New Zealand and Fiji. Pelldram was well receivedin the colony, with the Sydney Mail later noting: "In Herr Peldram we have a man of ' marked importance and ability,' and, as the Iron Cross conferred upon him testifies, of much higher qualities than the authority quoted laid down as a sine qua non." Pelldram also served as the Acting Consular Agent for Italy. Throughout his time in Sydney, Pelldram was assisted by the German Consul in Sydney, Carl Ludwig Sahl, who often officiated in his absence. When Sahl died in early 1897 Pelldram officiated at his funeral. In August 1897 Pelldram departed Sydney to take up an appointment as Consul-General in Antwerp.

In 1900 Pelldram was appointed as the German Resident Minister for Haiti in Port-au-Prince. Following the Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903 he was posted as the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Venezuela in Caracas. Serving until 1906, Pelldram, in ill health returned to Germany and died in Berlin on 22 February 1906.

Honours