Nicolaes Geelvinck
Encyclopedia
Nicolaes Geelvinck was lord of Castricum
, Bakkum, Santpoort, Velsen
, Stabroek
, schepen
, and owner of the country estate Akerendam-by-Beverwijk
. He was appointed as mayor of Amsterdam in 1747, but in 1748 lost his seat in the vroedschap
and as a counsellor to the Admiralty of Amsterdam
, thanks to Mattheus Lestevenon
.
married Johanna's mother Anna de Haze the year after. Nicolaes worked at the townhall as a lawyer and city secretary. In 1737 he became administrator WIC
, a position held for life. When his wife died in 1740, Nicolaes remarried in 1743 to Hester Hooft, at that time held to be the most beautiful woman in Amsterdam, who died two months later of a spleen disease. His childless sister and a widow perhaps took her place as mother, for Nicolaes had five children to bring up. In 1747 Nicolaes Geelvinck married for the third time, to the only daughter of mayor Gerrit Corver. She brought a million guilders with her and on the death of her father she inherited another 1.1 million. Nicolaes had other reasons to be happy, for - not yet forty - he had just become mayor, and was expected to make reforms to the Admiralty.
, Nicolaes Geelvinck - the only burgomaster
present - quickly had to flee the city hall on Dam Square
, before the mayors room was occupied by the people and a ceiling mob was stuck from the window to make clear, the place was cleaned. The people regarded the leaseholders as responsible, and the regenten
's oligarchy
as the cause of their misery. The Amsterdam mayors suffered from much criticism, though there were promises that the leasing system would be revised.
Nicolaes' problems did not end there. The result of the tax leaseholders uproar was the Doelistenbeweging, a group of mainly Calvinist merchants, trying to put limits on the powers of the mayors and the Jewish streetvendors. The system of leasing of taxes was quicly lifted. An recently introduced income tax unique in Europe, also aroused resistance, although it affected only the richest (5%) of the population. This tax was replaced by a gift, as often occurred in difficult years with wars. The Austrian Succession had caused a costly war with France. In 1749 Nicolaes inherited 90,000 guilder from his great-aunt Sara Hinlopen: shares, bonds and farmland in one of the oldest polder
s, the Zijpe
.
After her death the mansion came into the hands of her son Nicolaas Geelvinck
(1732–1787), the new administrator of the WIC. The mansion was sold in 1782 to John Hope
, son of Thomas Hope
, a banker and art collector. (The canalside mansion on Herengracht 509-511 was demolished in 1917 due to the widening of the Vijzelstraat; parts of the interior were moved to Amstel 218). In July 1787 Joan Geelvinck, his brother and a patriot
, was elected as mayor of Amsterdam. He had to flee half a few months later to France.
Castricum
Castricum is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.Castricum is a tourist attraction in the province North Holland...
, Bakkum, Santpoort, Velsen
Velsen
Velsen is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located on both sides of the North Sea Canal.On the north side of the North Sea Canal, in IJmuiden, there is a major steel plant, Corus Strip Products IJmuiden, formerly known as Koninklijke Hoogovens...
, Stabroek
Stabroek
Stabroek is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Hoevenen and Stabroek proper. On December 31, 2006 Stabroek had a total population of 17,618. The total area is 21.51 km² which gives a population density of 818 inhabitants per km². In...
, schepen
Schepen
A schepen is a Dutch word referring to a municipal civic office in Dutch-speaking countries. The term is still in use in Belgium, but it has been replaced by wethouder in the Netherlands. The closest English terms are alderman, member of the municipal executive, councillor and magistrate,...
, and owner of the country estate Akerendam-by-Beverwijk
Beverwijk
Beverwijk is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast...
. He was appointed as mayor of Amsterdam in 1747, but in 1748 lost his seat in the vroedschap
Vroedschap
The vroedschap was the name for the city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a vroedman, literally a "wise man"...
and as a counsellor to the Admiralty of Amsterdam
Admiralty of Amsterdam
The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the largest of the five Dutch admiralties at the time of the Dutch Republic. The administration of the various Admiralties was strongly influenced by provincial interests...
, thanks to Mattheus Lestevenon
Mattheus Lestevenon
Mattheus Lestevenon, heer van Berckenrode was a city-secretary and schepen in Amsterdam, then Dutch ambassador to France. Lestevenon played an important role in the year 1748 and in the negotiations for the Treaty of Paris. Pietro Locatelli dedicated six violin sonatas to him.-Life:Lestevenon...
.
Life
In 1729 Nicolaes Geelvinck married Johanna Jacoba Graafland. His father Lieve GeelvinckLieve Geelvinck
Lieve Geelvinck was the son of Joan Geelvinck and grandson of Cornelis Geelvinck and, following them into the vroedschap, he became administrator of the Dutch East India Company and member of the Council of State. He became mayor of Amsterdam for the first time in 1720...
married Johanna's mother Anna de Haze the year after. Nicolaes worked at the townhall as a lawyer and city secretary. In 1737 he became administrator WIC
Dutch West India Company
Dutch West India Company was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Among its founding fathers was Willem Usselincx...
, a position held for life. When his wife died in 1740, Nicolaes remarried in 1743 to Hester Hooft, at that time held to be the most beautiful woman in Amsterdam, who died two months later of a spleen disease. His childless sister and a widow perhaps took her place as mother, for Nicolaes had five children to bring up. In 1747 Nicolaes Geelvinck married for the third time, to the only daughter of mayor Gerrit Corver. She brought a million guilders with her and on the death of her father she inherited another 1.1 million. Nicolaes had other reasons to be happy, for - not yet forty - he had just become mayor, and was expected to make reforms to the Admiralty.
The "Pachtersoproer"
On 9 November 1747, during the Taxleasers uproarPachtersoproer
The pachtersoproer was a Dutch rebellion in the 18th century. The origin of the uprising was to be found in the economic malaise of the 1740s. It was the system of the rural tax-collection that brought serious complaints, combined with deep dissatisfaction at the way in which the regents and the...
, Nicolaes Geelvinck - the only burgomaster
Burgomaster
Burgomaster is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or chairman of the executive council of a sub-national level of administration...
present - quickly had to flee the city hall on Dam Square
Dam Square
Dam Square, or simply the Dam is a town square in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. Its notable buildings and frequent events make it one of the most well-known and important locations in the city.- Location and description :...
, before the mayors room was occupied by the people and a ceiling mob was stuck from the window to make clear, the place was cleaned. The people regarded the leaseholders as responsible, and the regenten
Regenten
In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the regenten were the rulers of the Dutch Republic, the leaders of the Dutch cities or the heads of organisations . Though not formally a hereditary "class", they were de facto "patricians", comparable to that ancient Roman class...
's oligarchy
Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy...
as the cause of their misery. The Amsterdam mayors suffered from much criticism, though there were promises that the leasing system would be revised.
Nicolaes' problems did not end there. The result of the tax leaseholders uproar was the Doelistenbeweging, a group of mainly Calvinist merchants, trying to put limits on the powers of the mayors and the Jewish streetvendors. The system of leasing of taxes was quicly lifted. An recently introduced income tax unique in Europe, also aroused resistance, although it affected only the richest (5%) of the population. This tax was replaced by a gift, as often occurred in difficult years with wars. The Austrian Succession had caused a costly war with France. In 1749 Nicolaes inherited 90,000 guilder from his great-aunt Sara Hinlopen: shares, bonds and farmland in one of the oldest polder
Polder
A polder is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments known as dikes, that forms an artificial hydrological entity, meaning it has no connection with outside water other than through manually-operated devices...
s, the Zijpe
Zijpe
-Population centres :The municipality of Zijpe consists of the following cities, towns, villages and/or districts: Burgerbrug, Burgervlotbrug, Callantsoog, Groote Keeten, Oudesluis, Petten, Schagerbrug, Sint Maartensbrug, Sint Maartensvlotbrug, 't Zand....
.
Akerendam
Nicolaes Geelvinck lived in the most expensive mansion in Amsterdam, seven windows wide. In 1742, he had bought the Akerendam in Beverwijk from his sister Anna Elisabeth. In 1760, he sold the estate, with stabling for 21 horses, a menagerie, an orangery, eleven hectares of countryside and a number of paintings, when his wife inherited an estate near Velsen, formerly belonging to his father-in-law Gerrit Corver. By the time of his death, Nicolaes Geelvinck was worth six million and the inventory of his belongings took up 66 pages. His widow demanded that until her death she could continue living in the mansion on Herengracht; his nine children got 800,000 guilder each.After her death the mansion came into the hands of her son Nicolaas Geelvinck
Nicolaas Geelvinck
Nicolaas Geelvinck , son of Nicolaes Geelvinck, Lord of Stabroek, was President of the Dutch West India Company in 1784....
(1732–1787), the new administrator of the WIC. The mansion was sold in 1782 to John Hope
Jan Hope
John Hope , also known as Jan Hope, was the son of Thomas Hope and Margaretha Marcelis, first cousin of Henry Hope, father of Thomas Hope, and a follower of the Scottish Enlightenment, who is best known today for his Groenendaal Park in Heemstede, Netherlands, where he summered from 1767 to his...
, son of Thomas Hope
Thomas Hope (1704-1779)
Thomas Hope was a Dutch banker and administrator of the VOC.-Family:The Hope family originally came from Scotland. Archibald Hope, the father of Thomas, was a Quaker who had eight sons. Archibald – along with his eldest son Archibald Jr. – played a principal part in trade in Rotterdam around 1720...
, a banker and art collector. (The canalside mansion on Herengracht 509-511 was demolished in 1917 due to the widening of the Vijzelstraat; parts of the interior were moved to Amstel 218). In July 1787 Joan Geelvinck, his brother and a patriot
Patriots (faction)
The Patriots were a political faction in the Dutch Republic in the second half of the 18th century. They were led by Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, gaining power from November 1782....
, was elected as mayor of Amsterdam. He had to flee half a few months later to France.