Van Watervliet family

Last updated
Van Watervliet
Wapen van Watervliet.png
Country Zeeland provinciewapen oud.svg County of Zeeland
Flag of Cross of Burgundy.svg Habsburg Netherlands
Statenvlag.svg Dutch Republic
Flag of the United Kingdom (1-2).svg United Kingdom
Flag of the United States (DoS ECA Color Standard).svg United States
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada
Place of originGoes, County of Zeeland
Map - NL - Municipality code 0664 (2009).svg
FoundedC. 1560
FounderGillis Cornelissen Brouwer
Historic seat Heinkenszand, then Ellewoutsdijk
Titles
  • Ridder
  • Heer (vrijheer) van Watervliet
  • Heer van Ellewoutsdijk, Everinge, Koudorp, en Driewegen
  • Heer van 's-Heer Hendrikskinderen
  • Heer van 's-Heer Arendskerke
  • Burgemeester van Goes
  • Schepen van Goes
  • Schout van Heinkenszand
Estate(s)Ridderhofstede ten Watervliet
Slot te Ellewoutsdijk
Slot te 's-Heer Hendrikskinderen
Cadet branchesVan Everinghe

The Van Watervliet family is a Dutch noble family of businessmen and landowners that rose to prominence during the early Renaissance in the County of Zeeland of the Seventeen Provinces of the Holy Roman Empire, and later in the Netherlands and British colonies of North America.

Contents

Etymology

The name "Van Watervliet" means "from water flow" in Dutch. There is no place in Zeeland named "Watervliet", although the mostly-island county is surrounded by the sea and crisscrossed with irrigation canals.

History

Origins in Zeeland

Gillis Cornelissen Brouwer (c.1529–1591) gained notoriety operating "The Old Brewery" [Dutch: De Oude Brouwerie] outside of Goes. His success enabled him to purchase significant amounts of land, and his prominence in the community led to him being appointed schout of Heinkenszand in 1560. [1] Gillis married first around 1552 to an unknown woman and the union produced one son, Cornelis Gillissen. In 1577 Gillis married Clara lemantsdochter, and that union produced three children, one of whom, Jacobmijnken Gillisdochter, married Jongheer Jan Pietersen van Cats, solidifying the family's connection to the Zeeland nobility. [2]

Like his father, Cornelis Gillissen continued to acquire lands, particularly those of expat and extinct noble families, and increase the family's civic involvement. [3] Supporters elected him first a schepen (councilman) and later Burgemeester (mayor) of Goes. Between 1588 and 1609 Maurice, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, elevated Cornelis to ridder (knight), then the highest rank in the Dutch nobility beneath the head of state, and Heer (baron) van Watervliet, possibly in return for support during Catholic King Phillip II's persecution of Protestants in the Netherlands. Later family members would become staunch defenders of religious liberty. Around this time Maurice also appointed Cornelis to the Rekenkamer (Court of Audit) of Zeeland.

Researchers cannot yet explain the selection of "Watervliet" as the estate name. [4] The closest place named Watervliet is in Flanders in Belgium, approximately 20 miles (30km) from Goes, but there is a Zeeland tie to the Heer of that Watervliet: Count Hieronymus Lauweryn van Watervliet served as Treasurer-General of Zeeland from 1499 to 1508. [5] Also, the title is an unusual example of a grant where the fount granted no accompanying fief--Gillissen's land was allodial, a vrijheerlijkheid --so the title is attached to Cornelis and his descendants to the present day.

Grave of Cornelis and Anna van Watervliet. Cornelis van Watervliet grave.jpg
Grave of Cornelis and Anna van Watervliet.

Cornelis married Maria van Campen, and they produced five children, including Cornelia, Gillis, and Cornelis. Cornelia married David van der Nisse, Heer van Nisse, who later served as Burgemeester of Goes. Gillis and Cornelis followed in their father's footsteps as councilmen and mayors of Goes, ridders, and serving on the Rekenkamer. Cornelis married Anna van Liere, they produced four children [6] and share a grave in the Great Church of Mary Magdalene in Goes.

By the middle 17th Century, some Dutch provinces began following the practice of the Holy Roman Empire where all descendants, male and female, inherited the father's title (but only males could pass it on), so official records of the time referred to all four of Cornelis and Anna's children variously and concurrently as "Heer van Watervliet", and "Heer van Ellewoutsdijk, etc". [7] In 1651 their daughter Anna Maria wed a Dutch-Czech nobleman, Ferdinand de Perponcher Sedlnitsky, ridder, Freiherr von Choltitz und Fullstein, and a cousin of Hendrik George de Perponcher Sedlnitsky. In adulthood, Cornelis and Anna's sons, Cornelis and Emmery, served as councilmen and mayors of Goes, and Cornelis and Frederik served on the Gecommitteerde Raad van Zeeland (State Council). Frederik produced two sons for certain, Myndert and Carsten, and possibly a third, Rynier. [8]

In North America

Mentions of the Van Watervliets in the records of Zeeland gradually disappear in the 18th Century, while Myndert and Carsten start a new chapter of the family history in the New Netherland settlement of Beverwijck around 1655. As Lutherans, their move to North America may have been prompted by a 1619 law that limited membership in the highest level of government, the Ridderschap, to members of the Reformed Church. [9] If true, it would not be the family's last tangle with Calvinists. In moving they also deployed another family name, Van Everinghe, invoking their ancient and more prestigious title of Heer van Ellewoutsdijk, Everinghe, Koudorp, en Driewegen, which was the second largest barony in Zeeland at the time [10] and dates to the 13th Century. [11] Due to non-standardized spelling and Anglicization of names over time, they and their descendants appear in records variously under the names Van Iveren, Van Yveren, Van Every, Van Evera, and Van Avery, with or without the space and sometimes with the "between-joiner" "Van" treated as an additional given name or abbreviated as an initial. [12]

Watervliet, NY, in 1854. Watervliet and Albany City 1854.jpg
Watervliet, NY, in 1854.

As Van Watervliets, Myndert and Carsten immediately started businesses as blacksmiths and fur traders to fund land purchases in the colony, with Rynier acting as their agent in Amsterdam. [13] Myndert served as a city councilor and elder in the Lutheran church, and in 1673 he and four other prominent Lutherans sent a letter to the Governor-General of New Netherland asking that Lutherans' free exercise of religion not be curtailed by the colony or Reformed Church. The request was granted. [14] Eventually Myndert secured a warrant from Governor Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick, to provide all the arms and armor for Fort Orange, and joined the Albany Convention, with Governors Nicholas Bayard and Stephanus Van Cortlandt, and another Dutch nobleman, Frederick Philipse, seeking to restore the rule of William III of England (and probably not coincidentally, also Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic) against Leisler's Rebellion during the Glorious Revolution. [15] Myndert is also noted as a close associate of Jeremias van Rensselaer, Patroon of the Manor of Rensselaerwyck, and attended his funeral. [16]

The original Town of Watervliet on the banks of the Hudson River that became the City of Watervliet, New York, is likely named after the family.

Other notable members

Arms

The arms of the Van Watervliet family (pictured in the infobox above) consist of three black hunting horns on a white background, or in heraldic terms, Argent, three hunting horns Sable. [25]

Important Van Watervliet descendants [26]

Gillis Cornelissen Brouwer (1529-1591)

Style

Basic style

Following the Dutch tradition, members of the family in English-speaking regions would use the title "Baron/Baroness van Watervliet" after their surname, and honorific "The High Well-born Lord/Lady" (Dutch: De Hoogwelgeboren heer/vrouwe) before their given names. Written out, this style would appear as:

The High Well-Born Lord GivenNames FamilyName, Baron van Watervliet

The honorific "The High Well-Born Lord/Lady" is only used in the most formal circumstances, and usually only in writing. In conversation or the salutation of a letter, the formal address is, "My Lord/Lady" (Dutch: Mijn Heer/Vrouwe) or "Your Lordship/Ladyship."

Usage

While living members of the family are entitled to use the style under the law of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, modern usage varies from place to place. The title is not recognized in the modern Netherlands, possibly because no living members of the family resided in the country to petition for recognition when the nobility there was re-established in 1814. In the United States, while legally permitted, it is very rare for nobles to employ their titles in a routine fashion and frowned upon in some circles. In other countries, particularly ones that had or have a nobility of their own, like Austria, use of titles may also be frowned upon or even barred by law.

Notes

  1. Van den Berge, p 1.
  2. Van den Berge, p 11.
  3. Van den Berge, p 1.
  4. Van den Berge, pp 1–2.
  5. Van Steensel, p 179.
  6. Van den Berge, pp 12–13.
  7. Smallegange, pp 213, 426.
  8. Piersol, p 5.
  9. "Adel in de Nederlanden vóór 1814". De Hoge Raad van Adel. Retrieved 26 Jan 2024.
  10. Smallegange, p 171.
  11. "Everingen, van | 1250-05-19". Collectie Groesbeek [Groesbeek Collection] (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 Jan 2024.
  12. Piersol, p 3.
  13. Piersol, p 5.
  14. Piersol, p 7.
  15. Piersol, pp 8–9.
  16. Piersol, p 10.
  17. Piersol, pp 23–24.
  18. Piersol, pp 29–30.
  19. Piersol, pp 37–40.
  20. Piersol, p 26.
  21. "Martin Van Every". FamilySearch. Retrieved 26 Jan 2024.
  22. 1 2 "The History of Lance". The Phillip L. Van Every Foundation. Retrieved 26 Jan 2024.
  23. "James C. Van Avery Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications". Justia Patents. Retrieved 26 Jan 2024.
  24. "Chris van Avery". LinkedIn. Retrieved 26 Jan 2024.
  25. Van der Baan, p 547.
  26. Van den Berge, pp 11-13.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borsele</span> Municipality in Zeeland, Netherlands

Borsele is a municipality in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goes</span> City and municipality in Zeeland, Netherlands

Goes is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland, in the province of Zeeland. The city of Goes has approximately 29,000 residents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johan de Witt</span> Dutch Golden-Age republican statesman (1625–1672)

Johan de Witt, Lord of Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp en IJsselvere, was a Dutch statesman and a major political figure in the Dutch Republic in the mid-17th century, the First Stadtholderless Period, when its flourishing sea trade in a period of global colonisation made the republic a leading European trading and seafaring power – now commonly referred to as the Dutch Golden Age. De Witt was elected Grand pensionary of Holland, and together with his uncle Cornelis de Graeff, he controlled the Dutch political system from around 1650 until the Rampjaar of 1672. This progressive cooperation between the two statesmen, and the consequent support of Amsterdam under the rule of De Graeff, was an important political axis that organized the political system within the republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adriaen Brouwer</span> Flemish painter (c. 1605–1638)

Adriaen Brouwer was a Flemish painter active in Flanders and the Dutch Republic in the first half of the 17th century. Brouwer was an important innovator of genre painting through his vivid depictions of peasants, soldiers and other "lower class" individuals engaged in drinking, smoking, card or dice playing, fighting, music making etc. in taverns or rural settings. Brouwer contributed to the development of the genre of tronies, i.e. head or facial studies, which investigate varieties of expression. In his final year he produced a few landscapes of a tragic intensity. Brouwer's work had an important influence on the next generation of Flemish and Dutch genre painters. Although Brouwer produced only a small body of work, Dutch masters Peter Paul Rubens and Rembrandt collected it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuyll</span> Dutch noble family

Tuyll is the name of a noble Dutch family, with familial and historical links to England, whose full name is Van Tuyll van Serooskerken. Several knights, members of various courts, literary figures, generals, ambassadors, statesmen and explorers carried the family name.

<i>Ulmus minor</i> Schuurhoek Elm cultivar

The Field Elm cultivar Ulmus minor 'Schuurhoek' was originally an old, nameless clone cultivated c.1880 in the vicinity of Goes, Netherlands, which was taken back into cultivation as 'Schuurhoek' by the van't Westeinde nursery at 's-Heer Abtskerke, Zeeland, in the 1950s. It was identified as U. carpinifolia by Fontaine (1968), though treated as a cultivar of U. × hollandica by some authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornelis de Graeff</span> Regent and Mayor of Amsterdam

Cornelis de Graeff, often named Polsbroek or de heer van (lord) Polsbroek during his lifetime was an influential regent and burgomaster (mayor) of Amsterdam, statesman and diplomat of Holland and the Republic of the United Netherlands at the height of the Dutch Golden Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flemish Baroque painting</span> Painting movement

Flemish Baroque painting was a style of painting in the Southern Netherlands during Spanish control in the 16th and 17th centuries. The period roughly begins when the Dutch Republic was split from the Habsburg Spain regions to the south with the Spanish recapturing of Antwerp in 1585 and goes until about 1700, when Spanish Habsburg authority ended with the death of King Charles II. Antwerp, home to the prominent artists Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and Jacob Jordaens, was the artistic nexus, while other notable cities include Brussels and Ghent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tobias Verhaecht</span>

Tobias Verhaecht (1561–1631) was a painter from Antwerp in the Duchy of Brabant who primarily painted landscapes. His style was indebted to the mannerist world landscape developed by artists like Joachim Patinir and Pieter Bruegel the Elder. He was the first teacher of Pieter Paul Rubens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillis van Tilborgh</span> Flemish painter (1625–1678)

Gillis van Tilborgh or Gillis van Tilborch (c. 1625 – c. 1678) was a Flemish painter who worked in various genres including portraits, 'low-life' and elegant genre paintings and paintings of picture galleries. He became the keeper of the picture collection of the governor of the Habsburg Netherlands and travelled in England where he painted group portraits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hendrik George de Perponcher Sedlnitsky</span>

Hendrik George, Count de Perponcher Sedlnitsky was a Dutch general and diplomat. He commanded the 2nd Netherlands Division at the Battle of Quatre Bras and the Battle of Waterloo.

De Witt is the name of an old Dutch patrician and regenten family. Originally from Dordrecht, the genealogy of the family begins with Jan de Witte, a patrician who lived around 1295. The family have played an important role during the Dutch Golden Age. They were at the centre of Dordrecht and Holland oligarchy from the end of the 16th century until 1672, and belonged to the Dutch States Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerrit Lundens</span> Dutch painter

Gerrit Lundens, was a Dutch painter known for his genre scenes, portraits and a single vanitas painting. He also made copies after prominent masters, including Rembrandt. He further operated an inn and was active as a wine merchant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonifacius de Jonge</span>

Bonifacius de Jonge, Heer of Oosterland and Heer-Jansland in Zeeland was raadpensionaris of Zeeland province in the Dutch Republic between 1615 and 1625.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacobus Eyndius</span>

Jhr. Jacob van den Eynde III also known as Jacques van den Eynde, and better known as Jacobus Eyndius, was a Dutch poet, scientist, historian, and captain. His best known work is the Chronici Zelandiae. His motto was Marte prudens pace clemens.

<i>Chronici Zelandiae</i>

The Chronici Zelandiae, is a book by Dutch writer Jacob van den Eynde, better known as Jacob Eyndius. The book was published for the first time in 1634, twenty years after the author's death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floris I van Haamstede</span> Abt 1300 - Abt 26 Sep 1345 Stavoren

Floris I van Haamstede was Lord of Haamstede Castle on Schouwen, and of several other areas in Zeeland, Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ter Hooge Castle</span> Castle in the Netherlands

Ter Hooge Castle is an 18th-century manor in Middelburg. It includes parts of a medieval castle.

Count Wilhelm Heinrich Ludwig Arend von Perponcher-Sedlnitzky was a Dutch-German diplomat.

References