Gerard Arnout Hasselaer
Gerard Arnout Hasselaer (20 February 1698, Amsterdam - 12 July 1766, Heemstede) was a burgomaster and counsellor of the city of Amsterdam, and a Director of the Dutch East India Company. Some historians have said he was an able regent. Others have said he was conservative and not truly capable. A contemporary, , said he was "idle and preoccupied with his own pleasures." On 18 October 1748 Hasselaer was among the High and Mighty Lords of the States General of the United Provinces who were signatories to the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) which ended the War of the Austrian Succession. Hasselaer was a director of the Indian Council when, in December 1748, Joan Gideon Loten obtained a position as a Councillor extraordinary. Hasselaer took an interest in navigation, and possessed a collection of scientific instruments. He represented William IV, Prince of Orange in three Dutch Admiralties. At this time the Dutch were trying to catch up with the English in navigational knowledge and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating Voorcompagnie, existing companies, it was granted a 21-year monopoly to carry out trade activities in Asia. Shares in the company could be purchased by any citizen of the Dutch Republic and subsequently bought and sold in open-air secondary markets (one of which became the Amsterdam Stock Exchange). The company possessed quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, strike Coinage of the Dutch East India Company, its own coins, and establish colonies. Also, because it traded across multiple colonies and countries from both the East and the West, the VOC is sometimes considered to have been the world's first multinational corporation. St ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Region of Amsterdam, urban area and 2,480,394 in the Amsterdam metropolitan area, metropolitan area. Located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, Dutch province of North Holland, Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the "Venice of the North", for its canals of Amsterdam, large number of canals, now a World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Amsterdam was founded at the mouth of the Amstel River, which was dammed to control flooding. Originally a small fishing village in the 12th century, Amsterdam became a major world port during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, when the Netherlands was an economic powerhouse. Amsterdam was the leading centre for finance and trade, as well as a hub of secular art production. In the 19th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Heemstede
Heemstede () is a town and a municipality in the Western Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. In 2021, it had a population of 27,545. Located just south of the city of Haarlem on the border with South Holland, it is one of the richest municipalities of the Netherlands. History Heemstede formed around the Heemstede Castle that was built overlooking the Spaarne River around 1286. Before 1296, Floris V, Count of Holland, granted Heemstede as a fiefdom to Reinier of Holy. During the 14th century, a village formed near the castle, which was destroyed and rebuilt several times in this period. A resident of this castle was Adriaan Pauw, who bought it in 1620. In 1653, Bennebroek split off from Heemstede, becoming a separate fiefdom. Growth was slow; in 1787 Heemstede counted 196 families. Even at that early date Heemstede had gained the reputation it has today, of being primarily a commuter town for the cities of Haarlem and Amsterdam. Wealthy city families left the c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Treaty Of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)
The 1748 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, sometimes called the Treaty of Aachen, ended the War of the Austrian Succession, following a congress assembled on 24 April 1748 at the Free Imperial City of Aachen. The two main antagonists in the war, Britain and France, opened peace talks in the Dutch city of Breda in 1746. Agreement was delayed by British hopes of improving their position; when this failed to occur, a draft treaty was agreed on 30 April 1748. A final version was signed on 18 October 1748 by Britain, France, and the Dutch Republic. The terms were then presented to the other belligerents, who could either accept them or continue the war on their own. Austria, Spain, and Sardinia had little choice but to comply, though the terms were favorable for Spain who took land from Austria, and signed separately. Modena and Genoa joined on 21 January 1749. The treaty largely failed to resolve the issues that caused the war, while most of the signatories were unhappy with the term ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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War Of The Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King George's War in North America, the War of Jenkins' Ear, the First Carnatic War, and the First Silesian War, First and Second Silesian Wars. Its pretext was the right of Maria Theresa to succeed her father, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor Charles VI, as ruler of the Habsburg monarchy. Kingdom of France, France, Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia, and Electorate of Bavaria, Bavaria saw it as an opportunity to challenge Habsburg power, while Maria Theresa was backed by Kingdom of Great Britain, Britain, the Dutch Republic, and Electorate of Hanover, Hanover, collectively known as the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, Pragmatic Allies. As the conflict widened, it drew in other participants, among them History of Spain (1700–1810), Spain, Kingdom of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joan Gideon Loten
Joan Gideon Loten (also spelt Johan or John, in school records as Johannes Gideon Looten; 16 May 1710 – 25 February 1789) was a Dutch servant in the colonies of the Dutch East India Company, the 29th Governor of Zeylan, Fellow of the Royal Society (elected 1760) and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (elected 1761). During his time in the colonies he made collections of natural history. In 1758 he moved to Dutch Republic, Holland. Nine months after his return from the Dutch East Indies he moved to London, where he lived for 22 years and interacted with scholarly societies and shared his natural history illustrations and collections. The sunbird species ''Loten's sunbird, Cinnyris lotenius'' is named after him Career Early years Joan Gideon Loten, born in Schadeshoeve, a farmstead at Groenekan, near Utrecht he was the eldest son of secretary of the waterboard Joan Carel Loten (1669–1769) and Arnoldina Maria van Aerssen van Juchen (1685–1775). Joan was christene ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William IV, Prince Of Orange
William IV (Willem Karel Hendrik Friso; 1 September 1711 – 22 October 1751) was Prince of Orange from birth and the first hereditary stadtholder of all the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 1747 until his death in 1751. During his whole life, he was furthermore ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau within the Holy Roman Empire. Early life William was born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, the posthumous son of John William Friso, Prince of Orange, head of the Frisian branch of the House of Orange-Nassau, and of his wife Landgravine Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel). He was born six weeks after the death of his father. William succeeded his father as Stadtholder of Friesland and also, under the regency of his mother until 1731, as Stadtholder of Groningen. In 1722 he was elected Stadtholder of Guelders. The four other provinces of the Dutch Republic—Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht and Overijssel—had in 1702 decided not to appoint a stadtholder after ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John May (shipwright)
John May Sr or Jan Maij (1694 – 1779) was an English shipwright from Chatham who served from 1758-1779 as Master Shipbuilder of the Amsterdam Admiralty. Career John May was hired in 1728 by the Amsterdam Admiralty. In 1727 this Admiralty, the largest of the five Dutch Admiralties, had hired Charles Bentham and Thomas Davis to work for them in improving ship design. John May served as the assistant to Charles Bentam for three decades. May taught the art of shipbuilding, and after the death of Bentam in 1758, he was appointed Master Shipbuilder and would serve in the position for 21 years. In 1761, May was accused of belonging to a camarilla with Count of Gronsveld which managed the Admiralty. Family In 1714 he married Rebecca Pensix (-1743) a spinster from Gillingham; the couple had five children who lived to adulthood: Job, John, William, Rebecca, and George. In 1762, he married Magteld Geertruy Kannegieter of Amsterdam. His son John May Jr or Johannes Maij ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Utrecht University
Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of 39,769 students, and employed 8,929 faculty members and staff. More than 400 PhD degrees were awarded and 7,765 scientific articles were published. The university's 2023 budget was €2.8 billion, consisting of €1.157 billion for the university (income from work commissioned by third parties is 319 million euros) and €1.643 billion for the University Medical Center Utrecht. The university's interdisciplinary research targets life sciences, pathways to sustainability, dynamics of youth, and institutions for open societies. Utrecht University is led by the University Board, consisting of Wilco Hazeleger (Rector Magnificus), Anton Pijpers (chair), Margot van der Starre (Vice Chair) and Niels Vreeswijk (Student Assessor). Close ties are h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jonathan Sisson
Jonathan Sisson (1690 – 1747) was an English instrument maker, the inventor of the modern theodolite with a sighting telescope for surveying, and a leading maker of astronomical instruments. Career Jonathan Sisson was born in Lincolnshire around 1690. He was apprenticed to George Graham (1673–1751), then became independent in 1722. He remained an associate of Graham and of the instrument maker John Bird (1709–1776). All three were recommended by the Royal Society and received some funding from the state, which recognised the value of instruments both to the Royal Navy and to merchant ships. After striking out on his own in 1722 and opening a business in the Strand in London, Sisson gained a reputation for making highly accurate arcs and circles, and for the altazimuth theodolites that he made to his own design. He became a well-known maker of optical and mathematical instruments. In 1729 Sisson was appointed mathematical instrument maker to Frederick, Prince of Wales. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Benjamin Ayres (instrument Maker)
Benjamin Ayres (died c. 1775) was an English instrument maker. Ayres may have been related to the scientist Thomas Ayres who was nominated to the Royal Society in 1707 and who was later involved in a joint-stock company to exploit the Newcomen steam engine. Ayres was an apprentice and brother-in-law of Jonathan Sisson of London. Ayres was active between 1731 and 1775, making mathematical instruments and compasses. He worked in Amsterdam from 1743 onward, and sold octants to the Dutch East India Company. His devices incorporate technical innovations introduced by Sisson, which were copied by others only after 1750. Some of them were included in the collection of instruments made by Gerard Arnout Hasselaer, a board member of the company. Hasselaer had connections with both Ayres and Sisson. In 1734 Caleb Smith invented a "sea quadrant" using an unsilvered glass mirror to reflect the image of the sun into the telescope. Ayres produced an instrument based on this design mounted o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jan Hope
John Hope (14 February 1737 – 20 April 1784), also known as Jan Hope, was a wealthy Dutch banker, participating in the Hope & Co. bank that his father had founded in 1762, a member of the city council and an art collector. In 1770 he was appointed as manager of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He is also known today for his Groenendaal Park in Heemstede, where he summered on his estate. Shortly before he died he bought the nearby "Bosbeek". This estate became one of the first examples of a large garden in the 'English landscape garden, English Style' in the Netherlands, and shaped by his second son Adrian Elias. His oldest son Thomas Hope (designer), Thomas Hope became a designer of neoclassical interior decoration, and his youngest son Henry Philip Hope a gem collector and jewelry specialist (and owned the legendary Hope Diamond). Early years Jan was an only child, born in Amsterdam into the Hope trading, shipping and banking family. He was the son of Thomas Hope ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |