Adrian Lampsins, sometimes called Adrien Lampsius, (1598-1673) was the Baron of colonial

Tobago Tobago, officially the Ward of Tobago, is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger islan ...

, alongside his brother, Cornelius Lampsins. Born to a wealthy merchant family in

Vlissingen Vlissingen (; ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the island of Walcheren. With its strategic location between the Scheldt river and the North Sea, Vlissingen has been an importan ...

, in 1654 Adrian and Cornelius led a group of 50 colonists on the opposite side of Tobago of what was then

New Courland The Curonian colonization of the Americas was performed by the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (now Latvia), which was the second-smallest European colonization of the Americas, state to colonise the Americas, after the Hospitaller colonization ...

, and named their settlement New Walcheren. A dispute arose between the Dutch and Couronian colonists, but the

Dutch government The Netherlands is a parliamentary representative democracy. A constitutional monarchy, the country is organised as a decentralised unitary state.''Civil service systems in Western Europe'' edited by A. J. G. M. Bekke, Frits M. Meer, Edward E ...

arbitrated and declared Courland as the legitimate claimant to Tobago. In 1659, however, Courland was seized by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and the colony was now in the hands of the Dutch. In 1662, the brothers Lampsins collaborated with King

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and were given the title of the "Barons of Tobago," a title they held until the loss of Tobago to the English in 1666. Approximately 1,500 settlers lived under the rule of the Lampsins brothers. In 1673, Adrian and the late Cornelius' son Jan briefly again retook Tobago, but the island was recaptured by an English force under Sir

Tobias Bridge Sir Tobias Bridge fought for Parliament in the English Civil War, and served the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell during the Interregnum. After the Restoration, he served King Charles II.Papp. 150/ref> During the English Civil War, Bridge fought ...

, and Adrian was killed alongside his nephew when the fort was blown up.Riddell (Author), Henri de Bourbon (comte de Chambord.), John. “The Patent of Baron to C Van Lampsins.” The Pedigree of the Duchess of Mantua, Montferrat and Ferrara, Oxford University, 1885, pp. 8–10.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lampsins, Adrian 17th-century Dutch people 17th-century Dutch politicians People from the Dutch Caribbean History of Tobago 1598 births 1673 deaths

See also

References