Cornelius Lampsins (or van Lampsin, also Corneille Lampsius), was, along with his brother

Adrian Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the ma ...

, the Baron of Tobago from 1662 to 1664. Cornelius Lampsins was born in 1600 to a very wealthy Dutch merchant family, and he was involved in the early colonization of the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, in the 1630s. He owned a fleet of over three hundred trading vessels, and helped found the colonies of

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

and Saint Thomas. Lampsinhuis

In 1654, the Lampsins brothers led a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

colonial expedition to

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 ...

, which 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 ...

. There was much dispute between the Couronian and Dutch colonists, and when

Courland Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...

surrendered to

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 ...

in 1659, the Lampsins brothers took control of the colony. In 1662, the brothers were elevated to Barons by the French 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 ...

, and the Lampsins family reigned until the English invaded the island in 1666.Edwards, Bryan. The History Civil and Commercial, of the West Indies: with a Continuation to the Present Time. Cambridge University Press, 2010. Cornelius Lampsins had two sons, Jan and Geleyn who participated in running the settlement on Tobago with their uncle. The descendants of the Lampsins brothers maintained many rights to the island until 1749.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lampsins, Cornelius 1600 births 1664 deaths 17th-century Dutch people 17th-century Dutch politicians People from the Dutch Caribbean History of Tobago

See also

References