Justinus Colyer ( – 28 December 1682) was 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 ...

politician and diplomat, who represented the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

at the

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildi ...

Early life

Colyer was born in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

around 1624. He was the son of David Robertson (also known as Colyer) and Clara van der Poll. After his mother's death, his father married Jean Bruce (a daughter of John

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been ...

Airth Airth () is a Royal Burgh, village, former trading port and civil parish in Falkirk, Scotland. It is north of Falkirk town and sits on the banks of the River Forth. Airth lies on the A905 road between Grangemouth and Stirling and is overlooked ...

and Margaret Elphinstone). From his father's second marriage, he had a younger-half brother, Sir Alexander Colyear, 1st Baronet (father of

David Colyear, 1st Earl of Portmore General David Colyear, 1st Earl of Portmore KT, PC ( – 2 January 1730) was a Scottish military officer and peer who served as the governor of Gibraltar from 1713 to 1720. Early life He was the elder son of Sir Alexander Colyear, 1st Ba ...

). His maternal grandparents were Cornelis van der Poll and Cornelia de Bije. His paternal grandparents were Helen and Jacobus Colyear (who assumed the surname Robertson and were said to be cadets of the House of Robertson of Struan).

Career

Colyer was named ambassador to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1668, only the second official Dutch ambassador in Constantinople because the Dutch declined to appoint an official successor when Cornelius Haga down in 1639. Between 1639 and 1668, several Dutch diplomats resided in Constantinople, but none were granted the official position of ambassador. In the fall of 1682, Colyer installed his eldest son Jacobus as the secretary and treasurer of the Dutch residence in Constantinople. Shortly after his death in 1688, his son sent a letter to

Gaspar Fagel Gaspar Fagel (25 January 1634 – 15 December 1688) was a Dutch politician, jurist, and diplomat who authored correspondence from and on behalf of William III, Prince of Orange, during the English Revolution of 1688. Early life Fagel wa ...

, the secretary of the States General, successfully arguing that he should be appointed as successor ambassador as his appointment would come with less financial costs than appointing an entirely new ambassador.

Personal life

Colyer was married to Maria Engelbert. Together, they were the parents of: * Jacobus Colyer (1657–1725), who married Catharina de Bourg in 1713. * Clara Catharina Colyer (1662–1733), married Daniël Johan de Hochepied, the Dutch Consul at Smyrna, from 1688 to 1723, who was created

Magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

and Baron de Hochepied in 1704 by Leopold I, Emperor of Germany, under the great seal of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. Colyer died at

Pera Pera may refer to: Places * Pera (Beyoğlu), a district in Istanbul formerly called Pera, now called Beyoğlu ** Galata, a neighbourhood of Beyoğlu, often referred to as Pera in the past * Pêra (Caparica), a Portuguese locality in the district o ...

on 28 December 1682.

Descendants

Through his daughter Clara, he was a grandfather of Elbert de Hochepied, 2nd Baron de Hochepied, who also served as the Dutch ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1747 to 1763.

References

;Notes ;Sources {{DEFAULTSORT:Colyer, Jacobus 1620s births 1682 deaths 17th-century Dutch diplomats Expatriates from the Dutch Republic in the Ottoman Empire