Schelto, Baron van Heemstra (14 November 1807 – 20 December 1864) was a Dutch politician. He was

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

from 1861 to 1862. Van Heemstra was born in Groningen, the son of politician Willem Hendrik van Heemstra and Johanna Balthazarina van Idsinga. Van Heemskerk went to secondary school in

Franeker Franeker (; fry, Frjentsjer) is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Waadhoeke. It is located north of the Van Harinxmakanaal and about 20 km west of Leeuwarden. As of 1 January 2014, it had 12 ...

and studied law in Groningen. After a short period working as a lawyer in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of ...

he was appointed in 1830 as

Grietman A grietman (from Old Frisian ''greta'' to accuse, to summon) is partly a forerunner of the current rural mayor in the province of Friesland, and partly the forerunner of a judge. The area of jurisdiction was the municipality or gemeente. In the ...

for

Doniawerstal Doniawerstal was a municipality in southwest Friesland, south of Sneek. It consisted mainly of grassland and lakes. Its capital was Langweer. The municipality was dissolved in 1984; part went to Wymbritseradiel and part went to Skarsterlân Skarst ...

. He took part in the Ten Days' Campaign in 1831. He became Grietman of

Oostdongeradeel Dongeradeel (; fy, Dongeradiel ) is a former municipality in the northern Netherlands. In 2019 it merged with the municipalities of Ferwerderadiel and Kollumerland en Nieuwkruisland to form the new municipality Noardeast-Fryslân. History Donge ...

in 1840 and in 1844 joined the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in The Hague on behalf of the province of

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

. In that position he was part of a group led by

Johan Rudolph Thorbecke Johan Rudolph Thorbecke (14 January 1798 – 4 June 1872) was a Dutch liberal statesman, one of the most important Dutch politicians of the 19th century. Thorbecke is best known for heading the commission that drafted the revision of the Cons ...

called the "Ninemen" who proposed changes to the

Dutch Constitution The Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Grondwet voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) is one of two fundamental documents governing the Kingdom of the Netherlands as well as the fundamental law of the European territory of the ...

. Although the proposal was rejected in 1845 it led to the

Constitutional Reform of 1848 The Constitutional Reform of 1848 (Dutch: ''Grondwetsherziening van 1848'') laid the basis for the present system of parliamentary democracy in the Netherlands. It is often described as the original version of the Dutch Constitution that is still ...

. Van Heemstra was the King's Commissioner for

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Nethe ...

from 1850 to 1858 and for

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

from 1858 to 1860. In March 1861 Van Heemstra was appointed

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

in the Van Hall-Van Heemstra cabinet. As minister, he was responsible, with Van Hall, for the introduction of legislation for the construction of state railways. After the resignation of

Jacob van Zuylen van Nijevelt Jacob Pieter Pompejus, Baron van Zuylen van Nijevelt (29 June 1816 – 4 November 1890) was a Dutch politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands from 1852 to 1853, and again in 1861. During his second term as minister ...

in November 1861 he became chairman of the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

, an office now known as

. His proposal for the state budget was rejected by parliament in December of that year which led to the fall of the cabinet and its formal resignation in February 1862. In 1862 he was given the honorary title of

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

. Van Heemstra was awarded the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

and the

Order of the Oak Crown The Order of the Oak Crown (french: Ordre de la Couronne de chêne, german: Eichenlaubkronenorden, lb, Eechelaafkrounenuerden) is an order of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. History The Order of the Oak Crown was established in 1841 by Grand ...

. He was married to Henriëtte Hildegonde de Waal in June 1833 with whom he had six children. De Waal died in May 1857. In May 1858 he wed Marianna A.J. Storij van Blokland.

Notes

References

1807 births 1864 deaths Schelto Schelto Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Ministers of the Interior of the Netherlands Ministers of State (Netherlands) Politicians from Groningen (city) Prime Ministers of the Netherlands King's and Queen's Commissioners of Utrecht King's and Queen's Commissioners of Zeeland 19th-century Dutch politicians Deaths from pneumonia in the Netherlands {{Netherlands-politician-stub