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

Adrian Adrian is a form of the Latin language, Latin given name Adrianus (given name), Adrianus or Hadrianus (disambiguation), Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria (river), Adria from the Venetic language, Venetic and ...

, 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 (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

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

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

and Saint Thomas. Lampsinhuis

In 1654, the Lampsins brothers led a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

colonial expedition to

Tobago Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...

, which was then

New Courland The Curonian colonization of the Americas was performed by the Duchy of Courland (now Latvia), which was the second-smallest state to colonise the Americas, after the Knights of Malta. It had a colony on the island of Tobago from 1654 to 1659 an ...

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

Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...

surrendered to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

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

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

, 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 European colonization of the Caribbean Tobago History of Trinidad and Tobago

See also

References