Hendrik Gravé (Amsterdam, 5 December 1670- Amsterdam, 25 March 1749) was a Dutch admiral.

Life

On his eighteenth birthday, Gravé entered the service of the

Admiralty of Amsterdam The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the largest of the five Dutch admiralties at the time of the Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven ...

, in 1691 becoming luitenant-ter-zee. In 1698, he became buitengewoon kapitein (captain-extraordinary). He married Lucia van Mollem in 1704 in the Waldensian church in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

, and they had one son, Hendrik (1709–1738), and one daughter, Jacoba. In 1713, Hendrik became a full captain. In 1716, Gravé led a convoy to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

and in 1717 became

commandeur Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

with the Admiralty. In 1718 he became the owner of the fine

Nieuwe Herengracht The Nieuwe Herengracht () is a canal in Centrum district of Amsterdam. The canal is an extension of the Herengracht that runs between the Amstel and the Scharrebiersluis (lock) leading to the Schippersgracht from the Entrepotdok. It is in the Pla ...

99, well known for art connoisseurs due to the five gigantic hunting still lifes by

Jan Weenix Jan Weenix or Joannis Wenix (between 1641/164919 September 1719 (buried)) was a Dutch painter. He was trained by his father, Jan Baptist Weenix, together with his cousin Melchior d'Hondecoeter. Like his father, he painted various subjects, but ...

. By 1721 Hendrik Gravé had moved to

Kloveniersburgwal Kloveniersburgwal is an Amsterdam canal flowing south from Nieuwmarkt to the Amstel River on the edge of the medieval city, lying east of the dam in the centre of Amsterdam. History The Kloveniersburgwal was dug at the end of the 15th century. ...

95. In 1722, Hendrik Gravé became

schout-bij-nacht () is a Dutch Naval rank, with a NATO rank of OF-7. The ' was responsible for ensuring that fleet continued to sail in the prescribed order at night. The title comes from the title of the officer who replaced the admiral at night and was therefo ...

and was the following year put in command of a Dutch expedition against the Algerian pirates. Due to a problem with his foot (called podagra, possibly meaning

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of a red, tender, hot and swollen joint, caused by deposition of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intensit ...

), Gravé had himself tied onto his chair when there were storms. Gravé … :''delighted in the company of everybody, even of English colleagues, in wide-ranging talks and fencing language, sat gaming for days in succession in coffee houses in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, afterwards falling into post-prandial sleep by the hearth. To the

Lords of the Admiralty This is a list of Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (incomplete before the Restoration, 1660). The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of The Board of Admiralty, which exercised the office of Lord High Admiral when it was ...

in London he wrote high-flown letters, laden with Latin quotations. Gravé once entertained them with an exposition in Latin on the origin of his family with the

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the we ...

ish Gravés.'' In 1742, he possessed four servants, a carriage, two horses, and an income of 7,000 guilders a year. On 8 May 1744, at 73, he was made

lieutenant-admiral Lieutenant admiral () is a senior naval military rank in the Royal Netherlands Navy. The rank is a four-star rank, senior to a vice-admiral () and equivalent to admiral in most foreign navies. It is used whenever the Dutch Chief of Defence is fro ...

of the

Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier The Admiralty of the Noorderkwartier (Dutch, 'Northern Quarter'), also known as the Admiralty of West Friesland, was one of the five admiralties of the Dutch Republic, made up of West Friesland, a region in the north of the province of Holland. ...

, jumping a rank as he never had been a vice admiral. Other officers protested at his appointment. After years of illness, he died at 78 and his funeral, as described by Braatbard, was an event of the first order, with the procession lasting three and a half hours.''De Zeven Provincien in Beroering. Hoofdstukken uit een Jiddische kroniek over de jaren 1740-1752 van Abraham Chaim Braatbard''. J.M. Meulenhoff (1960).

References

* ''This article is based entirely or partially on its equivalent on Dutch Wikipedia''.

External links

BMA on Kloveniersburgwal 95
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grave, Hendrik 1670 births 1749 deaths 17th-century Dutch military personnel Admirals of the navy of the Dutch Republic 18th-century Dutch military personnel Military personnel from Amsterdam Dutch military personnel of the Nine Years' War Dutch military personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession