William or Willem Dervall (1642 – ca. 1711) was a Dutch-born

Mayor of New York City The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

from October 17, 1675 until October 14, 1676.

Biography

Dervall was the son of Frans Jorisz Derval, a wealthy timber merchant in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

originating from

Wijchen Wijchen () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the province of Gelderland, in the eastern part of the Netherlands. Population centres Number of residents per population centre per 12 December 2009: Source: Statis ...

. In September 1665, Willem had found his way to the American East Coast, as the English Governor Nicolls issued him a letter of

denization Denization is an obsolete or defunct process in England and Ireland and the later Kingdom of Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and the British Empire, dating back to the 13th century, by which an alien (foreigner), through letters patent, became ...

and granted him permission to trade anywhere in the English colonies of America.New York (State) Council
Minutes of the Executive Council of the Province of New York
State of New York, 1910. Footnote 1 on page 171.Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer
History of the City of New York in the Seventeenth Century
Volume II, Macmillan, New York, 1909. Page 108. Dervall and his fellow merchant and (supposed) brother Jan/John arrived in 1667 from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in New York and set up a store on the corner of

Whitehall Street Whitehall Street is a street in the South Ferry/Financial District neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City, near the southern tip of Manhattan Island. The street begins at Bowling Green to the north, where it is a continuation of the ...

and Pearl Street.New York History Company (1892), page 51. He did good business, sending from time to time large quantities of goods to his brother Cornelis in Amsterdam. In September 1670, Willem married Rebecca Delavall, daughter of

Thomas Delavall Thomas Delavall (also spelled Delaval or DeLavall; 1620 – 1682) was a British-born American official and businessman. He was appointed the 2nd, 5th and 11th Mayor of New York City in 1666, 1671 and 1678 respectively. Born in London, England ...

, Mayor of New York in 1666, 1670 and 1678, with whom he appears to have had just one child, a daughter Frances in 1681. In 1673-1674, when the Dutch retook the city for half a year during the

Third Anglo-Dutch War The Third Anglo-Dutch War ( nl, Derde Engels-Nederlandse Oorlog), 27 March 1672 to 19 February 1674, was a naval conflict between the Dutch Republic and England, in alliance with France. It is considered a subsidiary of the wider 1672 to 1678 ...

, Derval lost quite a bit when

Anthony Colve Anthony or Anthonij Colve ( fl. 1667-1695) was a Dutch naval captain and the Director-General of New Netherland during a brief restoration of Dutch rule in New Netherland (roughly present-day New York and New Jersey). Career Colve was likely inv ...

confiscated property of representatives of Charles and the Duke of York. After Thomas Delavall's death in 1682, Dervall inherited Great Barent Island, now named

Wards Island Randalls Island (sometimes called Randall's Island) and Wards Island are conjoined islands, collectively called Randalls and Wards Islands, in New York County, New York City,

, and a large estate in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

. He later served as alderman in the City Council.

Family

Dervall was the one but youngest of a family of 14 children of Aagtje Huijgens (c. 1599–1652) and Frans Jorisz Derval (c. 1596–1669), who married in February 1624 in Amsterdam. His brother Joris (born 1631) was in 1671 a colonist in

Torarica Torarica is the original capital of Suriname. It was settled by Portuguese Jews in 1629. One origin offered for its name is as a Portuguese coinage meaning "Opulent Torah". The Portuguese Jews arrived via Holland and Brazil.Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

. Jan/Johannes/John Dervall, who also used the surname "de Witt", married in November 1675 with Catharine van Courtlandt. After Jan's death in February 1689, Catharine remarried Jan's business partner, Colonel

Frederick Philipse Frederick Philipse (born Frederick Flypsen;Appleton, W.S. ''The Heraldic Journal, Recording the Amorial Bearings and Genealogies of American Families'', Wiggen & Lunt, Boston, 1867 1626 in Bolsward, Netherlands – December 23, 1702), first Lord ...

in 1692.Edwin R. Purple,
Contributions to the History of Ancient Families of New Amsterdam and New York
', New York, 1881, page 37. In contrast, the aforementioned brother Cornelis Darvall (1640–1721), lived his whole live in Amsterdam, where he was a powerful merchant. To wit, Cornelis is thought to have arranged the quick release of

Jacob Leisler Jacob Leisler ( – May 16, 1691) was a German-born colonist who served as a politician in the Province of New York. He gained wealth in New Amsterdam (later New York City) in the fur trade and tobacco business. In what became known as Leisler's ...

, after Leisler and other New York citizens had been captured by Moorish pirates on a voyage to Europe in 1678; the other captives had to wait for over a year before New York Governor

Edmund Andros Sir Edmund Andros (6 December 1637 – 24 February 1714) was an English colonial administrator in British America. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other times, Andros served ...

could forward their ransom.David William Voorhees
The "fervent Zeale" of Jacob Leisler
in ''The William and Mary Quarterly'', Vol. 51, No. 3, Mid-Atlantic Perspectives (Jul., 1994), pp. 447-472 (footnote on pages 459-460)

Biography

Family

Notes

References

See also