- Leonard Pierre Joseph du Bus de Gisignies
Leonard Pierre Joseph, Viscount du Bus de Gisignies (Dottenijs (Hainaut),
1 March 1770 –Oostmalle ,31 May 1849 ) was a soldier and politician in theUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands . He was born as Leonard Pierre Joseph Dubus, but on14 June 1822 , because of name multiplication, "du Bus de Gisignies" was added to his name. On20 September 1816 , he was raised to Dutch nobility and on22 May 1819 he became aViscount .Personal life
He married twice (his first wife, "Marie-Catherine de Deurwaerder", died on
23 June 1836 , he remarried with "Marie-Antoinette van der Gracht de Fretin" on20 November ,1839 ). He had 1 daughter and 5 sons from his first marriage: "Clémentine-Cathérine-François" (Bruges ,7 August ,1803 -Kortrijk ,18 October 1817 ), Knight "Gustave-Bernard-Joseph" (Bruges ,5 May ,1807 -Brussels ,23 September ,1831 ), Bernard-Aimé-Léonard (Sint-Joost-ten-Node ,June 21 ,1808 -Brussels ,July 6 ,1874 ), Viscount "Albéric" (Tournai ,30 May ,1810 -Brussels ,26 July 1874 ), Baron "Chrétien-Henri-Honoré-Léonard" (Kortrijk ,17 September 1819 -Brussels ,9 June 1835 ), Viscount "Constantin-Léonard-Anne-Francois-Marie-Joseph" (Brussels ,11 October 1823 -Sint-Joost-ten-Node ,16 November 1850 ).Career
He studied law at
Douai , but did not finish his education. He served in the French army from 1802 until 1815. On21 September 1815 , in theUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands , he became a member of the House of Commons of theStates-General of the Netherlands for the province ofWest Flanders and became its President during the meeting year 1818-1819. Afterwards he had several administrative functions, first of all as Governor of the province of Antwerp (3 April 1820 - March 1823) and from25 March 1823 up to9 May 1828 of the province of "Zuid-Brabant" (E: South-Brabant).From
4 February 1826 up to16 January 1830 he wasGovernor-General of the Dutch East Indies (Dutch: "Commissaris-Generaal") of theDutch East Indies , for which he received an annual wages of 200,000 Guilders, with the condition that he retained his function of governor of "Zuid-Brabant". On9 May 1828 he was appointed as Minister of State, but after theBelgian Revolution he was removed from this office on18 October 1830 . On6 October 1830 , he bought theCastle de Renesse inOostmalle from Count Clement-Wenceslas de Renesse-Breidbach and renovated the castle in Empire style.He was knighted (
24 November 1816 ) and a commander (20 July 1823 ) in the order of the Dutch Lion, and received on6 July 1830 the cross in the same order.ource
* Bart De Prins, Léonard Du Bus de Gisignies (1780-1849), Belgian Commissioner-general in the Dutch East Indies: A Reassessment, Itnerario, 2000.
* Bart de Prins, Voor Keizer en Koning, Leonard du Bus de Gisignies 1780 - 1849, Commissaris-Generaal van Nederlands-Indië, ISBN 9050185770
* [http://www.parlement.com/9291000/biof/04341 L.P.J. burggraaf du Bus de Gisignies] (Dutch)
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