Leonard du Bus de Gisignies

Viscount du Bus de Gisignies

Leonard Pierre Joseph, Viscount du Bus de Gisignies (Mouscron (Hainaut), 1 March 1770 – Oostmalle, 31 May 1849) was a soldier and politician in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. He was born as Leonard Pierre Joseph Dubus, but on 14 June 1822, because of name multiplication, du Bus de Gisignies was added to his name. On 20 September 1816, he was raised to Dutch nobility and on 22 May 1819 he became a Viscount.

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 on 20 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. On 21 September 1815, in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, he became a member of the House of Representatives of the States-General of the Netherlands for the province of West 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 from 25 March 1823 up to 9 May 1828 of the province of Zuid-Brabant (E: South-Brabant).

From 4 February 1826 up to 16 January 1830 he was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (Dutch: Commissaris-Generaal) of the Dutch 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. On 9 May 1828 he was appointed as Minister of State, but after the Belgian Revolution he was removed from this office on 18 October 1830. On 6 October 1830, he bought the Castle de Renesse in Oostmalle 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 on 6 July 1830 the cross in the same order.

Sources

• 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
• L.P.J. burggraaf du Bus de Gisignies Template:Nl icon