Douwe Sirtema van Grovestins

Who was Douwe Sirtema van Grovestins?

JonkheerDouwe Sirtema van Grovestins was a Frisian courtier at the court of stadtholder William IV, Prince of Orange, and later at the court of his widow Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange. He was first Chamberlain, later Equerry to the stadtholder, and equerry to the Princess after her husband's death.

Douwe was married to Catharina Sindt von Schutz and had a son, Lodewijk Idzard Douwe with her in 1749.

After the stadtholder's court moved from Leeuwarden to The Hague during the Orangist Revolution of 1747 at the end of the Second Stadtholderless Period Douwe became very influential in the patronage politics of the regency of the Princess during the first years of the minority of William V, Prince of Orange. His scandalous dealings for his own profit in public offices helped put the stadtholderate in bad repute. This brought about his removal from court after the death of Princess Anne in 1759. Nevertheless, he was made a lieutenant-general in the army of the Dutch Republic, and served as governor of the Barrier Fortress Ieper in the Austrian Netherlands in 1774.