Sir Cornelius Vermuyden

Sir Cornelius Vermuyden, famous drainage engineer, was buried at St Margaret's church Westminster on 15th October 1677. His entry in the register reads "Sr Cornel Varmooden", with an asterisk by his name indicating he was an eminent person in the parish. He has no memorial at the church and no inscribed gravestone.

His Life

He was born at St Maartensdijk in Holland in 1590 where his family had lived since the early 14th century. His father was Gillis and his mother Sara (Werckendet) whose brother was a drainage engineer. Cornelius worked as a tax collector and then came to England in 1621.  In 1623 he was engaged by James I to drain some land in Windsor Park and Charles I also employed him and Cornelius brought over workmen from the Netherlands. He was naturalized in 1624. He purchased the manors of Hatfield Chase on the Yorkshire border and was knighted in 1629. That year he was contracted to drain the area of fenland called the Great Level but that did not happen at that time and the English Civil War further delayed works but was eventually completed in 1651.

On 6th November 1623 at Rotherhithe he married Katherine Lapps, daughter of a Dutch merchant in London. They had 13 children, some of whom were baptised at St Dionis Backchurch in London (Mary, Charles, Susanna and Adriana for example).

His son Cornelius may have been the Colonel Vermuyden who fought at the battle of Marston Moor. He was buried in the New Chapel (now a garden area), near St Margaret's Westminster on 2nd May 1693 as "Mr Cornelius Vermooden". Another son John worked with his father and brother on drainage of mines in Derbyshire.

Further information

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004

"Vermuyden and the fens" by L.E. Harris, 1953

"Sir Cornelius Vermuyden: the lifework of a great Anglo-Dutchman..." by J.Korthals-Altes, 1925