Public Service of Leeuwenhoek, his family, and his neighbors and colleagues
Leeuwenhoek received his first salary payment from the City in March 1660. From then until he died, he regularly received payments, recorded in various account books, for a variety of jobs and tasks. Some of them are so specific to the Delft in the late 1600's that they don't have simple translations into modern English. The Dutch, of course, just leave the old words in Dutch even if the job or task it denotes is no longer done.
His jobs, in the order in which he acquired them:
- Camerbewaerder 1660 - 1698
- District supervisor (wijckmeester generaal) 1666 - 1723
- Curator 1667 - ~1698
- City inspector - Wine Gauger (wijnroeier) 1679 - 17??
- Trash supervisor (crebbemeester) ~1684 - 1692
Although he received his national certification as a surveyor (landmeter) in 1669, there is no evidence that he was paid for any surveying by the city.
Given the size of Leeuwenhoek's estate, he clearly did not need to keep these jobs as long as he did. However, he came from a regent family, on his mother's side, that was deeply involved in public service. His second marriage brought him relatives who also served. Many immediate family members of his generation as well as other people associated with him as friends, neighbors, and colleagues were also in the City's record books.
Regent relatives who held office
They were all regents who were on the Council of Forty (Veertigraad) and served as political managers.
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Leeuwenhoek and de Molijn Relatives
They sold their products and services to the city
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Associates
They had regular city jobs, often supplemented by other activities
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