Andreas van den Bogaerde van Terbrugge

Right after the foundation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands Andreas supported the House of Orange. His noble rank was immediately confirmed. In 1817 he became a member of the knighthood of East Flanders.[1] His father became a baron only in March 1830, a title that Andreas inherited.

On 3 July 1818 Andreas became mayor of Waasmunster, succeeding his father. During his short tenure, he proved very effective. He created a road to Lokeren, and had many roads paved. He also had the first street lighting installed in the town. Above all he cared for the poor and put a stop to begging.[2]

In 1820 Andreas became a commissionary of the Arrondissement of Sint-Niklaas and settled in Sint-Niklaas. Here he became a member of the committee to promote military service in 1823. In 1826 he was ordered to organize a paved road from Sint-Niklaas to Hulst. In 1827 he became a member of the states-provincial of East Flanders. Andreas had much work to arrange the adoption of Dutch laws and regulations instead of the Imperial French ones. In this job his charm and diplomacy made him very successful.[2]

During his stay in Sint Niklaas, Andreas executed many practical improvements. He was again responsible for the construction of many sett paved roads. Other improvements were the construction of a fish hall in stone in Waasmunster, and the organization of the archives of Roosenberg Abbey.[3]

In 1828 Andreas became district and militia commissary in Gent. Here he had more time for his passions. He built a new house and started a collection of paintings.[1] He was later said to have become Mayor of Gent,[4] but this is not true.

In February 1830 William I of the Netherlands appointed Jonkheer Andreas as governor of North-Brabant province.[5] Andreas always remained loyal to the king, and was one of the few southerners to retain his office in the north after the Belgian Revolution. In 1840 Andreas became a member of the knighthood of Noord-Brabant, and its president. He became a member of the Council of State in 1838, and a Chamberlain of the king in 1840. He retired in 1842.[1]

In his career Andreas was able to work on his passions: Science, History and Arts. Early on, he was educated in painting and drawing. In 1823 he became a member of the Society for Dutch Language and Literature in Sint Niklaas, and Member of the Society tot Nut van 't Algemeen, department Termonde. In 1824 he became President of the Provincial Commission for the preservation of Memorials of History and Art.[3]

While many such appointments could come naturally to people in office, Andreas' inclinations became very clear in the late 1820s. When Andreas moved to Gent in 1828, he started his own collection of paintings. In 1829 he became a correspondent member of the Nederlandsche Huishoudelijke Maatschappij in Haarlem. That same year he was said to have become Principal of the Academy for Visual Arts in Gent.[6]

Andreas was interested in many scientific subjects, see Works. In 1830 this was recognized when he became a member of the exclusive Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde (English "Society of Dutch Literature").[7] Works like Essai d'un retour franc et libéral à l'ancien ordre légal dans tout le royaume des Pays-Bas make his position on the unification of the Netherlands clear.

In 1837 the Provincial Society for Arts and Sciences in North-Brabant (Provinciaal Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen in Noord-Brabant) was founded by Andreas and 6 others. Some of the founding members were: The Protestant A. Martini van Geffen, who seems to have been the right hand of Andreas in Brabant.;[8] C.R. Hermans, principal of the City Gymnasium ('s-Hertogenbosch); Carel Willem Pape, Protestant Minister in Heusden and principal of its Latin School; J. Menu; Bookseller Hendrik Palier; and either J.D.W. Pape or the later Minister for the Catholic religion Jacobus Arnoldus Mutsaers.

One of the ambitions of the society was to strengthen the identity of Brabant in the kingdom. The idea was that if the society organized a library, it would be easier to write a history of the province. Andreas opened the first session of the society with a speech that gave an overview of comparable societies through the ages, and why possession of a library was important. He then continued with the ambition for, and use of, a history of the province, the importance of improving agriculture, and finally some words on industrialization.[9] The society's museum would later become the Noordbrabants Museum and its library is now known as the Brabant Collection.

Heeswijk Castle

In 1834 Andreas bought medieval Heeswijk Castle.[1] Andreas and his descendants renovated the castle and added some structures. The castle was meant to house their very big collection of arts and antiquities. His descendants continued to live at the castle. The last of them lived on the outer bailey till the early 1990s. The castle is now a museum owned by the foundation Stichting Slot Heeswijk and is one of the best known castles of North Brabant. The family tomb is at St. Willibrord's Church in Heeswijk.

The collection of antiquities at Heeswijk Castle would become extremely large. It was something in between a cabinet of curiosities and a serious collection art. E.g. it had dozens of paintings from the Dutch Golden Age, Medieval paintings and sculptures, and Maps of the province. On the other hand it had a large collection of iron and stone objects, and a very large collection of weapons. When the collection was auctioned most of it was bought by foreign collectors.