Sylvain Van de Weyer
| Sylvain Van de Weyer | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 7th Prime Minister of Belgium | |
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In office 30 July 1845 – 31 March 1846 |
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| Monarch | Leopold I |
| Preceded by | Jean-Baptiste Nothomb |
| Succeeded by | Barthélémy de Theux de Meylandt |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
19 January 1802 Leuven, France (now Belgium) |
| Died | 23 May 1874 (aged 72) London, United Kingdom |
| Political party | Liberal Party |
| Alma mater | State University of Leuven |
Jean-Sylvain Van de Weyer (19 January 1802 – 23 May 1874) was a Belgian politician, and then the Belgian Minister at the Court of St. James's, effectively the ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Van de Weyer was born in Louvain (Leuven); his family relocated to Amsterdam in 1811. The family returned to Leuven when his father, Josse-Alexandre (1769–1838), was named police commissioner for the city. Jean-Sylvain studied law at the State University of Louvain and set up as a lawyer in Brussels in 1823. Here he frequently defended newspapers and journalists which fell foul of the government of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, of which modern Belgium then formed the southern half.
On the outbreak of the Belgian Revolution in 1830, Van de Weyer was in Leuven, but hurried to Brussels where he became a member of the central committee of the Provisional Government of Belgium. His command of the English language resulted in him serving as a diplomatic representative of the revolutionaries. King Leopold I appointed Van de Weyer his "special representative" in London.
Van de Weyer later served as the eighth Prime Minister of Belgium. He was Vice-President of the London Library from 1848 till his death in 1874.
The grandson of Jean-Baptiste or Jean-Sylvain Van de Weyer, originaire de bourgeois family of Bautersem, avait acquis le droit de bourgeoisie à Louvain en 1779, and son of Josse-Alexandre van de Weyer (1769–1838), by his wife Martine Goubau/Françoise-Martine Goubeau (died Brussels 11 June 1853, aged 73 7 months), (daughter of Josse Goubeau, commissaire de police de la quatrième section de Bruxelles), he married Elizabeth, only daughter of Joshua Bates of Barings Bank, and formerly of Boston, in 1839.
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