Marcellus Bles (Tilburg, June 9, 1715 - Moergestel, November 1797) was a merchant at the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), lender for Tilburg industrialists and from 1761 also Mr. van Moergestel and owner of Kasteel Nieuwenhof there.
ParentsThe Bles family was a reformed family. Marcellus was the son of Govert Bles (Wijchen, 1675 - Tilburg, 1747) and Arnolda Cloostermans. Service parents, Marcellus Bles sr. And Maria Wassenbergh, moved to Udenhout in 1680 and then to Helvoirt. They did this in the south to fulfill public functions that were reserved to Protestants. Marcellus Sr. became Principal of Helvoirt.
Govert moved to Tilburg in 1699, and was elder, clergy for municipal secretary, and ships. The couple got two children, including Elder son Marcellus and youngest son Cornelis. East Indies
On February 12, 1736, Marcellus traveled to Batavia with the Noordwaddingsveen, where he arrived on August 25th of the same year. There he acted as a subcontractor in charge of the VOC. June 1744 he traveled from Batavia to Ceylon, where he served as Secretary of Government. At Colombo he married on 24 December 1747 with Anna Maria de Caauw. The couple got six children who were all born in Ceylon. In the colonies, Marcellus gained a considerable capital, and at the office of the VOC in Amsterdam, money was collected from him by his mother.
About 1755, Marcellus moved to Quilon in present India, where he worked until January 15, 1758. His wife might have died since then. With the "Overnes" he returned to Amsterdam and on July 6, 1759 there was an amount of almost 5000 guilds that he still had. Tilburg and Moergestel
On June 5, 1761, Marcellus bought 4150 guilds the Nieuwenhof Castle in Moergestel, or a search from Casteel off Heeren Huijsinge, from outs called Nieuwenhoff with barn, stallinge, kick, court and affair. It was a condition that he did not work out the front. castle will have built a farm house with stable, barn, shovel and further necessities in order to accommodate the seller, Jacobus Schoonus, from the castle. Thus Marcellus became Lord of Moergestel. Buying a glory by a Protestant merchant frequently occurred in North Brabant.
Marcellus also played a role as lender for the emerging Tilburg textile industry. Thus, they lied to the textile company Van Dooren & amp; van der Werf, founded by Martinus van Dooren and Gerardus Dams in 1783. Dams amounting to 4000 guilders. This amount may be used for the construction of a fullmill, which was taken into use in 1799. Marcellus died a few years before. External source
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