Johan van Banchem

Johan van Banchem , also Johann van Bancken and Jan van Banchem (* 1615 in The Hague ; † 1694 ibid) was a Dutch lawyer and civil servant.

Banchem, whose father was also a high lawyer, was a judge at the Hof van Holland in The Hague and from 1655 he became a member of the Council (Vroedschap) of The Hague. From 1661 to 1663 he was one of three mayors of The Hague. He was an ardent supporter of the Orange. In 1672 he became lay judge of The Hague and swore the rifle guild (vigilante) in the conspiracy to murder Johan de Witt and Cornelis de Witt to guard the prison in which they were and not to let them escape. The vigilantes eventually stormed the prison, dragged the brothers into the square, and murdered them. Later he adorned himself with a sword, the pommel of which showed the murder. In gratitude, Wilhelm III appointed him . to the Baljuw (comparable to a mayor ) of The Hague. Among other things, he headed the police force in the office and was involved in fines and replacement fines for prison sentences. He abused his office - among other things, he worked with prostitutes to lure customers into a trap and then collect fines or extort them - was arrested in 1676 and sentenced to death in 1680, where he was also tortured. He appealed to the Hoge Raad van Holland en Zeeland and managed to escape to Amsterdam. There, however, he was sent back (he was even suspected of having planned an attack on Mayor Koenraad van Beuningen ) and ended up in prison again, where he died.

In 1649 he married Anna Deijm, with whom he had several children.

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