Polydore de Keyser

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Polydore De Keyser - Lord Mayor of London 1887–1888

Polydore de Keyser ( December 13, 1832 in Termonde , Belgium - January 14, 1898 in London , England) was the son of the merchant Joost Constantin Fidel Keyser and Catharina Rosalie Troch. He was the first Catholic mayor (Engl. Lord mayor ) London since the Reformation.

biography

The Keyser family moved to London around 1849. Here they acquired a small hotel on Victoria Embankment (across from Blackfriars Bridge on the Thames ), which was first called the Royal Hôtel London and later became known as the De Keyser Royal Hotel . Keyser received English citizenship in 1853.

In 1856 Constantin Keyser left the hotel management to his son Polydore. In 1872 he began to raise his once inconspicuous hotel to one of the first hotels in London by buying and renovating the neighboring houses, which was officially opened in 1874 by the Belgian King Leopold II . In his home country Belgium Polydore de Keyser was awarded the Leopold Order and in Antwerp a street was named after im ( Avenue de Keyser ). In 1862 he married Louise Piéron from Brussels, who also lived in England.

Although a Catholic and originally a foreigner, Polydore de Keyser was elected Alderman (City Councilor) in 1868 , then Sheriff of London and Middlesex in 1882, and even Lord Mayor of London in 1887. At the end of his one-year term in office, the Queen of England awarded him the high title of knight Sir Polydore .

In 1897 Keyser transformed the “De Keyser Royal Hotel ” into a public company, where he served as chairman until his death.

In 1889 and 1899, respectively, two editions of "Blüher's spelling of food and drinks - alphabetical specialist lexicon" appeared, in which de Keyser's specialist knowledge as a hotelier was incorporated.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christopher Hibbert, Ben Weinreb, John Keay, Julia Keay: The London Encyclopaedia. Macmillan, accessed October 23, 2017 .
  2. ^ GR Rubin: Private Property, Government Requisition and the Constitution, 1914-1927. The Hambledon Press, accessed October 22, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Allgemeine Zeitung Munich: 1857, 4 - 6 . General Zeitung, 1858 ( google.de [accessed November 4, 2017]).
  4. ↑ a b Blüher's spelling of food and drinks - alphabetical specialist dictionary. Verlag Blüher, 1899, accessed on October 22, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Alderman. In: Duden. Retrieved October 22, 2017 .
  6. ^ De Keyser's Royal Hotel, Victoria Embankment, EC. Retrieved October 22, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME De Keyser, Polydore
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British lawyer and Lord Mayor of London
DATE OF BIRTH December 13, 1832
PLACE OF BIRTH Termonde , Belgium
DATE OF DEATH January 14, 1898
Place of death London , England