SECOND MARRIAGE. CAMERBEWAARDER 31 
a kinswoman of hers named Cornelia Swalmius.’ It is said 
that she bore him another child, who died in infancy :? and. 
Bouricius states that Cornelia herself died in 1694.° 
It is probable that Leeuwenhoek carried on his drapery 
business for many years—from the time of his first marriage 
(1654) onwards. We have no direct information about him 
again, however, until six years later, when he was made 
Chamberlain to the Sheriffs of Delft. He held this post for 
39 years; and thereafter, till his death, continued to draw 
the salary attaching to it. At the date of his nomination 
Leeuwenhoek was only 27 years old: for according to an 
entry in the town archives he was appointed—retrospectively, 
as it appears—on 26 March 1660, in succession to one Jan 
Strick (otherwise unknown). The full title of this office’ was 
“Chamberlain of the Council-Chamber of the Worshipful 
Sheriffs of Delft,’ and the terms of appointment were as 
follows: ° 
‘alias Kornelia Zwalmius (sew van der Swalm). The name is spelled 
variously. According to van Bakkenes (1873) and van der Baan (1874) she 
was the daughter of Johannes Swalmius (1621-1661), a clergyman of Valken- 
burg. The date of her birth is apparently unknown, but she must have 
been much younger than L., as her father was only 11 years his senior. 
* Boitet (1729), Haaxman (1871, 1875), and Bouricius (1924). It is said 
by van Bakkenes (1873), however, that L.’s second marriage was childless. 
In any case, no child of this marriage survived. 
* Buried 6 Jan. 1694; fide Schierbeek (1930). That she was alive in 1677 
can be inferred from a passage in a letter written in this year (Letter 22, 
Nov. 1677. Phil. Trans. (1678), Vol. XII, No. 142, p. 1040): and that she 
was dead in 1700 is directly attested by L. himself, who then refers to her 
as ‘my late wife”’ (Letter 130, 27 June 1700). 
“ Curiously enough, L.’s civil appointments are not mentioned in Boitet 
(1729); and it is perhaps for this reason that Banga (1868, p. 610) refers 
to him—incorrectly—as “a simple citizen of Delft, holding no office.”” L.’s 
appointment as Chamberlain was first reported by van Haastert (1823), who 
quotes no authority for his statement. 
>“ Camerbewaarder der Camer van Heeren Schepenen van Delfi.” The 
Schepens, or Sheriffs, were important civil dignitaries at this period. But 
Schout and Schepen have no exact English equivalents, so I can translate 
such words only approximately. 
° This entry was extracted from the town records by Mr J. Soutendam, 
sometime Town Clerk and Archivist (Archivaris en Secretaris) of Delft. It 
has already been published in full by Haaxman (1871, p. 14 sq.; 1875, p. 20 
sq.) and by Soutendam (1875), from whose printed Dutch transcriptions 
I translate. The information on this subject which Richardson (1885), 
