Jan de Witt, schepen (local authority, type of police) (1782), Raad (1785) was a fervent patriot (pro-French activist) and immigrated to France in 1787. He stayed in France until 1795 and became a member of the Amsterdam municipality. He became the Bataafse Republiek (republic after the French invasion of 1795, changed into a kingdom by Napoleon) ambassador to Switzerland in 1796. He was very rich and very fond of building. He spent so much money on building the estate Elsenburgh near Maarssen that he had to sell it again. He left shortly in Baden-Baden before moving to the Quartier Breda in Paris to build a number of projects that we so successful that he left a huge inheritance. He died on 12th September 1809 in a castle at Conde sur Iton.