Volkert Overlander was born in
Amsterdam, the son of Nicolaes Overlander († 1607) and Catharina Sijs (also: Chijs) (1536–1617. Nicolaes was a grain merchant in Amsterdam's
Warmoesstraat, and in 1580 a captain in the
schutterij. He studies law at the
University of Leiden and finished at the
University of Basel in 1595. •
Maria Overlander van Purmerland (1603–1678)[6] became the wife of burgomaster
Frans Banning Cocq and inherited the paternal inheritance in Purmerland and Ilpendam • Geertruid Overlander van Purmerland (1609–1634) became the first wife of statesman and burgomaster
Cornelis de Graeff who remarried in 1635 to Geertruids cousin
Catharina Hooft, daughter of her paternal aunt Geertruid Overlander Geertruid Overlander (1577–1653) Volkert Overlander worked as a merchant and shipowner. In 1602 Volkert Overlander became one of the founders of the
Dutch East Trading Company. He lived in the cityhouse
De Dolphijn in the Amsterdam
Singel, which he bought in 1609 from the important writer and thinker
Hendrick Laurensz Spiegel for 14,000
guilders. In 1603 he was appointed
Schepen of Amsterdam, and between 1605 and 1630 he was member of the
Vroedschap. Between 1614 and 1621 he became a
councillor of the
Admiralty of Amsterdam. In 1618 Volkert bought the
Free and High Fief Ilpendam and Purmerland from the
Creditor from the
Count of Egmond and in 1622 he built the castle of
Ilpenstein. In 1620 Overlander was raised to the hereditary
knighthood by the English King
James I through the mediation of his brother-in-law
Pieter Jansz Hooft. He was made first
Dijkgraaf of the
Purmer in the early 1620s. In the years 1621 and 1628 he was appointed
burgomaster of Amsterdam. In 1628 Overlander became an advisor of the
States of Holland and West Friesland in
The Hague, a position which he held until his death. After his death his fortune was estimated at 150,000 guilders. ==Coat of arms==