Henri Louis Baels was a ship-owner

Ship-owner

A shipowner is the owner of a merchant vessel . In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and exploits a ship, usually for delivering cargo at a certain freight rate, either as a per freight rate or based on hire...

 from Ostend

Ostend

Ostend  is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....

 who subsequently was with the Catholic Party

Catholic Party (Belgium)

The first Catholic Party in Belgium was established in 1869 as the Confessional Catholic Party .-History:In 1852 a Union Constitutionelle et Conservatrice was founded in Ghent, in Leuven , and in Antwerp and Brussels in 1858, which were active only during elections...

, in Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

.

Background

He was the son of Julius Ludovicus Baels (18 August 1851 - 11 November 1896) and wife (m. Ostend

Ostend

Ostend  is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....

, 18 January 1876) Delphina Alexandrina Mauricx (11 June 1848 - 24 September 1931).

Career

He eventually became Minister of Agriculture, then Minister of the Interior, and, finally, Minister of Public Works and Public Health. He crowned his career by becoming Governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

 of West Flanders in 1936. A friend of King Albert I of the Belgians, and later equally trusted by Albert's son, King Leopold III of the Belgians, Henri Baels was responsible, among other important public initiatives, for the creation of the famous Albert Canal

Albert Canal

The Albert Canal is a canal located in northeastern Belgium, named after King Albert I of Belgium. It connects the major cities Antwerp and Liège and the Meuse and Scheldt rivers. It has a depth of , a free height of and a total length of...

. Henri Baels was also a great friend of Dom Marie-Albert van der Cruyssen, the Abbot

Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...

 of the Cistercian Monastery of Orval, Belgium, and took a lead in supporting the restoration of the Monastery, a project the Abbot (who was also a highly decorated

Decorated

Decorated can have several meanings:*In architecture, the Decorated Period refers to a period and style of mediaeval Gothic architecture....

 Belgian war hero of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

) had undertaken.

Family

The ancestors of Henri Baels' wife, Anne Marie de Visscher (7 April 1882 - 6 July 1950), daughter of Adolphus Gustavus de Visscher (3 February 1854 - 3 November 1920) and wife Alicia Victoria Carolina Opsomer, included illustrious personages such as the Count Felix de Muelenaere, member of the Belgian National Congress (which founded the Kingdom of Belgium in 1831), and three-time Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1831 and 1841.

The couple had eight children: Lilian, Princess of Réthy, Elza Baels, Susanne Baels, Ludwina Baels, Walter Baels, Hermann Baels (who married), Henry Baels and Lydia Baels (who married Jean-Jacques Cartier and had two children, Viviane Mary Cartier (b. Dorking

Dorking

Dorking is a historic market town at the foot of the North Downs approximately south of London, in Surrey, England.- History and development :...

, 22 December 1946) and N N Cartier (b. Dorking

Dorking

Dorking is a historic market town at the foot of the North Downs approximately south of London, in Surrey, England.- History and development :...

, 26 April 1948) ).