YOL VANDERLAN

Yol Vanderlan (18/4/1674 - 28/8/1748) was a Pharonian statesman who served as Premier of the Dominion twice in the 1st half of the 18th century. Born in Parietal, Diacria he was the eldest son of Sir Horan Vanderlan, 3rd Baronet. He succeeded to the peerage in December 1687, and was educated at Cathedral School and the Royal Academy of Cress. He was a Lyg sympathizer when he took his seat for Cress in the Parliament,  but his views changed, and he began to take an active part in politics as a National Party affiliate. In 1708 he was named Secretary of Diacria for the Moroz cabinet. He played a significant role, as a Pharonian delegate, in affirming the status of the island in the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastadt in 1713-1714. For 2 decades he was considered to be Moroz's alter ego. When Moroz resigned after his wife's scandal, Vanderlan assumed the position of NP Leader and Premier, winning the 1729 general elections. He was known as Turnip Vanderlan because of his strong interest in farming turnips and his role in the Pharonian Agricultural Revolution. He introduced the four-course crop rotation, the enclosure, the land conversion and reclamation, the selective breeding and other measures that had an unprecedent increase in production. In 1743 the NP lost the elections and King George II appointed Ram Burako as Premier. The siege and capture of Mandras in September 1746 by the French lead to the resignation of the Lyg cabinet and Vanderlan was called in office a 3rd time. The successes of Admirals Anson and Haak in the Atlantic made Vanderlan very popular. Unfortunately he had a heart attack on the 27th of August 1748 and died a day after, just a few months before the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. In his public funeral King George II attended as thousands of common people. Vanderlan was twice married and had 9 children. According to historians he was undoubtedly capable, determined, and hard-working, but in achieving his goals he sometimes appeared blunt, abrasive, stubborn, impatient, and overbearing. In contrast to many of his contemporaries whose venality was legendary he was scrupulously honest.