Statue of Anthony Christiaan Winand Staring - Vorden

He was born on 24 January 1767 in the Achterhoek town of Gendringen, the son of Damiaan Hugo Staring and Sophia Wijnanda Ver Huell, but spent his youth mainly in South Holland: Anthony Christiaan Winand Staring. He was a landlord, agronomist and poet.

His father worked for the VOC and was sent to the Cape of Good Hope in 1773. His mother moved with him. Anthony was only six at the time and came to live with his uncle in Gouderak.

He attended French primary school, Latin high school and then went to college. He focused on botany so that he could prepare to manage the estate around Castle De Wildenborch, of which he was lord. In 1791, he moved to this castle in the Achterhoek and continued to live there until his death.

Staring was remarkably good at maintaining the estate. He stood out because he had an eye for nature, but also for people. On his estate, he had a school built where the children of poor local farmers could be educated. He came up with tools like the Brabant foot plough to make farm labour easier, which he himself managed to make an improved version of. Finally, he ensured that vaccination against a viral disease among cows could be used in the Vorden area.

He had influences in the administration of Gelderland and was for a year the president of the Lochem cantonal council. Although few people could enjoy his poems at the time, he wrote about legends and nature. Always there was a sensitive and humorous edge to the story, which he knew how to express as art. Staring is one of the few Dutch poets of the romantic era. He died in 1840 at his country house De Wildenborch.