Adriaan Davidzoon Coornwinder continued to live and work in Berckel despite his father's notorious beheading in 1623 in Den Haag.  From 1624 until 1657 Adriaan Davidzoon Coornwinder was the secretaris of Berckel.  

Berckel has had a long and difficult history.  It was originally drained in the 11th and 12th centuries providing fertile land for farming.  In 1266 a church was built in the same location as the church where Adriaan's grandfather Vedastus Coornwinder served as predikant (pastor).
 
In the 14th century the region again came to stand underwater causing serious problems for the local cattle farmers.  By 1472, the community had four mills, but still the water continued to be a problem.  Finally in 1618 Johan van Oldenbarneveldt built a fifth mill which allowed the region finally to dry out.  However, during the Eighty Year war (1568-1648), the village again came to stand underwater when the dikes were purposefully penetrated to allow the Dutch resistance to take their ships directly to Leiden.  The land became more and more difficult to use for farming, and the industry towards the end of the 15th century changed from cattle farming to extracting turfsteken (bricks made of earth for fuel).  The process of dredging the earth, however, created a new water problem.  Large bodies of water were ripe breeding grounds for various diseases and the village was once again surrounded by water.

During the 17th century, when Ariaan Coornwinder was secretaris of Berckel the village was suffering greatly.  It wasn't until a century after his death, that the population again managed to gain an upper hand with the water.  Three new mills were built in 1776 in addition to the 5 mills that still remained.  Land was regained, the population grew again and the economy improved. (See polder draining map from 1776.)

We don't know much about Adriaan Coornwinder other than that he lived through difficult times.