Trace your Dutch roots

Postcard from Friesland

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Postcard from Holland is a regular feature on this blog. On Wednesdays I post a card from my collection of vintage postcards. Today: Friesland.

Two small boats on a presumably Frisian lake.

The card never ran, and I'm not sure how old it is, or where in Friesland it is. It is number 7 in the series "On and around the water". The texts on the back are in Frisian, the minority language of the province Friesland.

This postcard featured earlier in the post Water on my blog Roots.

Postcard from Walcheren

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Postcard from Holland is a regular feature on this blog. On Wednesdays I post a card from my collection of vintage postcards. Today: Walcheren in Zeeland.

A beautiful postcard with three kids in the traditional costume of the island Walcheren in the province Zeeland.

The card was sent in 1927, so the photo is probably from the early 1920s.

Tombstone Tuesday: A few graves in the St Bavo church in Haarlem

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000

In medieval and early modern times, our Dutch ancestors (and many other Europeans) buried their death in, under and around their churches. Those who could afford it had a memorial, often in the form of an inscription on their grave. If you visit an old Dutch church, you are often walking over the graves. Look down, at the floor of the church, and you may see the inscriptions, sometimes worn away after centuries of walking over them, sometimes surprisingly well kept, sometimes restored recently to their former glory.

Last month I visited the St Bavo Church in Haarlem, province Noord-Holland. Today, I share a few of the grave memorials that I saw there.

The first grave belongs to Passchier de Fijne, a pastor of the Remonstrants in the 17th century. The (Dutch) inscription:

Zyne ongemeene zugt ter stigting van het volk De dienst door hem gedaan als Evangelietolk Vertoonen in PASSCHIER een held der Remonstranten Passchier de Fijne Eerste predikant der Remonstranten te Haarlem 1588-1667

His uncommon drive to edify the people / The service done by him as preacher of the Gospel / Make PASSCHIER a hero of the Remonstrants.

Passchier de Fijne, First pastor of the Remonstrants in Haarlem, 1588-1667.

The next grave belongs to Aris Claessoon Vroeper, who was apparently buried here in 1611. His epitaph (in Latin) is Melius est nomen / Bonum divicie multe, which I think means: A good name is better than many riches. Please leave a comment below if you know the meaning or origin of this epitaph.

I don't know anything about the occupant of this grave. If you do, please let me know.

Next up: Wouterus van Oorschot. His inscription (in Dutch):

Hier legt begraaven Wouterus van Oorschot, gebooren tot Dortrecht den 29 January 1704, overleden tot Amsterdam den 19 Maart 1768, zijnde geweest een Zoons Zoon van Wylen den Heer Wouter van Oorschot, in zyn Eedelens Leven Oud Raad der Stadt Dortrecht.

Rough translation: Here lies buried Wouterus van Oorschot, born in Dordrecht 29 January 1704, died in Amsterdam 19 March 1768, having been a son's son of the late sir Wouter van Oorschot, who was in His Honourable's life former council of the city Dordrecht.

It seems that Wouterus' main claim to fame was the fact that he was the grandson of Wouter van Oorschot, who was probably well-known at the time, but now forgotten. Wouterus' name still lives on in the Hofje van Oorschot, a courtyard surrounded by almshouses in Haarlem, which was built after his death and largely financed out of his estate.

Hier leyt begraven Lieven van der Mersch sterf den 15 November 1666 (Here lies buried Lieven van der Mersch died 15 November 1666). I don't know anything about this person, but there is a genealogy of Lieven van der Mersch online.

In the closeup photo of the tombstone you can clearly see footprints: The floor of this part of the church is covered with tombstones, so church-goers have no choice but to walk over the graves.

The last tombstone I present today is that of Guillaume de Key and his wife Maria van den Voorde. Searching Google I found some genealogical data about this couple (I did not verify anything, so use at your own risk). Let's have a look at the text on his stone:

Grafschrift van Guillaume de Key, starf den 16. Octob[er] 1624 Hier leyt de vrome Key een deugds patroo[n] begraven Een man van raed en daed, van sonderlinge gaven Der armen hoofd en troost, verstandig en beleefd Waer aen so menig mensch so veel verloren heeft. Ende Maria van den Voorde syne huysvrouw sterf den 23 May anno 1639.

Rough translation (without the rhyme that is present in the Dutch text): Epitaph / of Guillaume de Key, died 16 October 1624 / Here lies buried the pious Key, a patron of virtue / A man of word and deed, of extraordinary talents / Head and comfort of the poor, sensible and polite / In whom so many people lost so much. The last part of the inscription was added later: And also Maria van den Voorde, his wife, died 23 May 1639.

Popular Dutch baby names in 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

SVB, the agency responsible for distributing child benefits in The Netherlands, publishes annual lists of the most popular Dutch baby names.

The top 10 boy names for 2011 (last year's position between brackets):

Daan (4)
Sem (1)
Milan (3)
Levi (7)
Luuk (11)
Lucas (2)
Jayden (5)
Thomas (8)
Stijn (12)
Jesse (10)

The top 10 girl names for 2011 (last year's position between brackets):

Emma (3)
Julia (2)
Sophie (1)
Lotte (4)
Isa (11)
Lisa (6)
Saar (-)
Lieke (7)
Eva (5)
Anna (10)

Links:
Kindernamen top 20 (Top 20 child names, in Dutch)
Traditional Dutch given names

Postcard from Venlo: Manresa

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Postcard from Holland is a regular feature on this blog. On Wednesdays I post a card from my collection of vintage postcards. Today: Venlo.

The retreat house Manresa in Venlo. We had a Manresa postcard before - this one was sent by the same person, a year later (1922).

Postcard from Amsterdam

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Postcard from Holland is a regular feature on this blog. On Wednesdays I post a card from my collection of vintage postcards. Today: Amsterdam.

The Singel, a canal that once encircled Amsterdam and is now the innermost of the semicircular ring of canals encircling downtown Amsterdam. In the background (near the right edge of the postcard) we can see the Munttoren (Mint Tower).

If you come to Amsterdam, do a boat tour of the canals. You will see that the view on the postcard has not changed much.

Postcard from Holland

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Postcard from Holland is a regular feature on this blog. On Wednesdays I post a card from my collection of vintage postcards. Today: Traditional dresses.

The caption on this card is Een laatst vaarwel, a final goodbye. The ladies in traditional dress are probably bidding farewell to their fisherman husbands who just set sail to their fishing haunts at sea. The fishing boats were often at sea for several weeks at a time.

It should be possible to tell from their dress in which region the ladies lived, but I don't know much about traditional dresses, so I can't tell you anything about the location.

Postcard from Valkenburg

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 18 May 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Postcard from Holland is a regular feature on this blog. On Wednesdays I post a card from my collection of vintage postcards. Today: Valkenburg.

Around one hundred years ago, an interesting museum was built in the caves near the town Valkenburg in the province Limburg. In these caves are replicas of the best parts of the famous catacombs of Rome. The postcard shows the original entrance.

The website of the catacombs of Valkenburg seems to be in Dutch only.

Postcard from Lichtenvoorde

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 04 May 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Postcard from Holland is a regular feature on this blog. On Wednesdays I post a card from my collection of vintage postcards. Today: Lichtenvoorde.

The Rapenburgsestraat street in Lichtenvoorde, province Gelderland. I could not find this location in Google streetview, maybe the buildings have been demolished (or changed beyond recognition).

Postcard from Hillegom

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Postcard from Holland is a regular feature on this blog. On Wednesdays I post a card from my collection of vintage postcards. Today: Hillegom.

The Mariastraat is a street in Hillegom. The building on the left seems to be this one on Google Streetview.

Postcard from a hospital

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 06:00:00 +0000

Postcard from Holland is a regular feature on this blog. On Wednesdays I post a card from my collection of vintage postcards. Today: A postcard from a hospital in Maastricht.

Vrouwenverpleegzaal, women's nursing room, in the hospital Calvariënberg in Maastricht. Patients and nurses all pose for the photo.

Popular Dutch baby names in 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 06:00:00 +0000

SVB, the agency responsible for distributing child benefits in The Netherlands, publishes annual lists of the most popular Dutch baby names.

The top 10 boy names for 2010 (last year's position between brackets):

Sem (2)
Lucas (3)
Milan (8)
Daan (1)
Jayden (5)
Tim (7)
Levi (16)
Thomas (6)
Thijs (11)
Jesse (10)

I was responsible for one boy's name in 2010, but that name did not reach the top 10 (it was number 70). 859 boys born in 2010 were named Sem.

The top 10 girl names for 2010 (last year's position between brackets):

Sophie (2)
Julia (3)
Emma (1)
Lotte (5)
Eva (8)
Lisa (7)
Lieke (4)
Sanne (6)
Noa (10)
Anna (9)

800 girls were named Sophie last year.

Links:
Kindernamen top 20 (Top 20 child names, in Dutch)
Traditional Dutch given names

What's happening?

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 13:45:00 +0000

You may have noticed that there have been no new blog posts for a while. In September my wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, and since then the time I previously set aside for blogging is filled with diaper changing and bottle feeding. I am slowly settling into a new routine, and hope to be able to start blogging again in January.

The 18th issue of the newsletter did go out on time. If you did not receive it you can read it here.

In the meantime, can you tell me a bit about your holiday traditions? Are there any Dutch elements in your celebrations? I opened a page on Squidoo where you can share your story: December in Holland. Read how we celebrate the holidays in Holland, then tell us how you celebrate yours.

Postcard from Nijkerk

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:00:00 +0000

A lock in Nijkerk, province Gelderland.

Dutch archive news, August 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 04:00:00 +0000

August means summer, and summer means vacation season: Many archive visitors and archive staff were on vacation. The result was limited opening hours, fewer visitors, and hardly any news.

New in genlias: Marriage records from Curaçao and death records from Flevoland (Noordoostpolder, Urk, Zuidelijke IJsselmeerpolders) and Noord-Holland (Anna Paulowna, Beemster, Oostzaandam, Sijbekarspel, Spanbroek, Westzaandam, Zaandam).
Three archives used the quiet summer months to launch a page on facebook: the provincial archives BHIC (Noord-Brabant) and Tresoar (Friesland), and the regional archive Markiezenhof (Bergen op Zoom). Markiezenhof is also new on Twitter (@hetmarkiezenhof). See the complete list of Dutch archives on facebook and twitter.

Readers' questions

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 02:37:00 +0000

In this post I try to answer some questions from my always overflowing mailbox.

Three people asked about the meaning of their surnames: Oosting, Borgh and Hooijer.

The best place to find information about a surname is the Corpus of Family Names in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, though you can search this site in English, all information is in Dutch.

According to this corpus, Hooijer is a beroepsnaam, a name derived from an occupation. The name is derived from hooier, which means hay-maker.

There are many Hooijers listed in Genlias, the Dutch BMD database.

Borgh is a rare name in The Netherlands. There were only 22 people with that name in 1947, and 23 in 2007. (The name Borg is more common.) The corpus of family names states Borgh is an adresnaam, a name derived from a location. In this case the location is probably a manor-house in the north: borg(h) can mean manor-house (in the north, the names of many manor-houses end with -borg or -borgh). My dictionary lists a few other meanings of the Dutch word borg, including castle and surety.

Oosting is also listed as an adresnaam. It is probably derived from Oost, east, so it may mean someone from the east (not necessarily far to the east - the east side of the village, most likely). Another possibility is that the surname is derived from the name of a farm. The name is common in the northeast of the country, especially in the province Drenthe.

Gerda asks about her ancestor, Gerrit Adrianus Vink. Unfortunately her request does not have enough information to positively identify Mr. Vink (dates, places and name of partner/parents are missing). Genlias only has one person with this name, though, so I'll assume this is the one Gerda is looking for (she will have to verify that herself):

Gerrit Adrianus Vink, son of Pieter Vink and Pietertje Greyn, born on 8 August 1888 in Piershil, married Dirkje Krijna van Rees, daughter of Jan van Rees and Krijna Maria Groeneweg, on 29 February 1912 in Klaaswaal.

Raymond wants to know more about his ancestor Roosje de Lange. She was born 1882 in Den Haag, married to a Mr. Teitelbaum, emigrated, and remarried.

Scans of BMD records from Den Haag are online, but finding anything on their website is a daunting task, so I just include the birth record below.

The certificate states that Roosje, daughter of Nathan de Lange and Petronella Weijl, was born on 6 May 1882 in Den Haag.

I could not find a Teitelbaum-de Lange marriage in Den Haag, or in any major database. Maybe they married in Amsterdam (marriages are not online yet), or abroad. The population register of Den Haag (not online yet for the years we need) may have more information.

I will answer more questions next month. Send me a message, or leave a comment, if you have a question that you want me to answer. Try to be specific in your question: The more specific the question is, the more useful the answer can be. If you just give me a surname all I can do is give you very general advise or point you to Genlias.

Postcard from Venlo: Retreat house "Manresa"

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0000

Men who wanted to go into retreat could do so in retreat house Manresa in Venlo. Manresa, run by Jesuits, was in use from 1908 until 1973, for men only.

This postcard was sent in March 1921, by someone who was in retreat here. It shows the recreation room of Manresa, with in the background the billiard room.

Postcard from Amsterdam

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0000

Last week, the Unesco added 21 new sites to its world heritage list. One of those sites was the seventeenth-century canal ring Area inside the Singelgracht, in Amsterdam. The Unesco describes the area as follows:

The historic urban ensemble of the canal district of Amsterdam was a project for a new 'port city' built at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries. It comprises a network of canals to the west and south of the historic old town and the medieval port that encircled the old town and was accompanied by the repositioning inland of the city's fortified boundaries, the Singelgracht. This was a long-term programme that involved extending the city by draining the swampland, using a system of canals in concentric arcs and filling in the intermediate spaces. These spaces allowed the development of a homogeneous urban ensemble including gabled houses and numerous monuments. This urban extension was the largest and most homogeneous of its time. It was a model of large-scale town planning, and served as a reference throughout the world until the 19th century. [link]

One of the canals encircling the old town is the Keizersgracht (litt. Emperor's Canal) in Amsterdam. The postcard shows this canal.

Though there is an address on the back of the card, there is no stamp or date mark, and the card was probably never sent. The card is probably from the first decade of the 20th century.

Dutch archive news, July 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0000

Genlias has new baptisms from Zuid-Holland (Brielle), births from Zuid-Holland (major update), marriages from Drenthe (most towns) and Zuid-Holland (major update), and deaths from Zuid-Holland (Alblasserdam, Giessendam and Zuidwijk).
The National Library of The Netherlands announced that Google will scan over 160,000 18th and 19th century books from their collection. These books will (eventually) become available on the websites of Google Books, Europeana, and of course the National Library.
The Central Bureau for Genealogy launched a new blog (in Dutch) Migranten (Migrants), about the history of immigration into and emigration from The Netherlands.
Another Dutch archive on Twitter: the archive of Gorinchem (@archGorinchem). See the complete list of tweeting archives.

Photo: Book-scanning machine, by Cory Doctorow.

Postcard from Zeist

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0000

The caption is Zeist, Vijver bij 't Groen Bergje - Zeist, pond near 't Groene Bergje. I don't know what 't Groene Bergje is; literally it means the little green mountain, so possibly it was a small hill near Zeist.

The card shows the pond (but no hill). On the background we see a shepherd with a few sheep and a dog, and a man who is sitting down at the pond and probably reading a book.

Postcard from Ede

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0000

A postcard from the Boschpoortstraat street in Ede. The name of the street changed later to Grotestraat. Note the clothes of the people on the street!

The postcard was sent in 1908.

Dutch archive news: June 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 04:00:00 +0000

New records in Genlias: Birth records from Limburg (Horst, Neeritter, Schinnen, Sittard, Venlo) and Utrecht (Utrecht City), and death records from Limburg (Ottersum, Swalmen, Venlo) and Noord-Holland (Avenhorn, Etersheim, Groet, Haarlemmermeer, Hensbroek, Nibbixwoud, Opdam, Opmeer, Wognum).
The Utrecht archives will expand the Archiefbank (archive database), on 5 July. There will also be a charge for viewing and downloading scans.
The National Library of The Netherlands digitized its collection of catchpenny prints and made it available on Memory of The Netherlands: "This collection of catchpenny prints gives a good picture of the topics the population was interested in. For researchers and people interested in the history of the Netherlands this is a real treasure-house containing images and texts from the past. This remarkable heritage is now digitally available so that everyone can become acquainted with it. The catchpenny prints can be regarded as source material for research of text and language; of the daily life of our ancestors plying trades (that have disappeared), children's games, transport, fashion, role patterns, housing and housekeeping; tilling the land, poverty and wealth; of values and standards and pedagogical views and of image with illustration techniques and styles."
The Gelderland archive opened a new website. Unfortunately, there is no English interface.
Three new archives on Twitter: the Schiedam city archive, the Utrecht provincial archive, and Westfriesland regional archive in Hoorn. See the complete list of tweeting archives.
The city archive of Den Haag opened a film database with moving images from their collections, from the period 1905-1983.
The Zeeland archive is scanning its civil registry. The first scans (BMD records of Schouwen-Duiveland) should be available some time next year.

Postcard from Alphen

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:20:00 +0000

Postcard from Holland is a regular feature on this blog. On Wednesdays I post a card from my collection of vintage postcards. Today: A postcard from Alphen.

A water tower in Alphen aan den Rijn (or Alfen, as the label on the postcard states). This 26.5 meter (87 feet) tall water tower was built in 1902, and demolished again in 1958. A second water tower was built in 1911.

I could not decipher the date on the postmark, but the card is probably sent between 1905 and 1911.

Parental marriage consent

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 04:00:00 +0000

Until only a few decades ago, spouses under thirty needed parental consent for their marriage.

Normally, the parents were present at the wedding and signed the wedding certificate to express their consent. The wedding certificate may contain phrases like alhier aanwezig en consenterende (here present and consenting), or [zij] hebben ons verklaard in dit huwelijk toe te stemmen ([they] declared to give permission for this marriage).

If one of the parents was dead, this will be stated in the marriage certificate, and only the other parent had to consent. The marriage supplements will contain an extract of the death record of the deceased parent. If both parents were dead, the grandparents had to consent. If they, too, were dead, the marriage supplements should have more information on both the parents' and grandparents' deaths (occasionally the information was also copied into the marriage certificate). In earlier marriage acts, though, you are more likely to find a statement that the grandparents have been dead for a long time, and that nobody knew anymore where and when they died. In this case, the spouse did not need parental consent.

This image is a part of the marriage certificate of Jacobus Frederikus Winter and Johanna Helena Maria Hoogenbosch. It states the mother of the bride was deceased, and the father of the bride was not present. To give his permission, he had to visit a notary who would then create an act of permission. The marriage record states toestemmende bij authentieke akte, consenting by authentic (notarial) act. This act should be included with the marriage supplements.

If the parents of one of the spouses did not consent, it was possible to request the county court to consent on their behalf. This happened to Jacobus Frederikus Winter, in the marriage certificate above. He had to go to the county court, and the court granted consent on behalf of his parents (in theory the court could also refuse consent, but I am not aware of any case where that happened). The marriage record states that consent is obtained by court intervention (the above marriage act contains the statement voor wier toestemmingen de tusschenkomst van den kantonrechter is ingeroepen, for whose consent the intervention of the county court is invoked). The marriage supplements should have an extract of the court decision.

Postcard from Nijmegen

noreply@blogger.com (Henk van Kampen) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:18:00 +0000

Postcard from Holland is a regular feature on this blog. On Wednesdays I post a card from my collection of vintage postcards. Today: A postcard from Nijmegen.

I'm not sure (yet) what to make of this card. The label "Nijmegen Stationsplein" suggests the building on the left is the Nijmegen station, but it does not look like other images of the station that I have found. The stoomtram building is probably the terminal of the steam tram, which was indeed used in Nijmegen at the time.

The postcard was sent in 1905.