Genealogie Bos

This is my English-language Genealogy & Ancestry Blog.
(Mijn Nederlandstalige blog is genealogiebos.blogspot.nl).

28 Feb 2025

Vroegindeweij Vicars

Wouter Vroegindeweij was vicar in Reeuwijk, Holland. He was engaged to be married to Adriana Vis on 14 June 1935 in Middelharnis. Their son Jan was born in Reeuwijk on 27 January 1937.

Nieuwe Utrechtsche Courant, 14-6-1935

Wouter Vroegindeweij was vicar in Bleiswijk, Holland, when he had his son Jan confirmed as a vicar in Goudswaard, Holland, on 17 February 1963. Jan was appointed as vicar in Harskamp on 15 October 1967, and in Katwijk aan Zee, Holland, on 16 April 1672. Jan married Alida C. Voskuil.

Wouter Vroegindeweij was born in Middelharnis, Holland, on 3 May 1904. His parents are Jan Vroegindeweij and Jannetje Verhagen. Wouter died on 6 July 1980 at the age 76. He was buried on the 11th in Bilthoven, Utrecht. His widow Adriana Vis, aged 89, died on 30 June 1992 in Moerkapelle, Holland, and was buried on the 6th in Bilthoven.

Jan Vroegindeweij was born in Middelharnis on 22 December 1873 as son of Leendert Vroegindeweij and Adriaantje Pas. Jan married Jannetje Verhage on 24 August 1900 in Middelharnis. Their eldest son, Leendert, was born on 10 January 1901 in Middelharnis. Like his brother Jan, Leendert also became a    vicar. Leendert studied in Utrecht before he was successively vicar in Wilnis, Waddinxveen, Papendrecht and Gameren. Leendert married Maria Jannetje Gerritje Voskamp on 10 April 1940 in Rijswijk. He died in August 1969 in Delft, aged 68.

Trouw (newspaper), 4-10-1955

Leendert Vroegindeweij married Adriaantje Pas on 8 April 1864 in Middelharnis. Leendert was born in Middelharnis on 15 October 1836. His parents are Arend Vroegindeweij (1804-1855) and Geertje Soldaat (1805-1869). Leendert died in Middelharnis on 21 April 1900, aged 63.

Sources: WieWasWie.nl, P.J. Bos, DIENAREN VAN DE VROEGERE ZUIDHOLLANDSE PAROCHIE KORENDIJK, ALIAS GOUDSWAARD EN VAN DE DAARUIT VOORTGEKOMEN NEDERLANDSE HERVORMDE GEMEENTE, ca 1442 tot heden, Mensen van Vroeger, 1974.

21 Feb 2025

Nollius Hajonides van der Meulen (1862-1907) drowned

The “SS Berlin” was a steel ship of 1775 tons, build for use on the ferry service from Harwich to Hook of Holland. On Thursday 21 February 1907, around 5 o’clock, a huge wave struck the ship, causing her to become impaled on the tip of the granite breakwater at the entrance to the New Waterway, west of Rotterdam. A Dutch lifeboat attempted to offer aid, but the rough seas rendered it impossible to approach the stricken vessel. Around 6 o’clock the ship broke in two, drowning the majority of the passengers. Later, 16 survivors were rescued, while 128 people had drowned.

Nederlandsche Staatscourant, 5-3-1907

One notable passenger who drowned was a King’s messenger, Mr. Herbert, travelling with diplomatic bags. Another victim was Hendrik Spijker of the Spyker car company. The main subject of this blog post, Nollius Hajonides van der Meulen, was also killed in this disaster.

Leeuwarder Courant, 25-2-1907

Nollius Hajonides van der Meulen was born on 7 July 1862 in Leeuwarden as eldest son of Pieter Hajonides van der Meulen (1835-1875) and Anna Gorter (1838-1918).
As an Adult, Nollius Hajonides traded in flax. At the age of 32, on 27 June 1895 in Menaldumadeel, Nollius Hajonides van der Meulen married 25-year-old Clasiena Cornelia Alma. She was born on 11 April 1871 as daughter of Margrieta Maas (1842-1916) and Hermanus Alma (1839-1915).

14 Feb 2025

Christina Kotting married her first cousin Adrianus Nieuwenkamp

Adriana Kits
Adriana Kits

In a previous blog post, I wrote about Jan Kits Nieuwenkamp (1811-1870) after I stumbled upon a newspaper article. He had been travelling with a steamship when it hit a rock, and he drowned. Recently, I came across a picture of his sister Christina Nieuwenkamp (1809-1887, below right). Christina married Jan Ludolph Kotting (1809-1844) who was clergyman, successively in Kwadijk and Alkmaar in Holland. Jan and Christina are both children of Jan Mattheus Nieuwenkamp (1764-1824) and his third wife Adriana Kits (1774-1881, to the right).

Jan Mattheus Nieuwenkamp and his wife Adriana also had a son Abraham, who was baptised on 4 March 1800 in Amsterdam. Abraham Nieuwenkamp (23) was a bookseller when he married Petronella Kotting (31) in Amsterdam on 23 May 1823. Petronella is a daughter of shopkeeper Jan Ludolph Kotting (†1830) sr. and his wife Jannetje Brinkel (1797). Within a year after her wedding, Petronella died on 18 May 1824, 8 days after giving birth to a dead daughter.
Her widower, Abraham Nieuwenkamp, married his first wife’s younger sister Geertruid Kotting (28) on 24 February 1826 in Amsterdam. Geertruid was baptised on 21 June 1797 in the Zuiderkerk, another church in Amsterdam. They had issue, including a son Adrianus Nieuwenkamp, born on 30 November 1835 in Amsterdam. Geertruid Kotting, aged 50, died in Amsterdam on 15 August 1847. Her widower Abraham Nieuwenkamp died in Amsterdam on 1 January 1866.

Christina Nieuwenkamp
in widow's clothing

Christina Nieuwenkamp (to the right) was born on 5 May 1809 in Hasselt.  Her husband, clergyman Jan Ludolph Kotting, was baptised in Amsterdam on 12 February 1809 with witnesses Anna Maria Kotting and his grandfather Jan Ludolph Kotting sr. The parents are pharmacist Gerardus Kotting (1785-1852) and his wife Maria Elisabeth Gude (1849). 
Jan Ludolph died of scarlet fever at the age of 35 on 29 May 1844 in his parent’s home in Alkmaar. After a widowhood of 43 years, Christina Nieuwenkamp died on 23 July 1887 at the age of 78. They had 7 children, including a son Gerardus Kotting, who was working as a pharmacist, and a daughter Christina Kotting.

Christina Kotting was born on 17 December 1841 in Alkmaar. She married her first cousin Adrianus Nieuwenkamp in Amsterdam on 7 May 1868. Adrianus is the son of Abraham Nieuwenkamp and his second wife Geertruid Kotting (as described above). At the age of 82, Adrianus Nieuwenkamp died on 20 July 1918 in Haarlem, Holland, and was buried there on the 23th. His widow, Christina Kotting, died in Haarlem on 10 February 1921.

9 Feb 2025

Common Latin Terms for Family Members

When doing genealogical research, you may stumble upon some words of Latin. For centuries, the church provided for marriages, baptisms and burials, and Latin has been the standard for the Roman Catholic liturgy since the 6th century.

If a Latin term ends in “us”, then it refers to a male; if it ends in an “a”, it generally refers to a female. For example, “avus” refers to grandfather, “avia” to grandmother, and “avi” is used to indicate plural grandparents. “Proavus” means great grandfather and “proava” means great grandmother. So, “meus avus est pater mātris meae” can be translated as “my grandfather is my mother's father”.
The Latin language has different words for aunts, uncles and cousins, depending on whether they are on the father’s side or the mother’s side. An aunt, father’s sister, is “amita”, while an aunt on mother's side is “mātertera”. A cousin - a mother's sister's child - is “cōnsōbrīna” when female, and “cōnsōbrīnus” when male. The word for a cousin on father's side - when he's a child of father's brother - is “patruēlis”. Thus, in the table below I have focussed on general words for family members.

English Latin
birth nati, natus, genitus, natales, ortus, oriundus
christening baptismi, baptizatus, renatus, plutus, lautus, purgatus, ablutus, lustratio
given name nomen
surname cognomen
pasgeborenneonatus
child infans, filius/filia, puer, proles
parents parentes, genitores
mother mater
father pater
godparent patrini, levantes, susceptores, compater, commater, matrina
husband maritus, sponsus, conjux, vir
marriage matrimonium, copulatio, copulati, conjuncti, intronizati, nupti, sponsati, ligati, mariti
marriage banns         banni, proclamationes, denuntiationes
jongegehuwden neosponsi
wife uxor, marita, conjux, sponsa, mulier, femina, consors
son filius
(father) of the son (pater) filii
(baptizavi) filium     (I baptized the) son
death mortuus, defunctus, obitus, denatus, decessus, peritus, mors, mortis, obiit, decessit
burial sepulti, sepultus, humatus, humatio
(I buried the) father (sepelivi) patrem
widow vidua
(son) of the widow (filius) viduae
father pater
(son) of the father (filius) patris
he was baptized, has been baptized  baptizatus est, baptizata est
great-great-grandmother abavia
great-great-grandfather, ancestor abavus
relationship by marriage affinitas

Sources: FamilySearch.org/wiki, BHIC.nl, BSKempen.be, NazatenDeVries.nl, en.wikiversity.org, Willebroek.info.