52W Mark IV – Week 8: Card V8 Jan Gerritsz Veldman

I generally think of my Dutch ancestors – particularly the paternal side of my father’s family – as labourers, farmers, domestic workers, or similar. I suspect that the maternal side of my father’s family might have been better off, although by how much I cannot say. With a couple exceptions, I have to go five or six generations back to find something other than farmer or labourer, such as a cordwainer and a cobbler, a harbour pilot, or a sailor. Of those who worked the land, I doubt few of them actually owned their farms.

One exception is my Gx3 Grandfather, Jan Gerritsz Veldman. During the 52 Ancestors Challenge in 2023 , I described him and his wife Trijntje Stoop as “prosperous“. However, at one point in time he may have been even better off than I had previously thought.

Jan was born on November 27, 1835 in Nieuwe Niedorp, Noord Holland. He was the eighth of twelve children born to Gerrit Veldman and Maartje Cornelis Zijbecarspel. In 1855, when he was 20, he was drafted for the militia, as the Netherlands had mandatory military service until the 1990s. Many conscripts never actually served; rather, they were largely on-call, like a reserve. However, according to his marriage registration, Jan had “bought” himself a replacement.

According to my late friend Nol van den Hurk, this was a common practice “if you had money.” I asked if this meant Jan was well off, Nol responded:

Whether Jan was well to do or not I can’t tell you. The archives hold papers you had to show when you wanted to marry. One of the papers is an official document that showed that you had fulfilled your duty in the Army. In Jan’s case I saw a document, signed by the Queens commissioner’s clerk in the Province North Holland (who was responsible for those things in those days) that said that Jan had his military duties done by a replacement. This was not uncommon in those days, but it never stated who paid for it. It might have been the bride’s father, the groom’s father, the groom himself…. When he was the only son of a farmer, he did not have to join the army. If so, it was stated so in the document.

Jan and Trijntje married on May 1, 1858 in Nieuwe Niedorp. I have a copy of their marriage registration, but unfortunately I have not yet found a copy of their huwelijksbijlagen (marriage supplements) online. The marriage supplements are a set of documents the couple had to provide before they could marry, such as birth extracts and other vital records. As well, it used to include a record confirming that the groom had satisfied his mandatory military service. It would be nice if I could visit the Dutch archives in person, but I doubt I’ll be in the Netherlands in the foreseeable future.

At the time he married Trijntje, Jan was working as a farmer in Nieuwe Niedorp; however, their eldest child, Gerrit, was born in Harenkarspel in 1859. It is likely that Jan actually lived and worked in ‘t Veld, a village within gemeente (municipality) Nieuwe Niedorp, as reflected in the bevolkingsregister (“population register”) of Nieuwe Niedorp for 1860-1870. There was a subsequent bevolkingsregister for ‘t Veld for 1870–1880, which also listed Jan and his family. As for ‘t Veld, it later became part of gemeente Oude Niedorp. It is now within gemeente Hollands Kroon.

It appears that Jan and Trijnte did very well for themselves while living in ‘t Veld. I recently discovered that they were prosperous enough to have domestic servants in the late 1860s. The first, Jansje, worked for Jan and Trijntje until January 1868, but I do not yet know how long she had been there before leaving. The second, Brigitta, worked from February to December 1868.

Jan and Trijntje had eight more children who were born in Nieuwe Niedorp. It appears that all but two children survived infancy and childhood. In May 1872, Jan, Trijntje, and their children moved to Barsingerhorn, which is about five kilometers north of ‘t Veld. There they had the last of their ten children, Aantje, born in 1873.

Upon relocating to Barsingerhorn, Jan and Trijntje began to acquire several pieces of farm properties, which together formed two separate properties. One property consisted of two lots in Oude Niedorp of about 0.157 hectares (about 0.4 acres), on which there was a house. The other property was a farm consisting of 20 lots in Barsingerhorn, totalling about 11.9 hectares (just under 3o acres). The farm property included a farmhouse, pastures, farmland, and a boat.

When Jan died on May 21, 1897, these pieces of property passed to Trijntje. Within a year after she died, on January 27, 1906, these properties were put up for auction. The auction noticed valued the first property at ƒ835, while the second property was valued at ƒ17,152.66. Together, they amounted to about CDN$427,958.27 in 2025 dollars.