Tag: Immigration

52 Weeks – Week Four

Curious

The theme for this week’s 52 Ancestors Challenge is “curious” – a term that has been left up to our own interpretation!

There are many things that keep me curious about my family history. They say you are never finished your family tree – because you aren’t. However, if I ever ran out of questions, my family tree would be done, and not in a good way.

For decades I’ve been curious about my maternal grandmother’s first marriage. Last year I was finally able to get their marriage record because it was finally old enough for public disclosure. Despite that, I still have a lot of unanswered questions.

Emelia Anton, about 1931

I’ve previously mentioned my great grandmother, Emelia Anton, who was a German from Russia. She was born on New Year’s Day, but I’ve never been able to confirm whether it was by the Julian or Gregorian calendar. Another mystery: I have a copy of the passenger ship on which Emelia and her family came to Ellis Island. The family came straight to Canada from there; however, despite scouring countless records, I’ve never found where they crossed into Canada.  

Come to think of it, my Germans from Russia are the most mysterious branch of my family tree, given how little I know about it compared to other lines!

Another mystery that intrigued me for years was an occupation my great great grandfather, Nicolaas “Klaas” Komen held in the 1920s, “brandstoffelhandelaar”. It literally translates as “fuel dealer”, although it took me a long time to figure that out. Here’s a helpful tip. I’ve found that when trying to translate a difficult foreign word, type it into Google Image Search. Sometimes a photo really is worth a thousand words. However, what kind of fuel was Klaas selling? How and where was he selling it, and to whom? As far as I’ve been able to figure out, it likely involved hauling peat or coal on a wagon or truck.

Marriage registration for Adrianus Komen and Elizabeth Bakker, which identifies the occupation of Adrianus’s father, Klaas, as “brandstoffelhandelaar”

My most recent discovery was learning the sailing on which my father’s aunt came to Canada. I’ve pretty much always known the date on which my father and his family left the Netherlands and the ship he came on, the Sibajak. His aunt, Anny van der Fluit and her husband Jac Beers came on the Groote Beer a few months earlier, but I never knew when. Less than a fortnight ago, the Rotterdam Archives posted Holland America Lines passenger lists up to 1969 on its website. I finally learned that my great aunt and uncle left Rotterdam for Halifax on January 20, 1954. I then realized that I was missing information about one of my father’s uncles, Johannes “Joop” van der Fluit, who came to Canada a couple of weeks after my father. I knew the date on which he sailed, but it crossed my mind that I didn’t know the name of the ship. Ta da, there he is, in the archive, sailing to Canada with his family on the Castel Felice.

However, the greatest curiosity to me revolves around my 4x Great Grandfather, Petrus Pieterszoon “Pieter” van der Fluit, who was born in Voorhout, which is just outside of Leiden. His direct ancestors had been in what is now Zuid Holland (South Holland) for several generations, mostly around Leiden, although the surname traces to a village outside of The Hague.

Visiting Fluitpolderplein in Leidschendam, Zuid Holland in 2017. It may well be that this is the polder after which my surname originates.

Pieter was the oldest of 11 children, four boys and seven girls. He was still in Voorhout in May 1800, when he married Maria Woutersdr (“Maartje” or “Marijtje”) de Vlieger, who was born in nearby Lisse. Pieter and Maartje have their first child, Elisabeth, in Voorhout in 1801. The next time I see Pieter and Maartje, it’s in November 1804, in Nieuwe Niedorp, in what is now Noord Holland (North Holland), where they have their second child, Pieter.

What has always had me curious is why Pieter and Maartje moved almost 70 kilometers to start a new life away from their family. Based on the time I’ve spent in the Netherlands, a trip of seven kilometers seems overwhelming for the locals. For most of my Dutch family lines, the generations never strayed far, so this strikes me as an astonishing move. After Pieter and Maartje moved to Nieuwe Niedorp, the next five or six generations were all located within a very short distance. My father was born less than four kilometers from Nieuwe Niedorp.

Marriage registration for Pieter van der Fluit and Maartje de Vlieger

Almost all of Pieter’s siblings stayed in Voorhout. One adventurous sister moved all the way to Leiden, less than seven kilometers away. Pieter’s youngest sister ended up in Antwerp after moving to what is now Belgium with her husband. There are many descendants of the original van der Fluits still in the Zuid Holland area.

It is not only the distance of the move that has me curious. Usually it was the younger siblings who move away from home, with the eldest staying behind. I have nothing more than speculation as to what drew Pieter and Maartje north.

My working theory was based upon the fact that by 1800, what is now the Netherlands was essentially a French puppet state known as the Batavian Republic. In the time leading up to its creation and during its existence, the Dutch economy was in dire straits. Between it being wartime in Europe and a poor economy, perhaps Pieter went north looking for work. Many years ago, someone suggested that during the time Pieter moved north there was a great deal of work going on with the construction of new polders and waterworks. However, my investigations indicate that most of the polders of the area were constructed well before and well after Pieter arrived on the scene.

This concludes the January 52 Ancestors theme of “Foundations”. February’s theme is “Branching Out”. In the meantime, don’t worry about the cat, it’ll be okay, stay curious!

52 Weeks – Week Two

Favourite Find

When I was in my early twenties, I had it in mind to get a Dutch passport and spend a year or two living and travelling in the Netherlands and the EU. I had hoped that the fact my father was born in the Netherlands would enable me to do so. While he came to Canada with his parents when he was a child, he was still a Dutch citizen when he married my mother.

Image of the Sibajak on display at Pier 21. This is the ship that brought my father to Canada.
My dad was here!

Unfortunately – for me – six weeks before I was born my grandfather got my father to get his Canadian citizenship. He was adamantly opposed to the idea that his first-born grandson would be anything other than Canadian. He had gotten his Canadian citizenship as quickly as possible. I’m pretty sure he probably tried the second he landed at Pier 21.

Because my father had been naturalized as a Canadian at the time of my birth, the rules at the time for me to get a Dutch passport required me to produce the passport my father held when he came tot Canada. Of course, he did not hold his own passport when he emigrated, he came under his parents’ passport. I was told that my grandparents’ passport had been long discarded or lost. So much for my plans, thanks grandpa.

Imagine my surprise many, many years later, when this came into my possession. Needless to say, by then life had gone on and my plans had changed. Moreover, the rules for getting a Dutch passport had become more restrictive.

The passport of my grandparents, Adrianus (Arie) van der Fluit and Christina (Tiny) Komen. They both shared the same document, with their photos on separate pages.
The inside back cover.
They made it!

One thing that I discovered may have made my life more difficult had this been in my possession at the time I was hoping to obtain my own Dutch passport. My father and his younger siblings are all named in the passport, but it misnamed my father. It gives his first name as “Adrianus”, which is not his name. It’s his father’s. (I have birth records showing my father’s actual name, so I know it wasn’t really Adrianus.)

Me with my grandfather, Leo Burgess. If there is any doubt, he is the one on the left.

I will share one other thing that has come into my possession. My mother’s father worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway for many years, first as a brakeman and later as a conductor. His claim to fame was being part of the crew on the train that teenage Clark Kent raced in Superman: The Movie. My grandfather was always proud to talk about meeting Glenn Ford, one of his favourite actors, at the time.

Looking at this photo, it astounds me how much my grandfather looks the way I look now. When I was younger, I always thought I more resembled my father’s side of the family.

My mother gave me some of the items he used in his work as a conductor.

Some of the items my grandfather used for work. I believe – hope! – that one of my cousins has his pocket watch. One of my brothers has one of my grandfather’s hats, but I don’t recall if it’s a brakeman’s hat or a conductor’s hat.

I thought this week’s challenge would be difficult, because at first nothing came to mind for favourite find. Turned out to be easier than I expected. Next week will be a challenge: “Favourite Photo”. I have dozens of photos that all could hold that title.