While working with husband Pieter in Australia in June of 1988, I did visit my uncle Louis (Dad's younger brother) and aunt Gerd in Broken Hill, NSW. Pieter had a program at the University of Melbourne on Saturday, so he dropped me off at the airport on Saturday morning and I flew solo.
Talking about our family heritage, my uncle Louis handed me three copies he had from a distant relative. We had been talking about the French influence in our southernmost province of The Kingdom of The Netherlands; Limburg.
Napoleon Bonaparte ruled the French Empire, including The Netherlands.
Strasbourg 2 March 1809
French Empire
The mayor of the city of Strasbourg Department of the Lower Rhine
To Sir Mayor of the municipality of Horst Department of the Roer
According to the article 80 of the Napoleon code, I have the honor to pass on to you a copy of the death certificate of Pierre Van Munckoff who died at the military hospital of this city and who had his place of residence of right in your municipality.
I have the honor to greet you
The officer of the State – Civilian
Pierre, was the elder brother of my great great great Grandfather and he died at the age of 19. There was another brother, Nicolaus, who was one year older than Pierre who got dismissed from war, due to wounds. He did live to be 66.
This is the extract of the registers of death certificate for Pierre van Munckoff and below is the copy of the envelope. Funny for receiving this while in Australia at work consulting and visiting an uncle...
My 4th cousin, Fred Van den Munckhof from Venray in Limburg, has put together our family tree from 1560 - 2000
My Dad gave it to me on my 50th birthday.
Fred did contact my Dad for the info and that did not work out very well...
Dad told Fred over the phone: Peter Fedder instead of Pieter Vedder and he did NOT mention our adopted daughter Liz...
Fred did contact my Dad for the info and that did not work out very well...
Dad told Fred over the phone: Peter Fedder instead of Pieter Vedder and he did NOT mention our adopted daughter Liz...
Here is the mention of Nicolaus who got wounded while serving under Napoleon... He got dismissed and managed to live till age 66.
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This was Pieter the one year younger brother of Nicolaus.
He was registered as Pierre van Munckoff while serving under Napoleon and he died in Strasbourg.
Since there are no other Van den Munckhofs in the USA, I was keen enough to keep my maiden name as I am very proud of it.
you have ties all around the world in one way or another. :)
ReplyDeleteDearest Theresa,
DeleteIt would be interesting to know even more about our background...
Hugs,
Mariette
Hey Marriete,
DeleteSomehow funny to find you here as a distant relative :-) Pierre’s younger brother Willem was my father’s grandfather’s Grandfather. Interesting to know is that Pierre went voluntarily to fight for the little corporal.
You mention a brother with the name Nicolaus. I don’t see this brother in the family tree.
With kind regards
Wil Maassen
Wonderful to have these beautiful documents of family history.
ReplyDeleteDearest Deborah,
DeleteThis is a treasure indeed and quite interesting to study the family background. Shocking to see how young people often died at those times.
Hugs,
Mariette
Deaerst Mariette,
ReplyDeletethis is very interesting, to have such a Family tree and such old documents!
Thank you for showing ...
Sending Love and hugs
Claudia
Dearest Claudia,
DeleteIndeed, a treasure for having this! All the way from Germany and that starting in 1560... Wow.
Hugs,
Mariette
We have bound books of our family tree. It is very interesting, and I'm sure you treasure the present you Dad gave you for your Birthday.
ReplyDeleteHugs Kay
Dearest Kay,
DeleteGlad that you too preserved your family tree and have it in book form. A lot of work done by somebody but it is worth it. Yes, a very special present indeed.
Hugs,
Mariette
Liebe Mariette.
ReplyDeletebesten Dank für deinen schönen Post.
Alles Liebe
Elisabeth
Liebe Elisabeth,
DeleteDanke, gerne teile ich so etwas und ich hoffe das mehrere Menschen so etwas zusammenfassen.
Liebe Grüsse,
Mariette
Leuk die oude documenten en zo'n bijzondere naam te hebben, die zou ik ook koesteren. Ik was blij een andere naam te kunnen krijgen bij mijn huwelijk, ik heette Veen, niet zo bijzonder, er zijn er een boel van in Nederland ook met van er voor. Ik zal wel afstammen van de turfstekers in Drente. Mijn zus heeft het een keer uitgezocht.
ReplyDeleteBeste Marianne,
DeleteJa, zulke oude documenten zijn zeker heel apart om te bekijken in het oude franse schrift. Maar in die tijd behoorden we immers tot het franse rijk. Je zou graag terug kunnen gaan in de tijd en echt zien wie onze voorouders waren. Mogelijk een hard leven want we zijn niemand van adel of van komaf. Mijn maternale Opa heeft ook turf gestoken dus zo'n naam kan best afstammen van inderdaad de turfstekers of veen-werkers van die tijd.
Liefs,
Mariette
It's always so nice when we can see little pieces of history!
ReplyDeleteWishing you a most wonderful March Mariette!
xo Catherine
Dearest Catherine,
DeleteThank you and yes, those little pieces are historical family treasures.
Enjoy your March too and especially on the 5th!
Hugs,
Mariette
Liebe Mariette,
ReplyDeleteist ist immer schön, wenn man alte Urkunden bekommt und diese
auch gut aufbewahrt. Ich kann mir denken, dass du stolz auf deinen
Mädchennamen bist. Und das kannst du auch.
Einen schönen Tag wünscht Dir
Irmi
Liebe Irmi,
DeleteJa um so etwas so lange auf zu heben ist an sich schon wertvoll.
Ich fand mein Mädchennamen immer schön und noch. Hier in der USA wird alles zusammengeschrieben aber trotzdem; alles ist da!
Auch du einen schönen neuen Tag und alles Liebe,
Mariette
Hello Mariette, You are lucky to have these precious family documents. With so much moving around over the centuries, it is amazing that any of these survive, let alone enough to reconstruct a family history. Last summer, I came across my grandparents' marriage certificate, and realized that these scattered family documents should be collected together, and scanned or photographed for the benefit of whoever might be interested.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Dearest Jim,
DeleteOh we all are very fortunate for still having so much reference to go to for compiling such a family history from 1560 on. You are so right about scanning and photographing such family documents for future generations to have access to.
Kindest regards,
Mariette
Mariette, how wonderful to have such family history.......
ReplyDeleteI love history so I find this very exciting ;- )
Hugs~
Mari
Dearest Mari,
DeleteYes, that is a treasure to have and I cherish it very much!
Wish the time machine would really exist and that we could go back to see how life was for our ancestors.
Hugs,
Mariette
Dear Mariette,this is very interesting, to have a family tree and such old documents!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing!Have a lovely day!Hugs!
Dimi...
Dearest Dimi,
DeleteQuite a treasure in itself and let's hope someone will continue to add on to it for future generations.
Hugs,
Mariette
How fascinating and exciting! I love exploring family history and am so glad that you have found this part of yours. Funny enough I have kept my maiden name also because I like it, and am proud to be my Father's daughter and last relative. xx
ReplyDeleteDearest LeeAnn,
DeleteThank you and just like you love your family history, I love mine as well.
It is worth keeping one's maiden name!
Hugs,
Mariette
Deaerst Mariette,
ReplyDeleteYour husband Pieter with you at Australia 1988. Pieter has university at Melbourne.
You has uncle Louis Younger brother. all of your reconstruct a family history.
Hugs and Love of both of you!
Michiko
Dearest Michiko,
DeleteYes, we have been a few times for consulting work in Australia, wish we had known you then...
Pieter had to give a program for the Melbourne University indeed and I flew solo to my uncle and aunt in Broken Hill, N.S.W.
Sending you hugs and love from both of us!
Mariette
Family history is so fascinating
ReplyDeleteDearest Jo-Anne,
DeleteIndeed, family history is fascinating and it is the key to what we are today.
Hugs,
Mariette
Wow this is fascinating! I think it's amazing you get to know family history from the past so long.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if my family has family tree like yours. Gotta ask my parents :-)
Dearest Tamago,
DeleteYes, that is indeed WOW when you look at all the information from 1560 on!
Who knows do you too have some more information about your family tree. Would be a treasure to have.
Hugs,
Mariette
Dearest Mariette,
ReplyDeleteThis was a fascinating post!! We are connected in more ways than I thought. My Great Great Great Grandmother (I think I have added enough "Greats") on my Mother's side was from Amsterdam, fell in love with a General in Napoleon's army, married him and after Napoleon's final defeat, they moved to the United States with their 11 children. I still have her husband's humidor w/the Napoleonic crest and her cookbook in Dutch.
Hugs to you and Pieter
Dearest Marie-Thérèse,
DeleteThank you, it was quite an adventure for getting this precious information from my uncle in Australia while working there... What a precious information you have on your Dutch connection and that humidor and cookbook are for sure a treasure!
Hugs,
Mariette
lieve Mariette ,
ReplyDeletewat intersant die oude documenten ,heel mooi om te weten,
wie je voorouders zijn ...van mijn moeders kant (nederlandse) hebben ze
een boek met de stamboom ..van mijn vaders kant (griekse) weet ik heel weinig
want heb nooit mijn opa en oma ontmoet ...en dat vindt ik heel erg ....
een fijne dag
veel liefs
Lieve Nieneke,
DeleteJa, het brengt je even terug in een tijd waarin je voorouders leefden. Niet altijd een gemakkelijk leven tijdens diverse oorlogen maar waardevol om te weten.
Het is jámmer om zo weinig van je Vader's kant te weten...
Liefs,
Mariette
Dearest Mariette; How wonderful to be able to have these precious document and know your family history☆☆☆ I think Not Many people can get back that long back, happy for you to have this luck.
ReplyDeleteWishing you care-free happy March and coming spring, Dear friend.
Sending Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan to my Dear friend in America, xoxo Miyako*
Dearest Miyako,
DeleteGuess this only came together because my family remained pretty much in the same region. If they are scattered all over the world, it becomes harder to go back in time.
Love the care-free happy March concept and I sure embrace that!
Hugs and love to you from Georgia, USA.
Mariette
Dear Mariette,
ReplyDeleteYes, it is indeed wonderful to have these keepsakes of your family's history! They are beautiful to behold and a true connection to your ancestry, It was so nice that you were able to visit your Uncle in Australia and that he gifted you with these! It is also wonderful that you have your ancestry dating back to the 1500's. In this time of families living in all corners of the world, separated from one another, it is especially important to hold on to our history. We find a true understanding of who we are! Wishing you a lovely week. Hugs xo Karen
Dearest Karen,
DeleteOh sure this is a wonderful thing to have! That way we can partly bring the past come alive for understanding where we came from. We would have loved to visit my uncle and aunt together but after our week's work, Pieter still had to give a presentation at the University of Melbourne, so I went alone. Glad I did however as it is rare for being able to visit coming from 2 continents. Yes, knowing the fabric of which our families were woven from gives us all a very healthy insight in who we are today!
Enjoy your week and hope spring is advancing the way it does here at the moment.
Hugs,
Mariette
Stopping by to say hello. Hope all is good with you. Interesting family history.
ReplyDeleteDearest Sarah,
DeleteThank you for stopping by and yes, all is well. Knowing our family history is always interesting.
Hugs,
Mariette
Lieve Mariette,
ReplyDeleteJij was op het juiste moment op de juiste plek bij je oom Louis,geweldig om dan na dat bezoek weer huiswaarts te keren met voor jou belangrijke overlijdens akte van familielid met jou achternaam.
Familie stamboom ook een kostbaar bezit!!!
Onze schoonzoon heeft ook een heel boekwerk van stamboom van zijn familie van eeuwen terug tot nu.
Toen ik destijds op het gemeentehuis werkten vond de archivaris dat ik zo'n mooie achternaam had en vroeg of ik wist waar die vandaan kwam,nee dat kon ik hem niet vertellen en zei er wel meteen bij dat ik daar graag meer over zou willen weten omdat die familienaam naar mijn weten bijna uitgestorven zou zijn omdat er enkel op dat moment nog 3 vrouwen en een lichamelijk en geestelijk gehandicapte neef in leven waren met die familie achternaam.
Hij vroeg me wat op papier te zetten over mijn familieleden en beloofde wat speurwerk te verrichten,
hij kon mij mededelen dat hij met zijn onderzoek bleef steken in Bandoeng op Java,vermoedelijk was ik een afstammeling van theeplantage eigenaar met die naam.
Toen wij vele jaren later een rondreis maakten in Indonesië viel het mij op hoeveel mensen met de naam Ambrosius daar in het telefoonboek stonden.
Kan daar nog vaak over fantaseren en wanneer ik naar oude foto's kijk van mijn opa,zijn 2 zonen,mijn 2 neven en onze kleinzoon en ik zie hun donkere uiterlijk en zwarte haren,slank postuur, smalle polsen etc. zou het best eens kunnen dat er ergens ver weg Javaans bloed zit.
Wanneer ik in gedachte op oude foto die ik heb hangen van mijn vaders vader hem een Iket of blangkon opzet en naar zijn smalle gezicht kijk en donkere oogopslag ,zie ik zijn voorvaderen wel zitten onder de palmbomen.
Lieve groet,Ger
Lieve Ger,
DeleteJa, je zou zó graag een paar eeuwen terug willen kijken naar onze voorouders hoe ze er uit zagen en wie ze waren. Het wordt natuurlijk moeilijker als je zo in Indonesië terecht komt. De naam Ambrosius is ook de naam van mijn vader's schoolvriend. Ben Ambrosius die dus ook uit Limburg kwam. Later was hij nog bestuurslid van het Centrum voor Champignonteelt Onderwijs. Qua smalle polsen zou ik ook aziatisch bloed kunnen hebben... Wie zal het weten wat voor mengsel we zijn?
Mooi om erover te mijmeren en ooit komen we wel achter al die vragen!
Liefs,
Mariette