I’ll be visiting the ‘streekarchief Rijnlands Midden’ in Alphen aan den Rijn for the first time this week. Time to sit down and work out what my main goals will be.

Area of Interest

This archive, which is a regional archive, covers the following municipalities:
• Alphen aan den Rijn (Aarlanderveen, Alphen, Oudshoorn, Zwammerdam)
• Nieuwkoop (Achttienhoven, Nieuwkoop en Noorden, Nieuwveen, Ter Aar, Vrijhoeven, Zevenhoven)
• Rijnwoude (Benthorn, Benthuizen, Hazerswoude, Hoogeveen, Koudekerk)
• Kaag en Braassem (Alkemade, Hoogmade, Jacobswoude, Leimuiden, Rijnsaterwoude, Vrije en Lage Boekhorst, Woubrugge)

Next to the municipal archives they also keep court- and notaryarchives, orphan- and churchrecords. And on top of that a lot of archives from companies and private persons from the area can be found.¹

area of interest of the streekarchief Rijnlands Midden

Website

‘Rijnlands Midden’ works together with another Regional Archive, the ‘Streekarchief Midden Holland’, they maintain a website called ‘Groene Hart Archieven’
The archive has been very active in indexing and digitizing a lot of their sources and to look for these the website has an excellent searchfacility, just type in your ancestors name and hit enter. If the results are too many you can limit them per category.
An advanced search screen is also on offer, where you can search more specifically within the collections, or just a single source.
Browsing the offline collections has also been made very easy, they have been divided into themes, and then further organized into smaller collections.
The only downside I can find is that the website only comes in Dutch, but I guess they don’t get that many foreign visitors.

Research Plan

My cousin Nel Nap will be coming with me, so the main focus will be on that surname, although there are other names we share in our ancestry quest.
One item that is really high on my wishlist is the marriage entry for my great great grandfather Arie Nap and his wife Janna Schinkel. They were married in Nieuwkoop on 13 Nov 1903. ²
Next on the to-do-list is the relation our Nap relatives had with the village of Noorden. The first six (known) generations all familymembers were christened and married in Noorden, a small village in Zuid-Holland. We want to find out as much as we can about this village and possible sources to investigate. Fortunately for us most of the indexes of Noorden sources are available online, so with a bit of home preparation it will not be too difficult to get our hands on (copies of) the originals.
If there’s any time left I can bring out the to-do-list I generate from my favourite genealogy program RootsMagic .³ To date this list is 20 pages long, so I won’t be bored! In fact, I’ll probably have to plan another visit…

Things to Bring

After checking the visitor’s rules and regulations I made the following list:
• passport (first time visitors need to register)
• reading glasses and magnifying glass
• mobile phone, digital camera, laptop
• binder with pedigree report, rootsmagic to-do-list, notepad, pencils, post-its
• small change for vending machines, copiers etc.

Sources

1. 1. Over de Groene Hart Archieven
   http://www.groenehartarchieven.nl/over-ons
   (geraadpleegd 7 februari 2012) ↩
2. 2. “Groene Hart Archieven – Searchresults “Janna Schinkel”; Arie Nap en Janna Schinkel (aktedatum 13-11-1903), (accessed February 6, 2012). ↩
3. 3. I use RootsMagic as my desktop genealogy program and TNG for my website. ↩

Meaning

Derived from the Anglo-Saxon “smitan,” to smite or strike, Smith and its derivations are an occupational name for a man who works with metal (smith or blacksmith), one of the earliest jobs for which specialist skills were required. It is a craft that was practiced in all countries, making the surname and its derivations the most common of all surnames.¹

Geographical Location

surname distribution in 1881

surname distribution in 1998

In 1881 there were 42.2431 people with the surname Smith in Great Britain, in 1998 there were 51.4898. ²

Smith still tops the list of most popular surnames in England and America, and is also a very common last name in Ireland, Scotland, Canada and Australia. ¹

Immigration

Several of our Smith relatives immigrated to other continents:
Ernest Ronald Smith (grandson of Josiah Smith by his first wife) moved his family to Australia in the 1920′s. His sister Nellie Gertrude went before him.
Carey Smith, son of my great granduncle Kenred moved his family to New Zealand in 1956, his descandants are known by the surname of Carey-Smith.
Cyrus Smith, another great granduncle, moved to South Africa in 1926.

Related Surnames

Smyth, Smythe

In my Tree

The first ancestor in my tree with the name Smith is James, his son James was christened on 12 April 1726 in the village of Willingham in Cambridgeshire.

Since the name is so common not all Smiths in my database are related. In my tree are 182 persons with the surname Smith, of which 94 are male and 87 are female. Of these 182 Smiths only 127 are related to my mother.
In my tree the surname Smith barely makes it into the top 10, ranking a measely 9. This can be explained by the fact that I am of Dutch-English descent and up to now most of my research has been done in the Netherlands, relying mostly on online resources for my English research.

Josiah and his two Janes

Very early in my research I was blown away by my second great grandfather Josiah, who after first having married his first cousin Jane Smith, managed to marry a second Jane Smith after the death of his first wife.
It took me a while to figure that one out!

Smith Occupations

Most of the Smiths in the early days were farmers and fruitfarmers, with the exception of my 3d great grandfather James who was listed in the 1851 census as a pigkiller, carpenter and grinder. And my great granduncle Kenred who served in Congo as a missionary.

My Goals

A researchtrip to Cambridgeshire, with a visit to the Cambridgeshire Archives and a tour around Willingham, Elsworth and Over is very high on my wishlist.

Sources

1. 1. Powell, Kimberly. “SMITH – Surname Meaning.” About Genealogy – Learn How to Research Your Family Tree. http://genealogy.about.com/od/surname_meaning/p/smith.htm (accessed February 14, 2012). ↩
2. 2. “Smith.” Great Britain Family Names. http://gbnames.publicprofiler.org/Statistics.aspx?name=SMITH&year=1881&altyear=1998&country=GB&type=name (accessed February 14, 2012). ↩

My fourth great grandparents were married 210 years ago today. They lived in Lange Ruige Weide, a small village in the province of Zuid-Holland and they were married in Linschoten a village in the province of Utrecht, about 8 kilometers to the East as the crow flies. Evertje had lived in Linschoten around 1797. Because they married in a different place then they actually lived in they had to announce the marriage in Lange Ruige Weide, this means I have three sources from two different repositories relating to this marriage.

book of marriages, Linschoten ¹

First the place where the marriage actually took place:

marriage entry

1082 1802 on February 14th Paulus Kastelein widower of Neeltje Verburg, living in the Langeweide, & Evertje Overeem, spinster born in Zeist and also living in the Langeweide have been confirmed in Holy Matrimony in this place
After legal arguments had been brought that their three announcements were passed unhindered²

Court Archives of Lange Ruige Weide ³

Then the record that the marriages have been announced in their hometown:

marriage announcements

Paulus Kastelein widower of Neeltje Verburg, living in the Langeweide and Evertje Overeem, spinster, born in Zeijst and now also living here intend to get married. If anyone means to have any lawful reason of opposition, he will make this known on a proper time in the appropriate place, or forever shall be silent. 1st commandment on 31 January 1802 2nd commandment on 7 February 1802 3rd commandment on 14 Dito 1802 I the undersigned messenger of the Lange Ruijge Weijde certify dat the three marriage announcements above have been announced properly without any hinderance. Actum Driebruggen 14 Feb 1802
Wilm de Gruijter ²

Next the statement from Linschoten that the marriage has actually taken place:

proof of marriage

I the undersigned Minister of Linschoten certify that Paulus Kastelein widower of Neeltje Verburg living in the Langeweide and Evertje Overeem spinster born in Zeist and now also living in the Langeweide have been confirmed in Holy Matrimony here in the church on the 14th February 1802, after bringing forward proof that their three announcements were passed unhindered
Actum Linschoten 14 Febr: 1802
C.Ae. van den IJssel ²

Sources

1. 1. marriageentries, Linschoten – 1648-1811 NG ; book 92 green; The Utrecht Archives, Utrecht, NLD ↩
2. 2. translated loosely, old Dutch is very hard to translate into readable English ↩
3. 3. marriages, Lange Ruige Weide – 1750-1811 court; Attachments with the marriage entries, blz. 68-69; Regional Historic Centre Rijnstreek and Lopikerwaard, Woerden, NLD. ↩

In Memoriam

Today I would like to draw your attention to the book
‘In Memoriam’ by Guus Luijters and Aline Pennewaard.

This book contains a list of all 17.964 Jewish, Roma and Sinti children that were deported from the Netherlands between 1942 and 1945. Of every child it’s name, date and place of birth and the address are listed as well as the place and date of death.

Photographs of 3.000 children have been found and added to the book.
This is a chilling tribute to a group of murdered children in one of the darkest periods in the history of Europe.¹

Exhibition

In Memoriam

The exhibition runs from 10 February to 20 May 2012.²

The aim of both the book and the exhibition is to restore the identity of these children by giving them a face.

Sources

1. 1. Uitgeverij Nieuw Amsterdam, In Memoriam
   http://www.nieuwamsterdam.nl/boekUitgave.aspx?ID=2214
   (accessed 8 Feb 2012) ↩
2. 2. Stadsarchief Amsterdam, In Memoriam
   http://stadsarchief.amsterdam.nl/english/exhibitions/index.en.html#3ExZ
   (accessed 8 Feb 2012) ↩

Meaning

The word Nap in Dutch means: small wooden bowl. The name can also originate from the name of a farm near Ede built in 1697 ²

Unrelated to the surname: the abbreviation N.A.P. in the Netherlands also means Nieuw Amsterdamse Peil (Amsterdam Ordnance Datum), the reference height to which other level elevations are measured. ³. Interesting and necessary I’m sure, but very frustrating when performing searches…

Geographical Location

occurences of the name 'Nap' in each provence in 1947

occurences of the name 'Nap' in each municipality in 2007

In 1947 there were 1.087 persons with the surname Nap in the Netherlands, in 2007 there were 2.061. The name concentrates mainly in the provinces Groningen, Utrecht, Zuid-Holland, Noord-Holland and Gelderland. ⁴

As far as I know there are four branches of Nap in the Netherlands which up to know have not been connected:
Groningen: descendants of Jan Jurjens Nap born abt. 1680 in Nieuwolda. ⁵
Noord-Holland: descendants of Klaas Nap born abt 1711 in Akersloot. ⁶
Zuid-Holland/Utrecht: descendants of Pieter Nap born abt 1615 in Kamerik.
Gelderland: descendants of Cornelis Jans van de Nap, farmer on ‘de Nap’ by Ede. ⁴

I have also found a couple of strays who come from Emden, Germany. They were a seafaring lot and settled mostly in Zeeland and Zuid-Holland. Which brings me to another bit of gossip, that during the Reformation (16th century) several Naps fled to Emden for religious reasons.

Related Surnames

Nab, van der Nap

Coat of Arms

Coat of Arms

This picture of a coat of arms has been circulating amongst family members for years now. I have found no proof as yet that it actually belongs to my collection of Naps.

In my Tree

There are 928 people in my tree with the surname Nap, 501 males and 419 females. (There are a few stillborn children of which the sex can not be determined.) The earliest person with the surname is Pieter Nap, born about 1615 in Kamerik.

‘My’ Naps mostly come from the region Utrecht / Zuid Holland and had occupations as agricultural labourers, farmers and grocers. A fair amount of them also served the public by taking up seats in citycouncils or the waterboard (regional government bodies charged with managing the water barriers, the waterways, the water levels, water quality and sewage treatment in their respective regions.) They were religous people, all protestants (well maybe not all, see my earlier remark on the Reformation) and some of them served as elders and deacons.

My Goals

At one point I would like to start a one-name-study on the Nap surname, and maybe combine that with DNA-technology. It would be interesting to see if we could link the several Nap branches together, or not!

Sources

1. 1. Nap, Hage . “Genealogie Nap.” Heemtijdinghen, September 1987, 50-69. ↩
2. 2. “Boerderijcomplex De Nap” Gemeente Ede. http://www.ede.nl/fileadmin/monumentenregister/479.html (accessed January 28, 2012). ↩
3. 3. Wikipedia, “Amsterdam Ordnance Datum.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam_Ordnance_Datum (accessed January 30, 2012) ↩
4. 4. CBG. “Nederlandse Familienamenbank.” Dutch Surname Database. http://www.meertens.knaw.nl (accessed January 28, 2012). ↩
5. 5. Groninger Archieven. “AlleGroningers.” AlleGroningers. http://www.allegroningers.nl (accessed January 30, 2012). ↩
6. 6. Nap, Chris . “Parenteel van Klaas Nap.” Chris Nap. http://www.chrisnap.nl/Stamboom/Parenteel/parenteel_van_klaas_nap.html (accessed January 30, 2012). ↩

So What Do I Know

Birth

John was born on the 1st of February 1762 at 12 o’clock night monday. His birth is recorded in the Family Bible ¹, that according to the inscriptions in the beginning belonged first to Anna Rooke (née Berry, John and Mary’s mother) and must have been handed down through Mary.

birthentries for John, Wm and Mary Rooke

The births of all John’s siblings are neatly recorded in the same handwriting, followed by a list of Mary’s children in a different handwriting.

Siblings

James and Anne had thirteen more children after John:
1. Wm Rooke b. 10 Jan 1763
2. Mary Rooke b. 19 May 1764-)
   married George Smith on 16 Apr 1786 in Willingham, witnesses Elizebeth Smith and Sarah Boodger, so no clues there.
3. James Rooke b. 27 May 1765
4. James Rooke b. 16 May 1766
5. Lydia Rookeb. 10 Aug 1767
6. Eliz Rooke b. 21 Jan 1769
7. Lydia Rooke b. 12 Feb 1770-)
8. Lydia Rooke b. 18 Jun 1771
9. Josiah Rooke b. 27 Apr 1772
10. James Rooke b. 27 Apr 1772
11. James Rooke b. 28 Jan 1775
12. Ebenezer Rooke b. 10 Jan 1776
13. Francis Rooke b. 24 Jul 1777

I am assuming that John lived to be at least 21, because after the death of a child that name was used again which didn’t happen to the name John.

Christening

Willingham christenings
bap Willingham Baptists 8 Mar 1770 John Roock son James & Anna 18
bap Willingham Baptists 8 Mar 1770 William Roock son James & Anna 7
bap Willingham Baptists 8 Mar 1770 Lydia Rook dau James & Anna 3 weeks
bap Willingham Baptists 17 Aug 1777 Francis Roock dau James & Anna ²
So John was baptised together with his brother James (7) and sister Lydia (3 weeks), the fact that Mary isn’t mentioned is strange because she would have been 6 at the time.

Miscellanious

• the family were Baptists which doesn’t make this research any easier
• The surname came in different spellings: Rook, Rooke, Roock, Roocke.
• A search through the censusrecords Cambridgeshire 1841 gives no results for John Rooke.

What to do

I think in this case there is only one thing I can do: plan a researchtrip to Cambridgeshire!
Places to visit will be:

• Willingham, the village
• Cambridge, the Family History Society
• Cambridge, Cambridgeshire Archives

I am open for suggestions!

Sources

1. 1. Family Records Collection, Rooke Smith Family Bible, ; original owned in 2012 by Elisabeth Nap. The Rooke Smith Family Bible passed from Anne Berry to her daughter Mary Rooke to her son Josiah Smith to his son Harold Frederick Smith to his son Osred Ernest Smith to his daughter Felicity Winifred Smith to her daughter Elisabeth Clemency Nap. ↩
2. 2. Tessa Davis, (e-mailaddress withheld), “Rookes”, e-mailmessage to author, 19 September 2010 ↩