The First
Generations
In old Schiedam, in the middle of an 80 year war, lived two
brothers, Arij and Evert. It was the time of Prince Maurits
and Prince Frederik Hendrik, the beginning of the "golden
age" where the Dutch Republic gained independence from
Spain in 1648 and the Dutch East India Company was established
in 1602.
Gijsbrecht Senior
Whether Gijsbrecht Senior, father of Arij and Evert was born
in Schiedam, or whether he came from elsewhere is unknown.
So far, nothing has been found. We know only of him through
the naming of his sons. Therefore, we do not know when he
was born or about his wife - the mother of Arij and Evert.
Her name may have been Itgen or Ingetje since this is what
son Evert named his first daughter.
We only know his name was Gijsbrecht because of his son Evert's
middle name, Gijsen (from Gijsen, Gijsbrechtszn) and later
when Evert gave his son the name Gijsbrecht. Judging by the
names of the first sons, Evert and Arij, the father of Gijsbrecht
Senior was possibly named Arij or Evert or even Gijsbrecht
Ariens or Gijsbrecht Evertsz. But for now, this is just pure
speculation. We know a little more about his sons, Arij and
Evert.
Arij - was married to Anneken Arents. He was an excavation
worker or perhaps a ceramicist. It seems that he and Anneke
had no children since they did not leave their estate to any
children. Arij and his wife were most likely Roman Catholic.
His brother Everts wife, Maertje was probably not Roman Catholic
although she was baptised. This difference in religion is
probably the reason behind an unusual clause in Arij's Will
stating that his brother Evert would not inherit anything
from his estate until his wife Maertje's, death. Arij died
in 1636 and Anneke soon after in 1637. His brother Evert died
in 1672. Maerjte had already died years earlier in 1660 at
age 63. The Arij estate in Zijlstraat was eventually split
between Evert's son Gijsbrecht and daughter Geertje.
Evert - married Maertgen Louris in 1627, was a sailor. His
birth date is estimated to be just before 1600. In 1628 he
bought a house in de Zijlstraat and so must have been at least
25 years old. This was the age at which, during this time,
a man was considered old enough to enter in to such a transaction.
On his marriage certificate he is described as "young
man from Schiedam", so it is thought that he was born
in Schiedam.
Evert and Maertge had 3 children - a son they named Gijsbrecht
and two daughters - Itgen who died shortly after birth and
Geertje who in 1654 married Engel Jans. Gijsbrecht was named
after his grandfather and so named here, Gijsbrecht Junior.
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