Looking for a baptismal image & transcription for Willem Schalks, Schalkszoon van der Merwe (abt. 1648 - 1716)

Question

We would appreciate it if someone with time on to spare could provide us with the baptism image and transcription (the latter not by FS) of Willem Schalks, Schalkszoon van der Merwe (abt. 1648 - 1716) born about April 14, 1648 in Fr.Oud-Beyerland, (Nr. Rotterdam), Netherlands.

Comments

I looked in a few archives holdings and the only baptismal register I can find for Oud-Beijerland is the one on family search which covers the period 1627-1646 missing the 'proposed' baptism dates for both Willem Schalks and for his father. At a wuick scan I also didn't see a marriage in 1645 at Oud-Beijerland for the listed parents. How confident are you in the location, could they still have been in Merwe at the time?

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I have no idea that they could still be in ''Merwe'' at the time (is it possible that it could be ''Merwede''?). The name is common in SA (got own direct cousins who has grandparents were ''van der Merwe'' 's). The information in the profile is specific but from a GEDCOM that needs sourcing.

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Some trees state "Broek" as place of origin of the "Merwes", based on "Volgens Resolusies van die Politieke Raad kom hy van Broek en volgens die Kaapse gemeente van Oud-Beyerland naby Rotterdam.".

"Broek" is the short name of Babyloniënbroek, a hamlet close to the river Merwede. Unfortunately searching the archive that covers this hamlet did not result in any relevant hits. Lots of "Schalk"s though...

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I would have guessed the "van der Merwe" family came from a place called Merwe (or later Merwede) although I did see a mention of Broeck as the birthplace of Willem Schalk van der Merwe on Wikipedia (which the wikipedia contributor associates with Broek, Zuid-holland). The problem is that Broeck could be associated with many different places - the closest to Oud-Beijerland looks to be Abbebroeck

If you look at this 1611 map, this 1630 map, or this 1674 map just East of Dort (Dordrecht) and South of Papendrecht you will see a place called Merwe, which lies on the river Merwe, on a piece of land also called (in the 1630 map) De Merwe.

This 1706 map shows the spelling change to Merwede. The place simply called Merwe on earlier maps is now 't Huys te Merwede (hard to read on the 1706 map) - in this map you can also see 'Den Merwede Polder' just outside Dordrecht. You can also look at this 1725 map, this 1730 map and this 1740 map. One of these maps also names the land where 't Huis te Merwede is found as 'De Merwede Gronden'.

Nowadays most of the 'De Merwede Gronden' would probably be Merwelanden, Dordrecht but I think the actual Merwe or 't Huis te Merwede' would be closer to where the 2e Merwedehaven is now.

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Thanks Jan & Rob, very interesting. Would it be possible that he might have come from Broek-in-Waterlandt which had connections to the VOC ("Er liggen 273 grafstenen in de kerk, waaronder die van de bekende Neeltje Pater, aandeelhoudster van de VOC." Citing https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broek_in_Waterland)?

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I think Broek-in- Waterlandt is one of the many possibilities for a place named "Broek" - as you can see in this 1700 map as well as the 1630 map I linked to in the previous post it was once just known as Broeck - and you'll also notice Den Broeck is also a place just outside of Edam

Answer 1

Philip, I have looked at a large number of claims about Willem's birthplace. Of most interest to me was a thesis paper titled Huntington's Chorea in South Africa by Michal R. Hayden dated 1979. In this paper he indicates that Willem first arrived in the cape circa 1658, being made a free burgher in 1661. The paper also mentions a possible connection to a van de Merwe family originating in Rotterdam in the 17th century whose descendants are also affected by Huntington's Chorea. (available here from University of Cape Town)

With this connection to Rotterdam in mind I went back to the period maps. A 1684 map of Rotterdam shows an area called "Broek", just east what was then Rotterdam 'proper'. In modern terms it is bounded roughly by the modern streets Crooswijkseweg, Boezemsingel, Boezemlaan, and by the Boezem.

I think the birth suggested on the profile of 1648 is extremely unlikely - with the 1658 arrival date above that would mean Willem was taken on as an Arquebusier/Bosskieter at 10 years of age.

I don't have any facts to support the following, but I would guess to command the higher pay of an Arquebusier took 4 or more years of training/experience and that this would not have started before age 16. (For comparison one study found the average age of arquebusiers in France a century later was about age 40). I would therefore suggest a birth of about 1638 (or earlier) - this would translate to a second marriage at age 30 (in 1668) and a last child born at age 60 (in 1698), both of which I feel are reasonable for the era.

In summary, I would be focusing on looking at Rotterdam or Oud-Beijerland records from closer to 1638.

Comments

Thanks so much Rob, this is indeed very interesting research to take into consideration. Much appreciated!

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The Rotterdam locality I pointed out from the 1684 map should probably be "Voor Rubroek" (the label was broken up and 'Broek' was capitalized so it appeared to be a complete place name). There is also "De Berch en Broeck Polder" (around Hillegersberg) which has a "Broeck Mole" There is also "De Brouck Polder" just outside Vlaardingen. All of these are options for a "Broeck" birthplace for Willem.

And while it has nothing to do with the question I find it interesting that this map also shows the "Leproos" just outside the city to the North West

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I found a family tree on GeneaNet that I thought I would mention - it is not well sourced by any means, but it may contain some clues worth following up as it suggests names for a grand-father and great-grandfather for Willem as well as a wide variety of cousins and uncles. The person claimed as William's grandfather, Willem Huijgens van de Merwe, is listed as born at Dubbeldam circa 1590.

I also found another place that is a candidate for the "Broek" where Willem was born - just outside Gouda. [see this Wikipedia article]

Lastly, I thought I would mention an interesting coincidence: I noticed that on one 1749 map, North-east of Oud-Byerland is a place called "Goodschalk Oord" (modern name is Goidschalxoord) - The name "Godschalck" is derived similarly to "Schalk" and I noticed in some early records the two being used interchageably.

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Stunning! Once again so much thanks ... there is enough materiaal here for a one-name project (though that would be for some family members to take up on), I will today make an effort to incorporate so of this information into the bio for further exploration.