Hinrich Rensen (abt. 1760)

Born about 1760 in Germany

Husband of Martha Elisabeth Bangert — married 1786 in Marienwehr, Emden, Lower Saxony, Germany

Descendants

Biography

Assumed same age as spouse.

Farmhand at the time of his marriage. His two sons took the maiden surname of their mother. WB goes on to add the following footnote; 'In East Friesland there existed the age-old custom that the son took the family name of his father (as in Sweden in the 19th century; the son of Sven Carlson was not called 'Carlson' but 'Svenson', the daughter 'Svendotter'. If Svenson's first name was Jons, then his children were called Jonson or Jondotter etc.). There exists then the possibility that the ancestor of Rensen was a descendant of a Bangert whose actual name disappeared in the Friesian name of the father but reappeared in sons born in 1787 and 1788. I consider it far more probable that the children called themselves after their mother who as the daughter of a pastor would have garnered much respect. Such preference for the name of the woman, a certain mother's right, also existed in other places. He then goes on to quote the following; 'It was the custom in Neuenburg, that a person who married a woman owning a house, received civic right and the name of the wife. This custom was called 'aller a gendre. (Osenbruge: Die Schweizer, Berlin 1875, A. Hofman & Co., page 76).

Sources

• 'History And Line Of Descent Of The Waldeck Family Bangert' - W Bangert of Lubeck (1932).