Contents
World of Van Vliet |
Contrary to what the picture suggests, this is no monkey business. On the other hand one should never take oneself too serious either. So, have fun looking at the "van Vliet" family. Van Vliets can be found all over the world. On my travels I always check out the local white pages to see how many Van Vliets live in that place. You typically look under "Vliet", "Van Vliet" and "Vanvliet". Nowadays we have also Web sites and e-mail. I never thought about the power of that until I got an e-mail from a Van Vliet family who just moved to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. We have started to exchange e-mail which I certainly enjoyed. I learned for example that there is a Van Vliet reunion every two years in Stroudsburg, PA. This has also triggered something in my mind. Can we do something more globally concerning Van Vliets? Something like the Van Vliets in North America, the Van Vliets world wide, Van Vliet reunion date(s) and place(s), Van Vliet contact lists, historical facts about the Van Vliets, etc., etc.. If there are ideas out there let me know. If there is already something like that on the Web I like to know about it too. |
Coat of Arms |
The Van Vliet Coat of Arms as illustrated here is officially documented in the Rietstap Armorial General and is most likely one of the oldest recorded. There are undoubtedly many more Van Vliet Coat of Arms because under most heraldic rules only the first sons of the first sons of the recipient of a Coat of Arms are permitted to bear their ancestor's arms. Younger sons may only use a changed ("differenced") version of their father's arms. The description of the above shield (arms) is: "D'OR A LA FASCEE DE SA. ACC. DE TROIS LOS. DE GU.". Translated this blazon describes the original colours of the Van Vliet arms as: "Gold with a black horizontal band accompanied by three red diamond shapes". Above the helmet is the crest described as: "A red diamond shape between two gold wings". The gold metal of the shield or escutcheon denotes generosity, valour and perseverance. The black horizontal band or fess is one of the seven honorable ordinaries. The black colour represents repentance or vengeance. The red colour of the diamonds represents fortitude and creative power. The Van Vliet Coat of Arms, like many other Coat of Arms, is associated with the European medieval culture and since the 13th century recorded in heraldic archives. See also the Genealogy and Heraldry topic on the Other Web Sites for more links. |
Genealogy(25-Jan-2008)Genealogy is an account of the descent of a person or family from an ancestor. This is also called a family tree. Originally we had no intension on doing any elaborate genealogy research on our families. However, as we went through old family albums and several hundreds of loose pictures from Pieter's mom and dad, we suddenly realized that even a simple family tree would have been extremely useful. Our goal is now to put down whatever information we have or find on our respective families and to add to that some photos so that our (grand)children can put faces to the names. Who knows where this may lead us.
We found the free Personal Ancestral File (PAF) program -- a product of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- to be just the perfect tool for us to record our information. The program is simple, easy to learn, and yet very powerful. You can store multimedia data (photos, audio, video) with each individual and even generate web pages for publication on the internet. We use this tool to generate the four individual family trees with all the details and pictures. In addition they offer also a free PAF Companion program, which produces several coloured screen diagrams and reports in PDF (Adobe) format for printing or publication.
We also like to show all family members that we have in our genealogy database in a more graphical form. Those web pages are generated with GedHTree, a program that creates a really nice family tree and various statistics. Unfortunately, for pictures you have to look at the [scrapbooks] of the "individual families", as this product does not tie in very well with the Personal Ancestral File database.
When you are looking for Dutch ancestors and cannot visit civil registries and archives in person than Genlias is an excellent source for you. It has civil registry (burgerlijke stand) records of the birth, marriage and death registries, some going back as far as 1788. This database is still a work in progress, but there is a lot already. Also note these restrictions:
Genealogy etiquettes requires that for privacy reasons the details of living persons are only available to a few selected individuals. In our case you need a username/password to view details of living persons. To see if you qualify for a username/password send an e-mail to the webmaster at the bottom of this page.
Some abbreviations are used in the All-inclusive Family Tree and the Indiviudual Family Trees. Here are some of the most common abbreviations:
| b. | birth | geboren |
| stillborn | doodgeboren | |
| c. | christening | gedoopt |
| m. | married | getrouwd |
| d. | death | overleden |
| bu. | burial | begraven |
All-inclusive Family Tree (29-Jan-2008)All-inclusive Family Tree and Statistics (public version; no username/password required). Shows our entire GEDCOM database combining all individuals of our four main families into one large single family tree. Direct links are provided for Cornelis van Vliet ("root 1"), Arisje de Gier ("root 2"), Wijnand Penders("root 3"), and Frederica Slootmans("root 4"). Follow the root number to get to one of the above four "root" individuals.
All-inclusive Family Tree and Statistics (requires username/password) same as above, but now showing also the details of living individuals. Plus it show for the root people, some of their parents, and some of their children a photo.
The web pages are generated with GedHTree, that creates a really nice family tree and various statistics. Unfortunately, for more pictures you have to look at the "individual families", as this product does not tie in very well with the Personal Ancestral File GEDCOM database.
 | links to descendants or ancestors. Follow the root number to get to one of the above four "root" individuals. |
 | link to pictures |
 | link to family tree |
 | link to notes |
 | link to sources |
Individual Family Trees (27-Jan-2008)There are various ways to publish the information on the internet, but for the time being we have decided to split the descendants into the four main individual family groups each time starting with the eldest member of that family group.
| "van Vliet" Family | (requires username/password). Pieter's paternal family. They come predominantly from the province of Zuid-Holland in The Netherlands, and mainly from the villages Zoetermeer and Reeuwijk. Reeuwijk is a lake area close to the city of Gouda, a town known for its Gouda cheese and the high quality paraffin candles. |
| PDF file with 6 generations of Pieter's paternal ancestors (kwartierstaat) starting with Cornelis van Vliet (public version; no username/password required). |
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| "de Gier" Family | (requires username/password). Pieter's maternal family. They come predominantly from the province of Utrecht, specifically the small villages Harmelen, Jutphaas, Maartensdijk, Lopik. And then there are the relations by marriage like the Davelaar Family and the Falck Family. |
| PDF file with 6 generations of Pieter's maternal ancestors (kwartierstaat) starting with Arisje de Gier (public version; no username/password required). |
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| "Penders" Family | (requires username/password). Jeannette's paternal family. They come predominantly from the town Hoensbroek in the province of Limburg. Old Hoensbroek was build around the castle of Knight Hoen. Although "broek" literally translates in pants, Hoensbroek does not mean the pants of Hoen. My brother-in-law enlightened me by pointing out that "broek" really is from "broekland" which means marsh or marshy land. Most men worked in the state owned coal mine Emma. All the mines in Limburg are now closed. |
| PDF file with 6 generations of Jeannette's paternal ancestors (kwartierstaat) starting with Wijnand Penders (public version; no username/password required). |
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| "Slootmans" Family | (requires username/password). Jeannette's maternal family. They originated from the province of Noord Brabant. |
| PDF file with 6 generations of Jeannette's maternal ancestors (kwartierstaat) starting with Frederica Slootmans (public version; no username/password required). |
We also found some pictures that intrigued us tremendously, because we are not sure who is/are in those pictures. Please have a look at Who is This?, and if you come across a picture and can positively identify the person(s) in it then please let us know.
Textual presentation organized by generation, starting with the oldest generation. Things can get confusing pretty quick, so keep also an eye on the number in front of a persons name.
 | go to main page of a family |
 | go to first page (oldest generation) |
 | go to previous page (older generation) |
 | go to next page (younger generation) |
 | go to last page (youngest generation) |
| (name) | go to parent(s) |
| [scrapbook] | Here we have put together some pictures of that person or his/her family group. The old photos were mostly black and white -- some even yellowed with age --, with scratches, finger prints, and ranging in size from 3.5 by 2.5 cm, 6 by 4 cm, 8 by 5 cm, to a few larger ones. With a digital camera we took full screen 2288 by 1712 pixels pictures of the photos and then edited them to a final size not exceeding 800 by 600 pixels. At that time we did not have a scanner. |
Information on Family Tree Places and Historic Events(31-Jan-2008)Interesting information and history of some places mentioned in the above family trees. Mind you, this will not be a rundown of all the places in the family trees. Here I try to record little know facts and history of certain places, especially places that don't exist anymore as a municipality. No doubt, over time this list will grow, and if you happen to have information (personal knowledge, internet link) then please get in touch with us.
This village was most likely named after the Blauwkapel chapel (1451), or Bluechapel because the walls and ceiling were painted blue. The Blauwkapel fort was build from 1818 until 1821 and is one of the biggest on the New Dutch Water (defence) Line. And the biggest meteorite strike of the Netherlands occurred there close by in 1843.
Middelburg is a hamlet in the Dutch province of Zuid Holland. It is located about 2 km west of Waddinxveen, in the municipality of Reeuwijk. Middelburg was a separate municipality from 1817 to 1855, when it became part of Reeuwijk.
According to Wikipedia, Oldenburg is an Independent City in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river.
The village is surrounded by the lakes of the Reeuwijkse Plassen, close to the city of Gouda. Sluipwijk was a separate municipality until 1870, when it became part of Reeuwijk.
My grandmother, Jacoba Oomse, is said to be a descendant from French Huguenots, who left France to avoid persecution there. Apparently her great-grandfather, Hannes Oomsen, came from Germany. Don't know if his family went there in the 1500's or 1700's.
"van Vliet" Contact List (6-Jun-2008)The Van Vliet Contact List is an easy way to get in touch with other Van Vliets from around the world. This is a free service, but you have to be in the contact list yourself before you can access the list of the other Van Vliets. Requirement is that your last name (surname, maiden name) contains "vliet" to qualify for entry into the contact list. Names like Vliet, Vanvliet, van Vliet, Vandervliet, and van de Vliet, are all acceptable. You decide what information is shown/published to the other Van Vliets.
Other "Vliet" Web sites (16-Aug-2005)These Web sites refer to various "Vliet" names which may not necessary be related to the "van Vliet" name, such as Vliet, Vanvliet, de Vliet, van de Vliet, van der Vliet, Vandervliet, etc..
Looking For... (8-Nov-2008)People are sometimes looking for a long lost Van Vliet. We facilitate the placement of a search request for that person. We are not responsible for the search request contents or accuracy. We do not mediate between parties. We are not responsible for anything that comes forth from the placement of this search request.
Alternatively you can also look at Wie zoekt wie? which is a good contact point when you are looking for a lost Dutch or Belgium friend or relative who left for another country with address unknown.
Requester: Rachel Johnson (e-mail: r.n.johnson@lancaster.ac.uk)
I'm trying to help my sister locate the whereabouts of Marty van Vliet, who she met in Edmonton, Canada, in the summer of 1986 or 1987. Not sure. However, she travelled with him North of Edmonton into the wilds, after the finish of a field trip, which she was undertaking with the Dept of Town and Regional Planning at Oxford Polytechnic here in the UK. I think she met him through the University in Edmonton where he must have been a college student. She's now living in Norway, with her 2 children and partner Stuart Cowie (Stuart.Cowie@halliburton.com)
Requester: (Jim) James D. Sanders (e-mail: jimjames107@hotmail.com)
My mom died when I was eight. Dad remarried two years later to Evalyn Mae Heath Van Vliet who had been widowed about the same time. Evalyn Mae Heath Van Vliet Sanders passed away February 3, 2007.
Evalyn Mae Heath Van Vliet Sanders first husband was Frank Louise Van Vliet, his parents were Marinus Van Vliet and Louise Maters. Records show that Marinus Van Vliet and Louise Maters Van Vliet were born in Holland. Frank was born in California. He died in an automobile accident in Burnt Creek, California.
That is all I know of them. I would like to know more about the van Vliet side of the family. I do have pictures of Frank, Marinus and Louise.