Today, we are looking at the marriage record of Maria van Hoof (1944).
Translation
No. 11
Today, the thiry-first of May nineteen hundred forty-four, appeared before me, civil registrar of the municipality of Woensdrecht, in the townhall to marry:
– Simon Rommens, 27 years old, chauffeur, born and living in Woensdrecht, adult son of Cornelis Rommens, 73 years old, and Johanna van de Waal, 67 years old, both without occupation and living in Woensdrecht, and
– Maria van Hoof, 23 years old, without occupation, born and living in Woensdrecht, adult daughter of Constantinus van Hoof, 53 years old, ditcher, and Johanna Catharina Raats, 58 years old, without occupation, both living in Woensdrecht.
The parents of bridegroom and bride were present and consented in the marriage.
The proclamation of this proposed marriage took place in this municipality on the fifteenth of April.
I asked the future spouses if they would accept each other as spouse and that they would faithfully fulfill all the duties attached by law to the married state. After they affirmed these questions, I pronounced in the name of the law that they were bound together by marriage.
As witnesses were present:
– Levinus van Hoof, 24 years old, farm worker, living in Woensdrecht, brother of the bride
– Johannes Cornelis Rommens, 38 years old, ditcher, living in Woensdrecht, brother of the bridegroom
This record was read out in accordance with the law.
[signed by all, except for the mother of the bride who was not able to wite]
Liberation of Woensdrecht
Because of privacy regulations not all civil records are public (yet). Dutch law says that birth records are public after 100 years, marriage records after 75 years and death records after 50 years. As a result of this rule, the most recent public marriage records are from 1944.
In this record we find Simon Rommens and Maria van Hoof, who married in May 1944. The year 1944 also marks the end of World War II in the southern provinces of the Netherlands. When Simon and Maria married it was still war time. Five months later allied forces liberated Woensdrecht. Before the village was free again, soldiers from both camps had to fight a bloody battle. This battle is known as the Battle of the Scheldt. More than 70 persons from the villages of Woensdrecht and Hoogerheide died in the war.
Simon and Maria survived the war and they became parents of three sons and two daughters. They followed a very traditional naming pattern: the first son (Kees) was named after his paternal grandfather (Cornelis Rommens). The second son (Stan) after his maternal grandfather (Constantinus van Hoof). The two girls (Joke and Anneke) received the names of their grandmothers, both a Johanna. The third son has a less common name: Levien. If we look at the marriage record, we find Levinus van Hoof as a witness. He was a brother of the bride and therefore an uncle of the younger Levien.
Unfortunately, Simon died quite young at the age of 63 years. According to a death announcement in newspaper De Stem (19 May 1981), his wife, children and grandchildren survived him. His widow lived for another 30 years. Maria (or Marie) died in 2011 at the age of 90.
