Today, we are looking at the entry of Aalbert van Loenen in the 1830 census from Hoogland.
Translation
Please note that we are looking at a census and not a population register. In a previous article we talked about the differences between these records.
The image shows only a fragement of the left page of the register. This translation contains the text on both pages.
Number of the house: [blank]
Families per house: 1
Residents per house: 4
- Jacob Gertse Kok, 48 years, born in Hoogland, single, farmer, Roman-Catholic
- Elbert Gertse Kok, 51 years, born in Hoogland, single, Roman-Catholic
- Aalbert Teunese van Loenen, 12 years, born in Bunschoten, single, Roman-Catholic, guardian Jacob Kok
- Maria Gertse Kok, 45 years, born in Hoogland, single, Roman-Catholic
Comments
We see Jacob Gertse Kok with presumably two siblings: Elbert and Maria. All earned their living with farming. Together with the names of the three Kok siblings, we also find that of Aalbert Teunese van Loenen. It does not say if he was related to the Kok family.
Interesting are the remarks in the last column of this census. In the case of Aalbert Teunese van Loenen it says: guardian Jacob Kok. This means that Aalbert not only lived with the Kok family, but apparently Jacob Gertse Kok was also his guardian.
Aalbert’s parents died when he was still a child. His father Teunes Aalbertse van Loenen died in 1819, his mother Teuntje Janse Kok in 1828. [source: OpenArchives]
Unfortunately, Aalbert van Loen died at the age of 21 in 1838. His death record explains the relationship with his guardian. Informants of his death were his uncle Jacob Kok and his brother Jan van Loenen. [source: HetUtrechtsArchief]
Case closed? Well, not completely… Can you spot a discrepancy? Hint: it has something to do with patronymic names.
Village information
The 1830 census from Hoogland not only provides us with information about individuals or families. Besides that, we also get an idea about how many people lived in this town.
Each page has several columns: how many families lived in a house and how many persons, were they married, widowed or single, and to which denomination did they belong? The last page shows us the totals, about Hoogland in 1830.
- 29 families
- 160 persons
- male inhabitants: 18 married, 2 widowed, 52 single
- female inhabitants: 18 married, 9 widowed, 61 single
- 129 Roman-Catholics
- 31 Protestants
- 0 Jews
- 0 other religions/denominations
We get clear picture of Hoogland in the 1830s. It was a very small village with only 160 inhabitants. The majority was Roman-Catholic. When we look at the occupations, we see that every adult worked in the agircultural sector. They were either farmers, or lived with a farming family as a farm hand or maid.
Tip
For (contemporary) information about a place in the early 19th century, you can use the information on old maps, in censuses and in gazetteers. A good gazetteer for the Netherlands is A.J. van der Aa, Aardrijkskundig Woordenboek der Nederlanden, published between 1839 and 1851. You can find a digital version of the thirteen volumes (plus one appendix) on Google Books.
