Today, we are looking at marriage supplements and more precise at those for the marriage of Jan Pieter Pool (1839).
Introduction
Jan Pieter Pool married Anna Catharina van Eijl in Valkenburg on 9 October 1839. He was 25 years old, and unemployed. She was 25 years old, and worked as a maidservant. [source]
To learn more about marriage records, you can take a look at one of our previous articles. According to Dutch law, bridegroom and bride had to submit a couple of certificates. These are the so-called marriage supplements. In this article we want to zoom in on these supplements and especially on one, the military certificate.
Marriage supplements
Jan Pieter and Catharina submitted the following marriage supplements.
- certificate of marriage announcements, dated 9 October 1839
- birth certificate for Jan Pieter Antoon Pool, dated 15 September 1839
- death certificate for Pieter Pool, dated 15 September 1839
- death certificate for Maria Agnes Overkoren, not dated
- military certificate for Jean Pierre Antoine Pool, dated 17 September 1839
- birth certificate for Anne Catherine van Eijl, dated 26 September 1839
One of the mandatory certificates shows that the bridegroom complied with his duty to enlist for military service (Nationale Militie).
Translation
The governor of the province of Limburg, declared that Jean Pierre Antoine Pool, born in Fauquemont [Valkenburg] on 6 June 1814, of profession [blank], son of the late Pierre and the late Marie Agnes Ooverkoren, was registered for the Nationale Militie in the municipality of Valkenburg; that in the draw he received no. 48 which, having not been called to date, did not oblige him to serve.
Physical description:
- lenght: 1.516 meters
- face: ordinary
- forehead: ordinary
- eyes: brown
- nose: ordinary
- mouth: big
- chin: round
- hair: brown
- eyebrows: brown
- distinctive marks: [blank]
- signature: [blank]
Issued in Hasselt on 17 September 1839. Governor De Lambert signed the certificate.
Comments
This certificate provides us with a lot of interesting details.
- Firstly, we learn that Jan Pieter apparently had a third first name: Antoine. Because the certificate is in French, his names are in French too (Jean Pierre Antoine). For some reason, this third name is not in the official marriage record.
- Secondly, even more interesting is Jan Pieter’s physcial description. Thus, we get an idea of what he looked like.
- Finally, we read that Jan Pieter was not called to actually serve. This means his name does not appear in any military register. It also means we do not need to look for a military career. (Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule.)
Marriage supplements are underused by genealogists. However, in certain cases they are invaluable. The supplements suggest where to look for additional information about the person or the family. Especially in the beginning of civil registration, the certificates referred to church book entries that sometimes are difficult to locate. The same goes for life events that took place in foreign countries. For example, how amazing is it to find a certificate that says that the previous spouse of the bride drowned in a German river.
For this reason, we recommend that you always take a look at the marriage supplements. They might include real genealogical gems!
