I have a great update to the family tree.
Today we manage to go back another 3 generations. The information might not be 100% complete but it’s a start.
The only downside now is we have hit a brick wall and it’s going to be hard to find more information.
We knew my great grandfather was Johannus Christiaans and his father was Pieter Christiaans. Apart from that we didn’t really know anything else.
Dad looked online and found the marriage certificate of Johannus Christiaans and Cornelia Snelderweert. We always thought Cornelia’s maiden name was spelt Snellerweert.
Finding the the marriage certificate was key because it gives their ages when they were married. From there I could work out their birth year.
Using the birth year of Johannus I crossed referenced it with some information we received many years ago from a family member in Holland. Up until now it didn’t really make much sense.
And this is what we managed to work out.
Johannus had two siblings. Henderikus and Peiter. He was the middle child.
Their father was Pieter Christiaans (b. 22/05/1809). On 25/07/1838 he married Anne Creemers. But this wasn’t his first marriage. She was a widow and he was also a widower.
His first wife was Petronella de Boer. Pieter and Petronella married on 15/11/1837. Together they had a child, Elisabeth Christiaans. Sadly she was still born on 26/01/1838. And less than two weeks later, on 09/02/1838, Petronella died.
Eight months later he was married to Anne Creemers. Then less than nine months after that they welcomed their first child Henderikus Christiaans into the world.
Pieter’s parents were Pieter Christiaans & Hendrika van Viersen. He was actually born Pieter Christiaans Viersen. There is no record of his parents being married. Pieter (his father) is listed as ‘Unknown’ as the father on the birth records.
Pieter (senior) already had a child before having one with Hendrika van Viersen.
Pieter (senior) had a child with Henderica van Viese out of wedlock. He was Pieter van Viese (b. 27/04/1806). Pieter Christiaans was listed as ‘Unknown’ as the father on the birth records.
Hendrika also had a child out of wedlock with Antoni Blok. The child was Willem Frederik van Viersen (b. 02/05/1800).
Note: When a father is listed as ‘Uknown’ on the birth certificate, it generally meant it was out of wedlock so the child normally took the surname from the mother.
And this is were we end up with the oldest Pieter Christiaans. His father was listed as ‘Unknown’ with no name. So we know that his surname came from his mother. But apart from that we can’t find any other information.
So far we’ve traced the Christiaans name back to Den Haag.
Pieter & Anne moved to Haarlem at some stage.