` Ludo de Lathouder
Introduction
This is a draft translation mostly by Google translate. It most certainly contains errors which will be corrected asap. I will also make new mind maps in English
For years, I have wondered where my ancestor Koster Rumoldus de Lathouwer, born around 1630, came from. In this article, I report on his family relationship with the Lathouwers of Londerzeel and Malderen.
Because I live in Australia, I primarily used data available on the internet for my research, such as baptisms, marriages, and burials in Londerzeel and the surrounding area. The distance to the Netherlands makes verification with authentic source material difficult.
I begin by explaining the origin of our family name. Next, I show the relationship between our unique Dutch branch, “de Lathouder,” and the de Lathouwer family in Ruisbroek. I do this by demonstrating that my ancestor Hendrik de Lathouwer is a son of Cornelis. However, no birth certificate for Hendrik has been found in the Ruisbroek archives, but I have found sufficient other clues. According to the data from the birth register in Ruisbroek, Cornelis is the son of Koster Rumoldus. Hendrik is therefore the grandson of Rumoldus. Next, I search for information about Koster Rumoldus, which quickly points to Londerzeel and Malderen. Thanks primarily to the marriage and baptismal registers in Londerzeel, it becomes clear that Koster Rumoldus’s grandfather must be Rombout de Lathouwer from Malderen.
To present the dry subject matter in a more pleasant way, I have used mind maps that I created with the help of Freemind.
I have found many parts of the de Lathouwer family tree around Londerzeel. It would be going too far to discuss this in detail here. However, finally, I will provide a few intriguing pieces of the puzzle of the family around Londerzeel that I have not (yet) been able to fit in.
De familienaam de Lathouwer
The surname de Lathouwer is an occupational name. I quote here a passage from the fascinating story “The Middle Ages”.
When a new house was built for the Heilige Geesthoeve in Den Bosch in 1456, only ‘three and a half thousand and one and a half hundred’ stones were incorporated into it, enough for a fireplace, a large structure, the hearth of which had to provide space for several people on the inside. Around an oak frame, one used to build a house of clay and wood, which was covered with rye straw. The lath maker supplied wooden laths, through which brushwood was woven. The walls were finished by weaving them (vitten ende leymen), that is, weaving (vitten, vitselen) and coating them with clay.
The name apparently occurs primarily around the current border between the Netherlands and Belgium. According to namesake Ludo Lathouwers, there are about six clusters of Lathouwers that appear to be independent. In my opinion, the cluster around Ruisbroek, Londerzeel, Buggenhout, Malderen, and Steenhuffel indeed belongs to one family and is, according to DNA research, not related to Ludo Lathouwers.
The journey in Ruisbroek Ruisbroek finding Hendrik (Hendricus) de Lathouwer.
It had already been known for years, through the research of my father Henri Anton de Lathouder, that Hendrik de Lathouwer from Tholen was our progenitor. Where he came from was not yet clear at the time, and back then it was also unknown where the family name originated. My uncle Kees had already concluded that Hendrik came from Ruisbroek. After that, my search began. Hendrik appears in deeds with various variants of the surname. In this note, I use only “de Lathouwer”.
Hendrik de Lathouwer was married several times, specifically to:
- 1) Adriana Marinussen Ladiers (Adriaantje Laddiers), married 3-10-1728 in Tholen
- 2) Maria Tiberius (de Beer), married 20-11-1731 in Fijnaart en Heijningen
- 3) Elisabeth Jansse van Pepping, married January 31, 1738 in Bergen op Zoom
In the original marriage certificate with Adriana Ladiers on October 3, 1628 in Tholen, Hendrik is listed as “Henrici cornelisse”. With the addition of “cornelisse”, Hendrik declared that he was a son of Cornelis.
In the marriage banns certificate of November 29, 1731 with Maria Tiberius, Hendrik is listed as “born in Ruisbroek”. It is thus clear that Hendrik is a son of Cornelis de Lathouwer and he was born in Ruisbroek.
Surprisingly, according to J.M.G. Leune, Elisabeth Jansse Pepping is presumably from the Lillo polder. That is a good 20 km from Bergen op Zoom, where the couple married, and is only 25 km from Ruisbroek.
Searching in Ruisbroek for Hendrik
In Ruisbroek, I find a Cornelis de Lathouwer, son of Rumoldus. Cornelis succeeds his father there as sexton around May 1685. Sextons were often asked to act as witnesses during the registration of marriages, births, and deaths. The succession is evident from the fact that after May, Cornelis is often mentioned in the registers as a witness in place of his father.
Cornelis marries Barbara Siebens on September 16, 1686. He was already a sexton at that time. The first child I find from this marriage in the archives is Joannes on May 4, 1689. The first child is therefore born three years after the wedding ceremony. Subsequently, the children arrive with reasonable regularity. Father Cornelis was already a sexton from May 1685 when Hendrik was born, and I expect that the sexton’s son, in particular, is included in the birth register. Strangely enough, no birth certificate can be found for Hendrik. Hendrik acts as a witness in Ruisbroek at the marriage banns of his brother Joannes de Lathouwer with Maria Van Aken. Father Cornelis is subsequently a witness at the wedding on November 16, 1718. In both cases, Maria’s father, Franciscus van Aken, is also present as a witness.
From the wedding on September 16, 1686, until May 4, 1689, I have found no children of Cornelis, and after that, there is little room to insert an extra birth. Therefore, I think that Hendrik is the eldest son of Cornelis and that he was born around 1687. That is not necessarily the case, but it is likely; he is certainly a son.
Figuur 1: De mindmap van Hendrik de Lathouwer en zijn familie in Ruisbroek.
Koster Rumoldus en zijn familie in Londerzeel, Malderen en omgeving.
Rumoldus en Joanna de Boy (de Bode)
Not much can be found in Ruisbroek regarding the origins of sexton Rumoldus de Lathouwer. All the family trees I found indicated that he was born around 1630. Some family trees have since been updated, such as that of Harry Goegebeur.
I found many de Lathouwers in Londerzeel and Malderen in the compilations of registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials. There was even a Rombout in Malderen. To my surprise, I found a Rumoldus in nearby Londerzeel. On June 16, 1652, Joanna de Boy had an illegitimate child with Rumoldus de Lathouwer. He was not present at the registration. However, I did find a Barbara van Lier as a witness. On September 25, 1652, son Christophorus died, and mother Joanna is listed in the death register as Joanna de Bode. Mother Joanna de Boy/de Bode does not appear in the registers in Londerzeel any further. A Barbara van Lier married Christophorus Moerenhout on August 5, 1636. Witnesses at her marriage are Quillelmus van Lier and Martinus Campenhout for Barbara, and Judocus van Gijsegem and Hein Addiers for Christophorus.
The name Moerenhout reappears later with Rumoldus’s brother: Martinus de Lathouwer marries the midwife Christina van Moerenhout on August 1, 1673 (4th marriage). It is possible that Barbara van Lier’s husband is related to this Christina van Moerenhout. Christina also performed a number of baptisms in Londerzeel.
A Joanna de Bode marries Wilhelmus van Lier nineteen years earlier, on January 26, 1633! She is listed there as Joanna de Boye. Witnesses for Wilhelmus are Lambertus de Boye and Franciscus van Muylder, and for Joanna, once again Lambertus de Boye and Jan Verm. Lambertus de Boye also witnesses at the marriage of Anna de Boye on November 30, 1625, and could possibly be the grandfather of Christophorus de Lathouwer. For the sake of completeness, I also mention that Joanna later marries Stephanus de Meester on December 31, 1662. She dies on June 25, 1693, with the note “mother of Petrus van Lier”. More importantly, Barbara van Lier is again mentioned as godmother at the birth on January 14, 1635, of daughter Barbara, daughter of Wilhelmus van Lier and Joanna de Boye (Bode). This Joanna is possibly the aunt of Joanna de Boy, mother of Christophorus. Barbara van Lier, who acts as a witness at the baptism of Christophorus, is possibly the sister of Wilhelmus van Lier. Christophorus may have been named after Barbara’s husband.
The Van Lier family was well known in Londerzeel. A Christophorus van Lier was pastor from 1612 until his death on April 10, 1635. He played a very important role in the construction of the new church tower. For the tower, a loan of 600 Rhenish guilders was taken out with Andries van Lier on September 7, 1627. Given the family name, Barbara may have been related to the pastor.
The obvious question is, of course, why Rumoldus did not marry Joanna. Possibly this was an unwanted relationship, and Rumoldus, who would then be about 22 years old, was therefore sent to Londerzeel to become a sexton. Perhaps the Van Lier family had an influence on this. Remarkably, Joanna no longer appears in Londerzeel. Nor did I encounter her in the registers of surrounding places. However, Rumoldus appears as a witness in Ruisbroek as early as 1653. That seems quick after just one or two years if you are new to a place. Perhaps he was involved with the church early on to learn his new role. A namesake, Ludo Lathouwers, searched the deanery visitation records for Rumoldus’s origins and information regarding his appointment. However, this yielded little additional information. Rumoldus is mentioned, though, and appears to be a good sexton. The above may also explain why so little contact (only three times) can be found in the registers between sexton Rumoldus in Ruisbroek and his family in Londerzeel.
Rumoldus and his contact with the family in Londerzeel
I assume that the “illegitimate father” Rumoldus in Londerzeel and the sexton in Ruisbroek are the same person. However, the family relationships must at least be made plausible. To do so, I make use of testimonies at marriages and baptisms.
Rumoldus already testifies in Ruisbroek, as mentioned earlier, from May 1653, and he marries Francisca Huybens in Ruisbroek in 1653 or 1654. This marriage also seems to have taken place fairly soon after his departure from Londerzeel. The first child, Elisabeth, is born on March 7, 1655. In 1655, Rumoldus also becomes sexton in Ruisbroek. He is then about 25 years old. Martinus de Lathouwer from Londerzeel is a master craftsman, just like his brother Jan in Buggenhout. Martinus married Anna de Bleser on January 22, 1655. The third child from this marriage is Francisca (born September 21, 1659). Francisca Huybens is named as godmother; presumably, this Francisca is Rumoldus’s wife. I found no indications that there were two people with the same name at that time.
Martinus married a total of four times. After Maria de Bleser, he married Joanna van Eersel (August 20, 1670), then Lucia Brion (February 23, 1672), and finally Christina Moerenhoudt (Moerenhaudt) on August 1, 1673.
Maria de Lathouwer was born on June 22, 1667, as the child of Rumoldus and Francisca Huybens. I encountered Maria van Overloop as godmother in the baptismal register. This Maria van Overloop is a daughter of Anna de Lathouwer. Anna de Lathouwer, born on January 25, 1606, married Petrus van Overloop on June 3, 1632. She is a daughter of Petrus de Lathouwer and Elisabeth Moens from Malderen. Petrus is most likely a brother of Rumoldus/Rombout de Lathouwer from Malderen and thus a brother of the sexton’s grandfather. I have found a number of other connections between brothers Rombout and Peter through testimonies. For example: Petrus’s daughter, Anna de Lathouwer, was the godmother of daughter Anna of her cousin Joannes and his wife Maria Wouters on August 18, 1634. Also, Maria de Winter, Rombout’s wife, was the godmother at the birth of Maria van Overloop, the granddaughter of Petrus de Lathouwer, on January 1, 1631. Besides Maria van Overloop, a Petrus de Lathouwer witnesses the baptism of the daughter Anna of sexton Rumoldus on June 22, 1667. In Londerzeel, I find a Petrus who is married to Joanna van Gucht. Their first child, Jan, is born on March 16, 1668. On December 18, 1674, daughter Catharina is born, and as a godmother I find Judocus Stevens, who is also a godmother for the son Judocus of Martinus de Lathouwer (the brother of Rumoldus) and Lucia Brion. On December 8, 1684, a Petrus dies, and I assume that it is the Petrus I find as a witness for the daughter of Rumoldus. Given the date of baptism of the first child and the date of death, Petrus is the same age as Rumoldus and Martinus.
I also encounter Maria van Overloop’s brother, Gerardus van Overloop, as godfather to son Gerardus (August 28, 1679) of Martinus de Lathouwer and Christina Moerenhout.
Joanna de Moor was born on May 25, 1706, and she was baptized by Maria van Overloop. On April 26, 1707, she baptized Elisabeth van Aken, daughter of Anna van Campenhout. This Maria van Overloop was a midwife in Liezele and is presumably not Gerardus’s sister. Gerardus’s sister was born in 1633.
There are, therefore, indeed contacts and connections between sexton Rumoldus de Lathouwer and his family in Londerzeel and Malderen. Central to this connection are Martinus and his family contacts, which also lead to Rumoldus.
Martinus’s parents were Joannes de Lathouwer and Maria (Maeyken) Wouters; they married on June 11, 1628. In the birth registers, Anna, born on August 18, 1634, is listed as the first child. However, the sons Martinus and Jan are also mentioned in the meiseniers registers. Rumoldus must also be added to this list. I assume that the three sons were born before daughter Anna, although the period between the marriage and the birth of daughter Anna does not leave much room.
Joannes’ parents are Rombout de Lathouwer and Maria de Winter from Malderen. Petrus, married to Elisabeth Moens, is, I assume, Rombout’s brother.
In Figure 2, I indicate the main relationships regarding the connection between sexton Rumoldus and Rombout. Figure 2: The mind map “Is Rumoldus a son of Joannes de Lathouder” and thus a grandson of Rombout. The double arrows here indicate contacts in the form of godfather and godmother at births.
De Lathouwer in Londerzeel and surrounding area, a puzzle
It is certain that Rombout had family in Malderen besides his brother Petrus. Joanna de Lathouwer, wife of Robbrecht van den Bossche, is possibly a sister of Rombout. In Malderen, I find children of Egidius from 1623, of Anna from 1629, of Margaretha from 1628, of Maria from 1618, and of Petrus (Rombout’s brother) from 1602. I find marriages of the following De Lathouwers in Malderen: Anna 1628, Jan 1641, Joanna 1647, Catherina 1790.
Rombout de Lathouwer acts as a witness at marriages on several occasions: Anna Goossens with Jacobus van de Veken June 1625, Christophorus Wouters with Maria de Moor 19-10-1625, Franciscus (possibly his son) with Anna de Breuker 3-10-1627, and son Jan de Lathouwer with Maria Wouters 11-6-1628. A Rombout de Lathouder also testifies on January 17, 1605, at the marriage of Gillis de Lathouder and Catelijne Coewerten in Mechelen Sint Katelijne. I have deliberately retained the unusual spelling of the translation here. As a witness, Rombout must be of legal age. Rombout from Malderen testifies in 1628 at the marriage of his son Jan. Gillis and Rombout are both of marriageable age in 1601. I have found no reason to believe that another Rombout de Lathouwer is still alive in this neighborhood during this period. I therefore suspect that Gillis is also a relative and perhaps even a brother of Rombout, considering the spelling of the family name and age.
I assume that Franciscus is a son of Rombout because Rombout is a witness at Franciscus’s marriage. However, the reason for this could also be that Petrus had already passed away by then and Rombout replaced his brother Petrus. In the latter case, Franciscus might be a brother of Anna de Lathouwer. Anna de Lathouwer, married on 3-6-1632 to Petrus van Overloop, lives in a farmhouse in the Mechelstraat, as does Joannes de Lathouwer. Joannes de Lathouwer is a son of Franciscus and Anna de Breukere, who were married on 3-10-1627. Johannes, the son of Franciscus, is married to Elisabeth van Riet (Verret). In my opinion, De Bont incorrectly suggests that this Joannes is a brother of Anna. The farmhouse in the Mechelstraat could also be an argument to assume that Franciscus and Anna are farmer and sister, and not cousin and niece as I proposed earlier.
At the marriage of Anna, daughter of Petrus de Lathouwer, to Petrus van Overloop, Jan de Lathouwer (presumably her cousin) testifies for Petrus van Overloop, and not her father Petrus, nor Rombout, her father’s brother. Based on this testimony, I assume that Rombout died after 1628 and before 1632. According to Louis de Bont, this was before 1634. Apparently, Petrus had already died by then as well. Six months after this marriage, Maria de Winter, Rombout’s wife, was the godmother at the birth of daughter Maria, daughter of Anna de Lathouwer and Petrus van Overloop.
It is surprising that Jan the meisenier, the brother of Martinus and Rumoldus, lives in Buggenhout. Jan the meisenier marries Elisabeth Perpet there on June 22, 1651, and I find 7 children: Anna, Gerardus, Petrus, Henricus, Joanna, David, and Nina. Jan de Lathouwer is already a meisenier on August 22, 1656, with uncle Augustijn Wouters and cousin Matheus van Ingelgom as witnesses. Rumoldus is already sexton in Ruisbroek at that time. Martinus only became a master craftsman on August 22, 1671, with his uncle Augustinus Wouters and brother Jan as his legal guardian.
However, there is another De Lathouwer family in Buggenhout. Adrianus de Lathouwer married Cornelia de Wachter on July 10, 1639, and they had several children. Catherina Moens was a witness at the baptism of their son Jan on June 26, 1640. Catherina may possibly be related to Elisabeth Moens in Malderen, who was married to Petrus de Lathouwer.
A second Jan de Lathouwer in Buggenhout married Maria de Bleser on September 16, 1643, and they also had a number of children. This Jan is certainly not the brother of Martinus, who, incidentally, also married a De Bleser. I found indications that this Jan might be related to Petrus and his wife Elisabeth Moens, and in that case, he is therefore also related to the Londerzeel family.
In Malderen, incidentally, I found a third Joannes de Lathouder who married a Catherina de Bleser on May 4, 1641. They had children between 1648 and 1667 in Londerzeel. I note that the first child was born 7 years after the marriage. Catherina de Bleser’s parents were Jacobus and Maria Segers. Possibly the same Joannes, given the succession of children, also marries a Maria de Bleser, and they have children from 1668 to 1680. The parents of this Maria are Jan de Bleser and Lysbette Willems. The parents of Anna de Bleser, who marries Martinus, are Peter de Bleser and Maria Verhavert. Who the father of Joannes de Lathouwer from Malderen is, is unclear, but I expect that he is closely related to Rombout and Petrus. He apparently also has good contacts with the de Bleser family. Butcher Jan de Lathouwer, also from Malderen, gets into a dispute with Barbara van Neervelde. He summoned her to court in 1614 for gross insult. I have not encountered any other butchers in the family. Exactly who this Jan is is uncertain, but I expect that he is a relative of Rombout. In the story about the bells of Mechelen, I find another Jan de Lathouwer in 1592 who plays an important role in the estate of the bell founder Adriaen Steylaert. Mechelen is also located close to Londerzeel and Ruisbroek. I have not yet been able to link this Jan to the family. However, I have previously mentioned Rombout as a witness in Mechelen in 1605 for Gillis de Lathouder. I also saw the names Van der Bossche, Vercammen, and De Winter in Mechelen at marriages involving the Lathouwers; these names also appear in Londerzeel-Malderen at marriages within the family.
On July 20, 1670, a Joos de Lathouwer marries Martijntje Vernimme in Zaamslag. He also comes from Buggenhout and is certainly related to the family there. The deed mentions: “Joos de Lathouwer j.m. from Buyghenhout in Flanders” and that “the groom, being a minor, must present a statement from his father before the 3rd banns”. I find no trace of him in Buggenhout. Surprisingly enough, another, older Joos de Lathouwer already lives in Zaamslag.
Conclusions and epilogue
Hendrik de Lathouwer, the ancestor of the Dutch De Lathouder family, is a grandson of sexton Rumoldus from Ruisbroek. This sexton Rumoldus is in turn a grandson of Rombout from Malderen. In my opinion, all “De Lathouders” are direct relatives. The name De Lathouder does appear incidentally in old deeds. I will give just one example: The surname of the previously mentioned Rombout and Gillis, as well as that of Guilliam, was recorded in Mechelen in 1605 and 1633 in the processing of marriage records as De Lathouder.
Rombout from Malderen is the progenitor of the De Lathouwer family, with descendants in Malderen, Londerzeel, Buggenhout, Ruisbroek, and presumably other places in the surrounding area, such as Mechelen.
Many pieces of the puzzle regarding the De Lathouwer family around Londerzeel are known. Many questions also remain unanswered. However, it is clear that this concerns a single family.
It is possible to trace a number of these family ties through marriage and baptismal witnesses. A mind map is a good tool for visualizing these connections.
It is known that families often continue to live in their original environment. In other families, however, there is a relatively high rate of emigration. The Dutch branch “De Lathouder” now has descendants in Chile, China, Australia, and many in the USA. I sometimes wonder if emigration in the family is genetically influenced.
There are now four known branches of the De Lathouwer family described here. In two of the branches, both via Ruisbroek, the family name is passed down through the mother. The other two branches involve name bearers through the male line, including my branch.
In Australia, I found a daughter of the Achterhoek branch of De Lathouder, who is related to the Dutch progenitor Hendrik and, thanks to the help of the aforementioned namesake Ludo Lathouwers, a direct descendant from Londerzeel. This distant cousin lives in Brisbane, just like me.
In the registers of the De Lathouwer family from Londerzeel, various variants of the family name have been found, including Lathouwers, De Lathouwer, De Lathouder, De Lathauwer, and De Lathouwere. Earlier “de Lathouwers” are known in the archives around Londerzeel. So far, I have not gotten any further with demonstrable family relationships than Malderen around 1570 with Petrus and Rombout de Lathouwer.
As mentioned earlier, my DNA, like that of my namesake Ludo Lathouwers, has been recorded in the DNA-Benelux project of Familiekunde Vlaanderen. It would be fascinating if other descendants of the Lathouwers were to participate as well. This would certainly provide valuable information for the genealogical research of the family around Londerzeel. The research into this family continues. More information can be found on my website delathouder.net. I would greatly appreciate contact via the website.