My great great great grandparents, Benedictus Vanhooydonck and Maria Catharina Greefs, were married at Kalmthout on Friday 6 May 1832. He was the son of Adriaan Van Hooydonck and Maria Greefs, and grew up in the Nieuwmoer hamlet of Kalmthout, where his mother managed a small store in the Capelstraat. Maria rented the house, and Benedictus, Maria’s second husband, was a common manual laborer who could not read or write. Benedictus had one older sister and seven older half-siblings.1
Maria Catharina was the daughter of Peeter Jan Greefs and Maria Elisabeth Nuytemans, prosperous farmers in the Vogelenzang at Kalmthout. She had several older siblings.2
Feel free to read along as I transcribe and translate the marriage record of Benedictus and Maria Catharina:3
No. 11. In het Jaer Een Duizend acht honderd tweeendertig den zesden van de Maend Mey ten vyf uren naermiddag
No. 11. In the year One Thousand Eight Hundred Thirty-Two, the sixth of May [6 May 1832], at five o’clock in the afternoon [5 pm]
is voor ons Borgemeester Ambtenaer van den Borgerlyken Stand der gemeente Calmpthout Distrikt en Provincie Antwerpen gecompareerd
appeared before us, the mayor, Officer of the Civil Registration of the town of Calmpthout [Kalmthout], District and Province of Antwerp
Benedictus Vanhooydonck oud tweeendertig jaeren, drij Maenden vierentwintig dagen handwerker
Benedictus Vanhooydonck thirty-two years old and three months and twenty-four days [32 years, 3 months and 24 days], manual laborer
woonende in deze gemeente, en ook in dezelve geboren den twaelfden Januarius achttien honderd,
residing in this town and also born here on the twelfth of January eighteen hundred [18 January 1800]
bejaerden zoon van Adrianus Vanhooydonck, achten vyftig jaeren oud en van Maria Greefs tweeenzeventig jaeren oud
adult son of Adrianus Vanhooydonck, eighty-five [58] years old, and of Maria Greefs, seventy-two [72] years odl
handwerkers woonende in deze gemeente hier tegenwoordig en in dit houwelyk toestemmende
manual laborers residing in this town, present and consenting to this marriage
En hebbende voldaen aen de wetten op de Nationale Militie gelyk het blykt uyt het Certificaat ten dien eynde afgeleverd door den Heer Gouverneur der Provincie Antwerpen den zeventienden April achttien honderd tweeendertig
And having satisfied the laws concerning the National Militia, as it is shown on the Certificate that was issued to this end by the Governor of the Province of Antwerp on seventeen April eighteen hundred thirty-two [17 April 1832].
En Maria Catharina Greefs, oud zevenentwintig jaeren en zesentwintig dagen, landbouwster
And Maria Catharina Greefs, twenty-seven years and twenty-six days old [27 years and 26 days], farmer’s wife
woonende in deze gemeente, en ook in derzelve geboren den zesentwintigsten Germinal jaer dertien der fransche Republiek (tien April achttien honderd vyf)
residing in this town, and also born here on the twenty-sixth Germinal year thirteen of the French Republic (ten April eighteen hundred and five [10 April 1805])
bejaerde Dogter van wylen Petrus Joannes Greefs overleden in deze gemeente van Calmpthout den zestienden Meert achttien honderd eenentwintig
adult daughter of the former Petrus Joannes Greefs who died in this town of Calmpthout on the sixteenth of March eighteen hundred twenty-one [16 March 1821]
gelyk het blykt uyt den akt van overlyden ingeschreven op de registers van den Borgerlyken Stand dezer gemeente alhier ter Secretary berustende,
as it is shown in the death record registered in the Civil Registration of this town, kept here in the office
en van Maria Elizabeth Nuytemans, achtenzestig jaeren oud landbouwster woonende in deze gemeente hier tegenwoordig en in dit houwelyk toestemmende
and of Maria Elizabeth Nuytemans, sixty-eight [68] years old, residining in this town, present here and consenting to the marriage
Welke Comparanten ons hebben verzogt van te procederen tot het houwelyk onder hun beraemd
Which parties request us to proceed to the marriage devised by them
en welkers afkondigingen zyn gedaen geweest voor de voornaemste Deur des ingangs van ons gemeentenhuys
And of which the announcements were made before the most important door at the entrance of our town hall
te weten de eerste den tweeentwintigsten en de tweede den negenentwintigsten van de Maend van April laestleden, om tien uren voormiddag zynde twee zondagen
that is the first one on the twenty-second and the second one on the twenty-ninth of the month of April last, at ten o’clock in the morning, being both Sundays
geene tegenstryding aen dit houwelyk ons te kennen gegeven zynde
no opposition to the marriage was made known to us
recht doende aen dit verzoek
to do justice at this request
wy hebben
we have
naerdat door ons aen de Comparanten waeren voorgelezen alle de stukken hier boven vermeld alsmede het zesde Kapittel van den Borgerlyke Wet Boek geintituleerd van het houwelyk
after which have read to the parties all the aforementioned records as well as the sixth chapter of the Civil Code entitled about marriage
gevraegd aen den toekomenden Bruydegom en aen de toekomende Bruyd of zy begeêren zich te nemen voor man ende vrouw
asked the future groom and the future bride whether they wish to take each other as husband and wife
ider van hun afzonderlyk geantwoord hebbende dat Jae,
both of them separaretly having answered yes
wy verklaeren in den naem van de wet dat Benedictus Vanhooydonck en Maria Catharina Greefs vereenigd zyn door het houwelijk,
we proncoune in the name of the law that Benedictus Vanhooydonck and Maria Catharina Greefs have been united in marriage
waer van wy dezen akt hebben opgesteld in de tegenwoordigheyd van
of which we have recorded this act in the presence of
Franciscus Feyen negenenveertig jaeren oud handwerker halven broeder van den man,
Franciscus Feyen, forty-nine [49] years old, manuel laborer, half brother of the husband,
Gerardus Aerts, dertig jaeren oud hoef smit zwager van den man
Gerardus Aerts, thirty years old, farrier, brother-in-law of the husband
Joannes Greefs veertig jaeren oud landbouwer, Broeder van de vrouw,
Joannes Greefs, forty years old, farmer, brother of the wife,
en Cornelius Greefs tweeendertig jaeren oud landbouwer Broeder van de vrouw,
and Cornelius Greefs thirty-two years old, farmer, brother of the wife,
alle woonende in deze gemeente van Calmpthout,
all residing in the town of Calmpthout
de welke den tegenwoordigen akt gezamentlyk met ons en de partyen Contraktanten hebben geteekend
who have signed this act together with us and the contracting parties
naer dat den zelven hun was voorgelezen,
after it was to read to them
uytgenomen Adrianus Vanhooydonck en Maria Greefs die verklaerd hebben van niet te kunnen schryven uyt reden van onwetendheyd.
except for Adrianus Vanhooydonck and Marie Greefs who declared they are not able to write due to ignorance.
- Frans Erreygers and Jozef Smets, 1795: Vrijheid, Gelijkheid, Broederlijkheid, De Kalmthoutenaren Genoten er van! (Kalmthout, Belgium: Oudheidkundige Kring, 2004), dl. 1, p. 582-583.
- Frans Erreygers and Jozef Smets, 1795: Vrijheid, Gelijkheid, Broederlijkheid, De Kalmthoutenaren Genoten er van! (Kalmthout, Belgium: Oudheidkundige Kring, 2004), dl. 1, p. 228-203.
- Kalmthout, Antwerpen, Belgium, Huwelijksregister 1832, nr. 11, Vanhooydonck-Greefs; “Belgique, Anvers, registres d’état civil, 1588-1913,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-WJ91-T5?cc=2138481&wc=Q82R-LKR%3A1007735501%2C1007761201 : accessed 18 March 2019), Kalmthout > Huwelijken 1802-1832 > image 519 of 530; België Staatsarchief (Belgium State Archives), Brussels.
