The term Spoorwegen means Railways. The first railway in the Netherlands began in 1839, and ran between Amsterdam and Haarlem. In the rest of the 19th century, a multitude of railway companies developed a railway network that spanned the entire country. The train quickly replaced the Trekschuit (pulled barge) as the most popular form of long-distance transportation.
Train wreck, 1912. Image credits: Spaarnestad Photo
About Yvette HoitinkYvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist, writer, and lecturer in the Netherlands. She has a Master of Letters in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee, and holds the Certification of Genealogist and Qualified Genealogist credentials. Yvette served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Professional Genealogists and won excellence awards for her articles in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly. Yvette has been doing genealogy for over 30 years. She helps people from across the world find their ancestors from the Netherlands and its former colonies, including New Netherland. Read about Yvette's professional genealogy services.
Yvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist, writer, and lecturer from the Netherlands who helps people find their ancestors from the Netherlands and its former colonies, including New Netherland. She has a Master of Letters in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee, and holds the Certified Genealogist and Qualified Genealogist credentials.
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My maternal family name is Verspoor. A cousin said this means an ancestor lived near a railway station. I said, I don’t think so, the name Verspoor was used in the mid 1700’s before there were any railroads. Any ideas on its origin?
Hi Judd,
Verspoor is very probably a so-called toponymical surname, derived from a geographical name of a place, location, and a shortening/acronym of “Van der Spoor”, meaning Of the Track/Path/Road, or, much less likely, Of the Trace or Of the Spur.
In 1947 and 2007 there were only 169 and 213 persons in the Netherlands with the surname Verspoor, concentrated (still) in the province Zeeland, esp. on the island Schouwen-Duivenland, and in the province Zuid-Holland, esp. in Rotterdam.
In which area/place were your most ancient known maternal ancestors with the surname Verspoor living?
Hi Peter,
I did find that out later from another source. My Verspoor ancestors came mainly from Bruinisse which is on the island Schouwen-Duivenland.. Three families immigrated to Long Island, New York in 1852. Later one of them moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan.
My surname is also Verspoor and two years ago I ran across this document which places the earliest reference to the Verspoor name as 1302 in West Flanders in reference to someone whom fought in the Battle of the Golden Spurs. You can download the pdf with the information here: https://docplayer.nl/15961175-J-m-g-leune-kwartierstaat-van-johannes-marinus-gommert-leune.html