Was Eleanor of Aquitaine my Ancestor? Generation 10 – Petronella van Vlijmen

This is the eleventh post in a series about my possible line of descent from Eleanor of Aquitaine. In the first post, I explained how I discovered the possible line, and how I am going to verify it one generation at a time. In the last post, I proved that my sixth great-grandfather Jan Smulders was the son of Hendrik Smulders and Petronella van Vlijmen.

Petronella van Vlijmen, daughter of Jenneken Laureijs Denis Peters

In the last blog post, I had already found several sources that provided information about Petronella van Vlijmen:

• A notarial record from 1768 called her Petronella Hugo van Vlijmen, also known as Van Huicklom, the wife of Hendrik Jan Janse Smolders alias Tats.¹
• She probably had a brother Denis. When her son Jan Smulders married in 1749, he was accompanied by his uncle Denis van Vlijmen.² He may have been the Dionisius, son of Hubertus Dircken and Joanna who was baptized in Tilburg on 18 October 1680.³ That Dionisius probably had a sister Petronella, baptized in Tilburg on 28 June 1682.⁴
• Another relative probably was Theodorus van Huikelom, who witnessed the baptism of her son Jan on 17 November 1713.⁵

We will look at these and other records for evidence about Petronella’s parents.

Marriage

Petronella Hugo van Vlijmen married Hendrick Jan Smulders in Tilburg on 26 February 1713, after they had their banns published on 11 February. Their marriage record calls her Petronella Hugo van Vlijmen, single, age 28, parents deceased, assisted by her [unnamed] brother. Both Petronella and Hendrick were born in Tilburg and lived at the Hasselt, a district in Tilburg.⁶

The age of 28 gives a calculated birth year of 1684-1685. Her patronymic indicates that her father was called Hugo.

Civil marriage record of Hendrick Jan Smulders and Petronella Hugo van Vlijmen

Two days later, they had their marriage in the Roman Catholic church. The Catholic record identified them as Henricus Joannis Smolders and Petronilla Hugo van Vlijmen. Witnesses were Gijsbertus and Cornelia Francken.⁷

Catholic marriage record

Children

Hendrick Jan Smulders and Petronella van Vlijmen had three children:

1. Joannes, son of Henricus Smolders and Petronella Hugo van Huikelom, baptized in Tilburg on 17 November 1713. Witnesses: Joanna Willem van Asten in the name of [blank] and Theodorus van Huijkelom.⁸
2. Joanna Maria, daughter of Hendricus Smeulders and Petronelle van Vleijmen, baptized in Tilburg on 22 October 1715. Witnesses: Aldegunda Hugo van Vleijmen.⁹
3. Anna Maria, daughter of Henricus Jan Smulders and Petronilla Hugo van Vlemen. Witnesses: Mechelina Wijnant Wijtmans.¹⁰

The baptismal witnesses give us two possible relatives (siblings?) of Petronella: Theodorus van Huijkelom and Aldegunda Hugo van Vleijmen. The baptisms confirm that Petronella went by both Van Huikelom and Van Vlijmen, like the 1768 notarial record said.

Joanna and Anna are variations of the same name, suggesting that the first daughter probably died. Traditionally, the next child would get the same name.

Burials

Neither Hendrik Jan Smulders nor Petronella van Vlijmen were found in the index of Tilburg burials. There were several entries for Hendrik Jan Smulders, but they were all for children or unmarried men.¹¹

Baptism

Only one man named Hugo or variations had children baptized in Tilburg between 1670 and 1700: Hugo Dircken or Hugo Dircks Huijgen (=Hugo son of Dirck son of Hugo).¹² He had a daughter Petronella.

Her baptismal record shows that Petronella, daughter of Hugo Dircken and Joanna, spouses, was baptized in Tilburg on 28 June 1682. Sponsor was Joanna Jan Wijten.¹³

Baptismal record of Petronella

Siblings

This Hugo Dircken and Joanna had a total of six children:

1. Wilhelma, daughter of Huijg Dircken and Joanna, baptized 1 February 1679. Witness: Heijltien Jan Dircken.¹⁴
2. Petronella, daughter of Hugo Dircken and Joanna, baptized 28 June 1682. Witness: Joanna Jan Wijten.¹⁵
3. Laurentia, daughter of Hugo Dirck Huijgen and Joanna, baptized 30 March 1684. Witness: Maria Cornelis Cooijen.¹⁶
4. Theodorus, son of Hugo Dircken and Joanna, baptized 12 April 1686. Witness: Petronilla Daniel Goiers.¹⁷
5. Alegundis, daughter of Hugo Dirck Huijghen and Joanna, baptized 1 December 1688. Witness: Maria Adriaen [Nuijsen?].¹⁸
6. Joannes, son of Hugo Dirck Huijch and Joanna, baptized 1 June 1692. Witness: Joanna Denissen Laureijs Denisen.¹⁹

Theodorus van Huijkelom and Aldegundis Hugo van Vleijmen were two names found among the baptismal witnesses of Petronella van Vlijmen’s children. This shows that the only candidate for Petronella van Vlijmen in the baptismal records had a brother Theodorus and sister Alegundis.

The 3.5 year gap between child number 1 and 2 is remarkable since the gaps between the next few children were about two years. Since fertility often decreases as the woman gets older, it seems that there is a child missing.

The baptismal registers have a listing that could well be this missing child. On 18 October 1680, Dionisius, son of Hubertus Dircken and Joanna was baptized in Tilburg. Witness was Catharina Adriaen Claesen.²⁰

No other children of Hubertus Dircken and Joanna were found in the baptismal index, so it seems likely that the name of the father was mistaken and that the priest may have written down the wrong name or wrong Latinization. “Denis van Vlijmen” [Denis is the Dutch version of Dionisius] was identified as the uncle of Petronella’s son Jan Smulders in 1749.²¹

Three of the siblings appeared in the marriage records as Van Vlijmen. Willemijn Hugo van Vlijmen married in Tilburg on 7 February 1712 at the age of 33.²² That age is consistent with the 1679 baptismal date of Wilhelma.  Dirck van Vlijmen married in Tilburg on 5 August 1714 at the age of 28.²³  That age is consistent with the 1686 baptismal date. Jan Hugo van Vlijmen married in Oisterwijk on 7 June 1721, no age given.²⁴ Willemijn, Dirck, and Jan are the Dutch versions of the Latin Wilhelma, Theodorus, and Joannes.

On 24 June 1716, Theodorus Hugo van Vlijmen was appointed as supervising guardian over the child of the late Joost Symon Wijten whose mother was Willemijn Hugo van Vlijmen.²⁵ Theodorus and Wilhelma were two of the children born to Hugo Dirck Huijgen and Jenneken Laureijs Denis Peeters. The unusual combination of the names Theodorus, Willemijn, and Hugo indicates that these are the same persons, showing that two siblings of the Petronella born in 1682 also used the name Van Vlijmen.

Marriage record of the parents

Hugo Dirck Huijgen, a single man, married on 4 February 1678 to Jenneken Laureijs Denis Peeters.²⁶ Jenneken is the Dutch version of the Latin Joanna, so the names of these spouses fit the parents of the children in the baptismal register. They married a year before the baptismal of the eldest child, a normal interval.

The name of the bride shows she was Jenneken, daughter of Laureijs, son of Denis, son of Peeter. These long lists of patronymics were common in Noord-Brabant in the 1600s, where there was not a large pool of first names so multiple patronymics were used  to identify a person.

Marriage record of Hugo Dirck Huijgen and Jenneken Laureijs Denis Peeters

Guardianship record

On 10 October 1699, Jan Laureijs Peijnenborgh was appointed as guardian and Jan Laureijs Denissen as supervising guardian over the seven minor children of the late Huyg Dirck Huygen of whom Jenneke Laureijs Denissen was the mother.²⁷

The names of the parents are consistent with the names in the marriage record and baptismal records, showing that Jenneken Laureijs Denis Peeters was the mother of all Hugo’s children and that he did not marry another Jenneken/Joanna between 1678 and 1699. The guardianship record omits the patronymic Peeters, but the patronymics referring to her father and grandfather are the same. The children are not named in the record.

The guardianship appointment confirms that Hugo and Jenneken had seven children, which allows for Dionisius to be their son. It also shows that her parents were dead by 1699, which is consistent with the note on Petronella’s marriage record that her parents were deceased.

Guardianship record

Van Huijkelom name

No records were found for a Hugo van Huijkelom or variations in Tilburg and the surrounding areas.²⁸

Van Vlijmen name

No records were found for a Hugo van Vlijmen or variations in Tilburg and the surrounding areas.²⁹ But there was a record for Dierick Huijgen Diericx van Vlijmen in 1647.³⁰ The unusual combination of the first name and patronymics identify him as Hugo Dirck Huijgen’s father, showing that Hugo’s father used the Van Vlijmen name.

Analysis and Conclusion

Several points of correlation identify the Petronella, born in 1682 to Hugo Dirck Huijgen and Jenneken Laureijs Denis Peters as Petronella Hugo van Vlijmen, also known as Van Huijcklom, the wife of Hendrik Jan Smulders.

Since there was no other Hugo in Tilburg having children in that period, especially one with children Petronella, Dionisius, Alegundis, Theodorus, and Joannes, this must be the correct family.

Petronella’s baptismal record identified her mother as Joanna. The marriage record of her parents and the guardianship appointment record over the minor children of her parents identified the mother as Jenneken Laureijs Denis Peeters. The body of evidence proves that she was Petronella van Vlijmen’s mother.

This proof has been the most complex so far, since the people did not use their names consistently. Petronella used two different last names, while the only records found of her father only used patronymics. By expanding research to her siblings and by using other records besides the church records, her mother could be identified anyway.

That is ten generations down, eighteen to go!

Next up: Generation 11 – Jenneken Laureijs Denijs Peters.