serendipity

Who do you think you are is also in Holland on televison .
In the episodeof last night the city of Leiden was in the picture.
in the 16th century a lot of people from the Lille area in France fled to Holland to Leiden .
They were all involved in the wool industry.
So a good reason to try and find if Catherina's family was born there as well .
And then we find today the 27th of November , Catherine´s 160 th birthday  .
in the poor house and orphanage .
Engelbregt, Maria, spinster, weduwe van Johannes Fris; bedeeld, oud 43 jaar, in 1765; kinderen: Cornelia, 13 jaar, Marijtie, 10, Catharina, 8, en Jannetie, 4

881 folio 64

As Gilly would say serendipity !!!!

So Catherine was born in Leiden and after the death of her father was very poor ..she and her mother and siblings had to live in the poorhouse.

In the end she was the mother of a professor and had a better live I think.

The grandparents of Catherina Fris (the mother of Jerome Nicholas Vlieland) were also working in this industry and are from that area.
Her father was a rokjeswever.

Catharina Fris, ged. RK Leiden op 27 nov 1756.

• Vader:
  Johannes Fris, zn. van Adam Fris (lakenwerker) en Marijtje Witmans, ged. RK Leiden op 10 jan 1724 (getuigen: Joannes Heus en Maria Franse), rokjeswever, otr. Leiden op 25 apr 1744, tr. Leiden op 16 mei 1744 (getuigen: bruidegom: Johannes Engelbregt stiefvader Uytterstegragt en getuige bruid: Marijtje Witmans stiefmoeder Uytterstegragt).

• Moeder:
  Marijtje Engelbregt, dr. van Johannes Phillippus Engelbregt (lakenwever) en Maria Wouterse Ferie, ged. RK Leiden op 17 mrt 1723, doopgetuige van haar kleinzoon Arnold Heusen.

the complete index of the poor house 

We already found today ,by looking for prisoners of war items that some of the prisoners were teaching French instead of working with straw or bones.
We did know that, but it is always good to remember .