Frequency of family names in 2006

The government published the lists of the most frequent family names in Belgium for 2006.

Peeters, Janssens and Maes are the most common names in Belgium and in Flanders. In Wallonia the most frequent names are Dubois, Lambert and Martin. But the most common name in Wallonia, Dubois, is 13d in Belgium as a whole.

There were 32.811 Peeters, 30.453 Janssens and 25.519 Maes in Belgium as a whole.

In Belgium Timmermans is the 53d most common name (6.685 people) ; in Brussels it is 36th (508 people) ; in Flanders 63d (5.051 people) and in Wallonia it has no place in the first 100.

Source : FOD Economie - Algemene Directie Statistiek en Economische Informatie, Bevolkingsstatistieken.
http://www.statbel.fgov.be/figures/d21a_nl.asp

War memories of a four year old

These must be among my earliest memories :

one night we were awakened by terrible continuing rumblings. The earth trembled. We fled out of our house just like the rest of the village did and we saw the whole sky a deep red glow to the NorthWest. Later we learned that we had seen the bombardment of Merelbeke railroad station, where, unfortunately, a major part of the load fell on the surrounding houses. A terrifying experience seen from more than 40 km away in Okegem. The date was April 10 1944.

**************

We lived in a a very small house in a row that opened up unto a courtyard. There my father and the neighbours built a dirt shelter covered with some planks and more dirt. Each time there was an alert we dived into that hole, water sloshing around our feet and the stink of cat piss in our nose. A direct hit would have gotten us all, but fortunately we were spared.

**************

I remember that early in September 1944 my grandfather was working in his field and we were playing around "helping" him when the first Allied tanks appeared between the oak trees on the Aalst - Ninove road about 500 m to a km away. We crossed across the fields in the hope of tasting our first chocolade ever - grandfather gave us the idea, we did not even know what chocolate was - but came too late. Ninove was liberated on September 3 by the English, Tommies as we called them affectionately.

**************

Probably a couple of days later there was a very young, unarmed German soldier who had been left behind or was lost. He had to run for his life. A numerous mob chased him up the Kattestraat, armed with knives, sticks, axes and all kinds of agricultural tools. Fortunately, almost at the limit of the village, two gendarmes, coming from Ninove, happened by and arrested the boy. I tremble to think what might have happened if the gendarmes had not passed by ...

**************

Monday January 1 1945 was a bitterly cold day with a clear blue sky. We heard stuttering engines and saw parachutists jumping out of a plane which crashed in the fields a couple of kilometers away near the Kipsteekbos. As an adult I doubted for years whether this was a memory or a dream, until I found the confirmation in an article by Achiel Anthoens in "Mededelingen Heemkring Okegem 2004, nr 4, p 110 - 112". I even got the day and the weather right !

Eight crew members jumped out of the bomber and one of them was injured by the jump. As the crashing plane touched some trees it was badly damaged and pieces were scattered all around. Fortunately the bomb hold was completely empty. Soon there was a guard of eight to ten soldiers but, after they left, the plane was further dismantled by the locals, including my grandfather, I'm sorry to say (my younger brother and I were there with him). Much later the rest of the plane was cleared up by scrap merchants. Unfortunately, the story doesn't report the make or the origin of the four engine plane. Given that it was a daytime raid, it probably was American. Further information is very welcome.

**************

Earlier that same day, we came back from my father's parents in Meerbeke and leaving Ninove at a place called De Doorn a dead, completely frozen, sparrow lay on the side walk, close to a German road sign for "Brüssel". The roadsign has been visible until quite recently, and 62 years later, I still see that dead sparrow ...


Kids !

My closest family

My father and mother with their three siblings in the orchard of my grandfather at Okegem around 1954, probably during a summer holiday.

This blog contains an earlier picture of my parents with me in 1941. Since then, my parents had a second son ; we lived through the war ; my maternal grandmother passed away in 1949 ; a daughter was born ; my mother had major surgery, cloistering her to bed for about 18 months ; and my paternal grandfather passed away late in 1953.
My father had his full time job in the gendarmerie plus the care for his three children. Fortunately, my little sister was taken care of by my mother's brother and his family for a considerable spell of time, and my father got some help from a neighbour at Ledeberg-Ghent where we then lived. How he would have coped without them, I don't know : even so it must have been pure calvary for him from time to time.
Compare this picture of my parents with the previous one, taken some 12 years earlier, and look at the marks of time left by a war and a lot of health problems.

Run, rabbit, run !

An old poem, a modern feeling : fear, hurry and stress.

Een Perzisch Edelman:

Van morgen ijlt mijn tuinman, wit van schrik,
Mijn woning in: "Heer, Heer, één ogenblik!

Ginds, in de rooshof, snoeide ik loot na loot,
Toen keek ik achter mij. Daar stond de Dood.

Ik schrok, en haastte mij langs de andere kant,
Maar zag nog juist de dreiging van zijn hand.

Meester, uw paard, en laat mij spoorslags gaan,
Voor de avond nog bereik ik Ispahaan!" -

Van middag (lang reeds was hij heengespoed)
Heb ik in 't cederpark de Dood ontmoet.

"Waarom," zo vraag ik, want hij wacht en zwijgt,
"Hebt gij van morgen vroeg mijn knecht gedreigd?"

Glimlachend antwoordt hij: "Geen dreiging was 't,
Waarvoor uw tuinman vlood. Ik was verrast,

Toen 'k 's morgens hier nog stil aan 't werk zag staan,
Die 'k 's avonds halen moest in Ispahaan."

"De Tuinman en de Dood" by Pieter Nicolaas van Eyck (1887-1954)

Organisation chart

One could add a layer : top management ...

Found at the same address as "German management".

German management

Probably not the best translation.

"Of course I said you should develop critical thoughts. But I never ever said you should express them too !"

Been there, seen it ...

Found on the web at http://www.kritische-wirtschaftswissenschaften.de/Material/ecke.htm

Mijn vadertje

Mijn vadertje, hij was rechtvaardigheid.

Hij had de zware last op zich geladen,

een eerlijk man te zijn in woord en daad.

Dat is het schone, dwaze kwaad waar,

na ons Here Jezus Christus,

de sterkste man aan ondergaat.

(Marnix Gysen)

My father

June 10 is Father's Day in Belgium.

This is probably the first picture of my father and mother with their firstborn (me) and must have been taken early in 1941.

My father Petrus Joannes Timmermans (born at Meerbeke on October 14 1913 - died at Ghent on April 20 1980) had a very hard life, but he fully and consequently devoted it to his wife and children to a degree "far beyond the call of duty" as the Americans say.

Before the world war he worked with his father in their carrosserie work shop at Meerbeke as well as for various bosses in Brussels. During the war he was a member of the armed resistance Fidelio - I still treasure his pin - and after the war he entered the gendarmerie (state police) until he retired. His work as a gendarme is also the reason why our family left Okegem and moved to Ghent. My younger brother and myself were born at Okegem, my sister was born in Ghent.

During the second World War, my father fought for his country : Belgium, not Flanders, first as a soldier, then as a resistant of the first hour. When he was buried the Belgian, not the Flemish flag, was draped over his coffin and the Belgian national hymn was played when his remains left the church for the last time. He lived for his family and his country.

My father has been my example and my best friend. He passed away much too soon.

What ?

There are no certainties (or is it certitudes ?) left in this world.

A couple of months ago "Comme chez soi", the Brussels food temple, lost its third Michelin star. The news shook the Belgian gastronomical community to the core. Now, the Veulemans family sells its world famous "Aux Armes de Bruxelles" restaurant to Flo, a French restaurant group, in which our national billionaire Albert Frère has a stake. I'm sure that all my foreign readers, who have been over here, have lunched or dined at least once in that culinary temple. For the time being, Laurent Veulemans will continue to manage the place.

Then there is talk about a take over by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch of the Wall Street Journal, the world's premier evangelist of free market capitalism ...

and Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo, top guy at the International Monetary Fund, warns that the present merger fever may turn into a danger for financial stability because of rising interest rates.

The end of the world must be near ...

Stemplicht ?

Stemrecht is een fundamenteel recht waarvoor onze voorouders lang en bitter gestreden hebben tegen de "gevestigde belangen" van hun tijd.

Stemplicht, of eigenlijk opkomstplicht (want in het stemhokje doet ieder wat hij wil - stemmen of niet) is in mijn ogen een ongezonde uitwas van de democratie. Zij geeft politiekers een goed gevoel, want iedereen - van prins tot dakloze zwerver - speelt mee. Zij zorgt ook voor stapels proteststemmen.
Voor mij hoeft het deze keer echt niet, want - om telkens verschillende redenen - kan ik voor geen enkele partij stemmen. Allemaal hebben ze wel een of ander punt in hun programma dat voor mij echt niet door de beugel kan. Ik word niet graag in een kastje geduwd en niemand kan mij verplichten compromissen te sluiten. Mijn gang naar het stemlokaal komt dus enkel mijn lichamelijke conditie ten goede.
Bij vrije opkomst zouden “onze vertegenwoordigers” eindelijk eens kunnen zien wie er echt in hun bollenwinkel geinteresserd is. Voor mij volstaat het om te weten dat ik kan gaan stemmen wanneer ik het werkelijk nodig acht.
Laat ons vrij te kiezen of we onze “staatsburgerlijke plicht” al dan niet gaan uitoefenen !
Laat ons voor één keer een voorbeeld nemen aan Nederland !

For my foreign readers : I stated that - for various reasons - and although I cherish the right to vote - I do not like to be obliged to vote.

Coïncidences

My grandfather and godfather Pieter Jozef Timmermans passed away on a misty, chilly winter day, December 4 1953. I still see us sitting at his kitchen table unbolstering (if that is the right word) the corn cobs which he had harvested some days before, when my father came in to tell us that his father had died in the hospital (I don't remember which - there were two) in Ninove.
A mighty oak felled in a couple of months ...
His wife Rosalia Margaretha Ravijst followed him on December 2 1973 - twently years less two days later - she died in the University Clinic in Ghent.
I was born on December 3 1940.

Een oude foto en een mysterie opgelost

(Foto volgt)

Op de foto staat mijn moeder’s grootvader, Felix De Vidts (Pamel 12 april 1853 – Pamel 8 juni 1940) en mijn grootmoeder aan vader’s kant Rosalia Margaretha Ravijst (Meerbeke 20 maart 1892 – Gent 2 december 1973). De (slechte) foto werd gemaakt ter gelegenheid van het huwelijk van mijn ouders op 22 juli 1939.

Mijn moeder wist dat ze “verre familie” was van mijn vader, maar ze wist niet (meer) hoe : ze ontmoette mijn vader op de begrafenis van haar oudste broer, mijn nonkel Kamiel Neukermans in 1935. Mijn vader was daar met zijn moeder en een “tante” van zijn moeder.

Tientallen keren heb ik mijn moeder ondervraagd en de interessante artikels in het Davidsfondsklokje van Pamel uitgespit – zonder succes. De laatste persoon die wist hoe de vork aan de steel zat was mijn vader’s moeder (zoals gemeld gestorven in 1973) en zoals we allen weten : ieder mens die sterft is een museum dat brandt.

Bij mijn eerste bezoek aan het Rijksarchief te Beveren, een paar jaar geleden, zocht ik vooral aan mijn vader’s kant – voor mijn moeder was een groot deel al opgezocht o.a. door haar broer Eugeen, die ons een paar jaar geleden ontviel.

Daar stelde ik toevallig vast dat de grootmoeder van mijn vader’s moeder Antonia De Vidts heette en dat ze uit Pamel kwam. Ik liet alles vallen en inderdaad, het mysterie was snel opgelost. Zij was een oudere zus van mijn moeder’s grootvader Felix De Vidts die zelf een “achterkomelingske” was.

Dus :

Mijn vader Petrus Joannes Timmermans (Meerbeke 14 october 1913 – Sint Amandsberg 20 april 1980)

Zijn ouders : Pieter Jozef Timmermans (Meerbeke 18 augustus 1886 – Ninove 4 december 1953) X Rosalia Margaretha Ravijst (data : zie hierboven)

Haar ouders : Petrus Joannes Ravijst (Nieuwenhove 1 januari 1861 – Meerbeke 21 januari 1944) X Joanna Maria De Schepper (Meerbeke 18 juli 1864 – Meerbeke 9 januari 1890)

Haar ouders : Ludovicus De Schepper (Meerbeke 15 juni 1833 – ...) X Antonia De Vidts (Pamel 17 mei 1840 – ...).


Mijn moeder : Margaretha Felicitas Neukermans (Okegem 8 juni 1914 – Sint Amandsberg 26 september 2000)

Haar ouders : Joannes Franciscus Neukermans (Okegem 24 december 1886 – Aalst 1 juli 1961) X Maria Antonia De Vidts (Pamel 31 januari 1885 – Okegem 25 september 1949)

Haar ouders : Felix De Vidts (zie hierboven) X Blondina Muylaert (Denderhoutem 4 juni 1849 – Pamel 10 februari 1942).


Antonia De Vidts was het derde kind van Joannes De Vidts (Pamel 25 januari 1811 – Pamel 28 augustus 1881) en van Maria Elisabeth Van der Sleyen (Pamel 9 mei 1811 – Pamel 22 juli 1860).

Felix was hun achtste en laatste kind. De drie kinderen voor hem (een naamloos, Benedictus en Jan Baptist) stierven jong – vanwaar het gezegde dat hij een achterkomelinkske was. Gezien de relatief jonge leeftijd van Felix bij het overlijden van zijn moeder – ongeveer zeven jaar - werd hij grotendeels mede door zijn oudere zusters opgevoed.

Acht Juni ...

Mijn moeder's verjaardag.

Uit mijn kwartierstaat - in chronologische volgorde :

Jacoba Van Leefdaal (oudbetovergrootmoeder) overleed op 8 Juni 1721.
Margaretha Felicitas Neukermans (mijn moeder) werd geboren op 8 Juni 1914.
Felix De Vidts (mijn overgrootvader) overleed op 8 Juni 1940, ongeveer een half jaar voor mijn geboorte.

Een paar dagen later kwam mijn vader ook terug thuis te Okegem na de 18daagse veldtocht. Ik meen mij te herinneren dat mijn moeder zei dat ze gedurende de begrafenismis verwittigd werd dat mijn vader terug was - een grote vreugde en een groot verdriet op dezelfde dag.
Mijn vader werd gevangen genomen na de slag aan de Leie en werd vrijgelaten in de omgeving van Maubeuge (Frankrijk) van waar hij te voet naar huis kwam.

(Op mijn moeder's gedachtenisprentje staat foutief 6 juni als geboortedag - niemand had de fout opgemerkt ...)

A common name

I have been blessed with a very common name, which does not facilitate research.

With a less common name one can often assume that people bearing the same name in a given region are related to one another. This would be a very dangerous assumption for people bearing my name. Almost every village had its carpenter(s) – and for many of them Timmerman(s), Temmerman a.s.o. became the family name without any blood link between the various families.

The name is particularly frequent in Vlaams Brabant, Antwerpen and Limburg as well as in the southern part of the Netherlands.

Keynes said that in the long term we're all dead. Of course, in the long term we're all related too - in my links I have added a couple of sites on that subject. But in the historical period that most of us can document (up to the 16th - 17th century) we like to know who our direct forebears were.

Genealogy helps us to find them, but also helps us to understand that all mankind is one very big family. If only we could behave accordingly.

Spreading of family names in Belgium : http://www.familienamen.be/.

Sitemeter

I enjoyed having the site meter installed last Friday. "Alle begin is moeilijk" and I get some 10 hits per day (I have deactivated the counter for my own hits). I already had one hit from Sta Inez, Southern California and two from Florida, one from Madrid, Spain and one from ... Columbia (South America) - no address.
But the locations given by the sitemeter are rather weird : I reportedly live in Aalst (I saw that before I deactivated the counter for my own hits), and some people I know well live in Zandhoven, Antwerp instead of in Gentbrugge ... Poor marksmanship !

Years ago ... in december 1996 ...

... I reacted to an article in the Wall Street Journal. The best parts were not published, but here follows a copy of some excerpts which were published.

Your editorial ... beats everything I have read recently, even in the Belgian press, which is not known for its high levels of professionalism. Apparently, being "free market" is enough to be forgiven everything else. ... Belgium 's problems are deeply serious, and may appear terminal to some. We have enormous problems to solve in the social, judicial, political and economic fields. The system appears highly corrupt, and its political class cowardly blind, ignoring the problems until they explode in their faces. ... Belgium needs to renovate its system and its society; to get rid of extremists on the left and on the right. There is no question about that. Some people believe that splitting the small dot on the map called Belgium into three smaller dots will solve these problems. At least one of the resulting midget states is expected to be better managed than Belgium is now. Surveys show that the "silent majority" of Belgians do not want this. However, political leaders continue to ignore this, and even conservatives are starting to fall into the separatist trap. Moreover, our political ring leaders do not have the courage to consult their constituencies on this and quarreling about splitting Belgium helps them avoid addressing the real issues facing the country. What worries me most is that all arguments that can feed the separatist mill are considered valid and common sense appears to have evaporated. It started in the Flemish political class and is now spreading in Wallonia, too. It is true that we are deeply dissatisfied with the political class that governs us, but those who believe that the same people will build better conditions in smaller states are utterly wrong.

Almost eleven years later, and one week before federal elections, has anything changed ?

Geplet tussen laïcisme en multiculturalisme

Een interessant artikel van Miel Swillens over de houding van de intelligentia tegenover christendom en islam.

"De intellectuele elite vertoont blijkbaar een opvallend gebrek aan ruggengraat wanneer zij wordt geconfronteerd met een zelfverzekerde - en potentieel gevaarlijke - tegenstander. Ze is zelfs bereid tot concessies aan de islam, die ze verontwaardigd van de hand zou wijzen indien het om het christendom zou gaan."

"Net nu Europa in volle identiteiscrisis verkeert en nood heeft aan bezinning over haar historische grondlagen, pleegt onze intelligentia vluchtmisdrijf. Het Europa dat deze elite voor ogen staat, is niet alleen een Europa zonder geografische grenzen, maar ook een Europa zonder verleden, zonder traditie."

Voor de volledige tekst, klik :
http://www.tertio.be/archief/2007/T380/T380-ov1.htm

Family names in my ancestor chart

Familienamen die ik tot nu toe in mijn kwartierstaat gevonden heb (ik heb het meestal bij een enkele schrijfwijze gehouden).

Appelmans
Asselman
Baetens
Baetsoens
Baveghems
Bayens
Beeckman
Bellemans
Boelaert
Booms
Boote
Borremans
Bosch
Boschmans
Broeckaert
Broeckelinck
Brouckmans
Bruedere
Callebaut
Cammaerts
Canuel
Cassaert
Cieters
Clement
Cobbaert
Colins
Cools
Coomans
Covens
Crockaert
De Bavedamme
De Beer
De Beys
De Boeck
De Brabander
De Bronckhorst
De Buttere
De Clercq
De Cuyper
De Dier
De Dobbeleer
De Doncker
De Gavre
De Gooik
De Hauterive
De Herbais
De Hertoghe
De Herzelles
De Kegel
De Keyzer
De Leenere
De Leeuw
De Loese
De Meij
De Mesmaecker
De Meyere
De Mol
De Moor
De Pottere
De Putter
De Quick
De Ridder
De Ro
De Rode
De Rosoy en Tirasce
De Sancto Gaugerico
De Sart
De Schepper
De Schrevel
De Sicclers
De Smet
De Somer
De Succre
De Trooster
De Troyer
De Vianen
De Vidts
De Vleeschouwer
De Vleminck
De Wargnies
De Winne
Depottere
D'Yedeghem
Eeckhouts
Eggerickx
Eggloy
Evenepoel
Eylenbosch
Felix
Galmaert
Gansemans
Geeroms
Godtschalcx
Goessens
Goossens
Goossens van Alsinghen
Goutswilders
Govaerts
Gryseels
Guns
Haeck
Heuens
Heyms
Huart
Huylenbroeck
Huysmans
Ingelbeens
Janseghers
Janssens
Jespers
Jolive
Kinschot
Lambins
Lauwerijs
Leus
Lievens
Lissens
Lose
Matten
Matthijs
Meerte
Meganck
Mennens
Menschaert
Mertens
Moeremans
Monts
Mottemans
Muylaert
Mylief
Neukermans
Paridaens
Peron
Pierens
Pipenpoy
Piret
Pletinck
Pluckmese
Raes
Ravijst
Renneboog
Reybosch
Sacristain
Saffoets
S'Brieders
Schandevijl
Schaveye
Scheerlinck
Schets
Schoenmaeckers
Schoonjans
Schouppe
Schrijvers
SConincx
Scrinemakere
Seldenslagh
Sint Goericx
S'Loosen
Smeyers
Sneppe
Snoeck
Sterckx
Stockmans
Straetman
Stroobant
Swaef
Taelman
Thienpont
Timmermans
Truf
Usselinckx
Uutenhove
Uytercrommencammen
Van Aarschot van Schoonhoven
Van Abcoude
Van Bijgaarden
Van Boterdael
Van Callenberghe
Van Cariloo
Van Caulaert
Van Cauwelaert
Van Cutsem
Van de Maele
Van de Perre
Van de Sype
Van de Voorde
Van den Abeele
Van den Berghe
Van den Hauwe
Van den Heuvel
Van den Houte
Van den Stock
Van den Waterloop
Van den Waterscape
Van der Burcht
Van der Elst
Van der Eycken
Van der Haegen
Van der Hellen
Van der Heyden
Van der Kelen
Van der Meeren
Van der Moyen
Van der Poorten
Van der Slagmolen
Van der Sleyen
Van der Smessen
Van der Speeten
Van der Straeten
Van Deurne
Van Doerne
Van Drongelen
Van Droogenbroeck
Van Duest
Van Eeckhoudt
Van Eesbeke
Van Elmpt
Van Gaesbeke
Van Geet
Van Gheenderdeuren
Van Goethem
Van Haesden
Van Herlaer
Van Herreweghe
Van Kesterbeke
Van Laetem
Van Leefdael
Van Leeuw
Van Lierde
Van Loenhout
Van Londerzele
Van Molenbeke
Van Motte
Van Muylem
Van Neyen
Van Nieuwenhove
Van Oorseel
Van Opdenbosch
Van Overstraeten
Van Pede
Van Percke
Van Poucke
Van Ranst
Van Reven
Van Stalle
Van Steenstraeten
Van Tricht
Van Tuijll van Serooskerke
Van Vliënborch
Van Waes
Van Wesenborge
Van Westerholt
Van Wilre
Van Winterbeke
Van Woluwe
Velghe
Venneman
Verheyen
Verhoeven
Vernaillen
Vlaminck
Waegeman
Waije
Walckiers
Walravens
Wellekens
Wijns
Wynant
Ymbrechts

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in some of these names.

Een tussendoortje ?

Vraag in De Standaard Forum op 30 mei :

Beïnvloeden verkiezingsdebatten uw stemgedrag?
De verkiezingsdebatten op de openbare en de commerciële omroep draaien op volle toeren. Volgt u ze? Leert u er iets uit? En hebben ze een invloed op uw stemgedrag? Houdt u bijvoorbeeld rekening met wat politici er al dan niet zeggen of verklaren?

Op 31 mei antwoordt Paul Timmermans :

In geen geval - Ik heb wel wat beters te doen dan daar naar te kijken - zelfs grassprieten tellen is boeiender en leerrijker.

Een vriendelijke dame beaamt op 1 juni : klopt - en het is een stuk makkelijker om de pakweg 15 verschillende soorten gras in uw tuin uiteen te houden dan om nog wijs te geraken uit het politieke gekonkel van tegenwoordig.

Ai !

Murphy reigns ...

Intelligence

- Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
- Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.
- He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
- When the chips are down, the buffalo is empty.
- Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.

Environment

- I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges.
- Honk if you love peace and quiet.

Living and the cost of it

- Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how it remains so popular?
- It is hard to understand how a cemetery can raise its burial costs and blame it on the higher cost of living.
- Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day drinking beer.
- A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
- I wished the buck stopped here, as I could use a few.
- The 50-50-90 rule : anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

And just remember .. if the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off.

(adapted from txt2nite.com).