In this fourth and mid-way episode of Season Nine, host Andrew Martin meets professional genealogist John Boeren and hears about how he got hooked on researching his Dutch ancestry, why he became a professional researcher, and how he ended up being awarded a Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau in 2018 for services to local history and genealogy.

THE LIFE STORY - MAARTEN VAN LEEUWEN
John has chosen to tell the life story of his 4x Great Grandfather, Maarten van Leeuwen, who was born in 1795 in a small village near Gouda (yes, as in the home of the cheese) in the Netherlands.

When John finds references to a silver shield and medal awarded to Maarten in 1825, it sets him on a trail to discover why he was being called a 'hero' and of the Order of the Dutch Lion.

Despite his service in the Napoleonic Wars as a gunner, this was not why he received his medal - that's down to his relationship with fire!

THE BRICK WALL - JACOBUS HENDRIKX and JENNEKEN HEIJLIGER JANSSEN
John's looking for help to find the earliest ancestors in his Boeren line, except this is during a time where patronymics were being used... therefore 'Boeren' is not the name to find, and this makes it much harder for him. 

Whilst John knows the names of his brick wall ancestors - Jacobus (Jacob) and Jenneken (Joan), he can't find their marriage nor their baptisms. He can see their children being baptised in villages close to the border between Netherlands and Belgium during the 1660s, but there's no further clues to their identities.

Can you help him with;

• Where were Jacobus Hendrickx and Jenneken Heijliger Janssen married?
• Where were Jacobus and Jenneken baptised?
• What were their fathers' patronymic surnames?

If you think you can help John, then you can send him a message via his website or alternatively you can send us a message and we'll pass it on.

In the meantime, John isn't quite sure what to make of Andrew's offer of help... but will it work?

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Episode Credits

• Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
• John Boeren - Guest

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