Last updated: 8 June 2022
1850-1859 is the first decade I looked at for births in Moerkapelle. There were 294 births in this decade. This post is a summary of several statistics and information found in the birth records of the 1850s.
Due to these Moerkapelle records being the first I’ve looked at, there are no comparisons or correlations to be made. Some hypotheses are posited to be looked at after more records have been analyzed.
General statistics
There were 29 births on average each year in the 1850s in Moerkapelle. The year the jumps out at me is 1858, with only 22 births. It could be a normal deviation, but it could also be that something was going on. Either less marriages the year before, or perhaps something else that caused less births.
In this ten-year time period, there were 150 boys and 144 girls born.
In the graph below you can see the births per month for the 1850s.
Interesting is the dip in births in June and July. It’s bracketed by fairly high numbers in May and August, so it could be that several babies were born at the end of May and the beginning of August. It could also be related to seasonal work – perhaps the September-October period led to less contact between men and women? It will be interesting to see if the dip is accidental or if it remains the same in other decades.
Illegitimate births
There were 11 illegitimate births in this decade, making up 3.7% of the births in Moerkapelle in this time period. All of the mothers were recorded as being without a profession – which might or might not be true – and when ages were recorded, they ranged from 22 years old to 36 years old. Two of the mothers are included more than one time: Elisabeth Tiggers (1853 and 1856) and Maria Elizabeth ter Lohé (1855, 1857 and 1858).
Of these 11 children, only one has been legalized at the marriage of her mother. Two other children were later acknowledged in Bleiswijk, and interestingly enough both mothers were living in Moordrecht at the time of the birth.
Interesting about these records is that the doctor that helped with the birth is the one that declared the birth. Therefore, we know that both Jan George Köller, a doctor from Zevenhuizen, and Maarten Ouweleen, living first in Moerkapelle and later on in Benthuizen, are working in Moerkapelle in the 1850s.
Multiples
There were six sets of twins born in the 1850s in Moerkapelle, all to different couples. Which is about 4% of the births in this time period.
Mothers
The birth records of the civil registration give almost no information about the mothers. Aside from their names and profession (if they have one), nothing is reported on them. The only exception are the unwed mothers, whose age is also recorded in most cases (see illegitimate births above).
There are no professions listed for any mothers, not even the unmarried women. I find that unlikely, and think it is more of a quirk of the person recording it. Even the married women will probably have had some form of income, for instance by helping their husband on a farm or taking in some work. However, records will mostly not reflect this reality.
Fathers
The birth records of the civil registration give quite a bit of information about the fathers. Aside from their names, it also gives their age, profession and a clue about their literacy.
Ages
The average age of the fathers in the records is 33 years old. The highest age that a male became a father is 56 years old and the lowest age is 21 years old. These numbers do not take into account whether the child that is born is the first child for the father or a later child, and fathers have been counted all the times they are in the records.
Professions
The professions of the fathers are very different. Below is a list of professions present in the record for the fathers. Fathers who appeared in the records multiple times were only counted once, unless their profession changed.
Laborer (Dutch: arbeider) – 138
Farmer (Dutch: bouwman (52) and landbouwer (3)) – 55
Merchant (Dutch: koopman) – 12
Shoemaker (Dutch: schoenmaker) – 10
Carpenter’s apprentice (Dutch: timmermansknecht) – 9
Smith (Dutch: smid) – 8
Shopkeeper (Dutch: winkelier) – 7
Taylor (Dutch: kleermaker) – 4
Skipper (Dutch: schipper) – 4
Dyer (Dutch: verver) – 4
Wheelwright (Dutch: wagenmaker) – 4
Farmhand (Dutch: bouwknecht) – 3
Innkeeper (Dutch: herbergier) – 3
Mason (Dutch: metselaar) – 3
Pastor (Dutc: predikant) – 3
Water miller (Dutch: watermolenaar) – 3
Messenger (Dutch: boodschaploper) – 2
Bread baker (Dutch: broodbakker) – 2
Market skipper (Dutch: marktschipper) – 2
Mason’s apprentice (Dutch: metselaarsknecht) – 2
Carpenter (Dutch: timmerman) – 2
Trader (middleman) (Dutch: commissionair) – 1
Mailman (Dutch: postbode) – 1
Gardener (Dutch: tuinman) – 1
Aside from the fathers, there were also a few different witnesses. Sometimes they appear as fathers as well. The witnesses, of which there are only a few different ones over the years, have as professions shoe maker, smith, farmer, laborer, gardener, farmhand, carpenter, and teacher.
Because the records span multiple years and several of the men appear more than once, sometimes you either get more information about the exact nature of their profession, or you see them advance.
Literacy
It was not until well into the twentieth century that most people in the Netherlands were able to write.[1] The birth records give a clue as to the literacy of the men in the community, as they had to sign it, and it was written down when they couldn’t because of an inability to write. Though for some (perhaps most) being able to write their name might have been the extent of their literacy. For 38 births, the fathers declared not to be able to write. However, there are quite a few doubles in that. There are about 15 different men that declare they cannot write. All of them are laborers, except for a carpenter’s apprentice and a mason’s apprentice.
Moerkapelle 