Where is Hendrik junior?

rodney — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 05:52:37 +0000

The will of Hendrik Van Cooten (transcript) in 1825 implies that Hendrik had two sons, Cornelis and Hendrik, born out of wedlock, prior to his marriage to Dorothea Nicols.

The will says that Hendrik junior has “absented himself from Holland where he had been for his education so that no tidings from him have been received by me for several years.”

It turns out that Hendrik senior wasn’t the only person concerned about Hendrik junior’s whereabouts.

I’ve just found the following in Amsterdamse Courant of 10 May 1800, found in the MyHeritage Netherlands Newspapers, 1659-1899 collection.

Transcription:
Indien iemand met zekerheid weet naricht te geeven van het Verblyf, Leeven of Dood, van eenen HENDRIK VAN
COOTEN, van Demerary, in het Jaar 1794, als Matroos nebbende gediend onder Kapitein SIMON RYNTJES, doch in
Maart 1795, afgadankt, en federd zyn verblyf onbekend zynde, wordt verzocht zich en adresseeren by den Boekverkooper
J. TEN BRINK GZ., in de Warmoesstraat, over de St. Annastraat, zal daar voor eene belooning genieten.—Zullende ge-
melde HENDRIK VAN COOTEN, nog in leeven zynde, vriend lyk ontvaugen en gelegenne gegeven worden om na zyn
genoegen te kunnen worden geholpen, waneer zich dezelve in Persoon o per Missive, aan gein. Boekverkooper a levesfeerd.

Rough Translation:
If someone knows with certainty about the Residence, Life or Death, of a HENDRIK VAN
COOTEN, from Demerary, in the Year 1794, serving as a Sailor, serving under Captain SIMON RYNTJES, but in
March 1795, retired, and residence was unknown, are invited and addressed by the book seller
J. TEN BRINK GZ., In the Warmoesstraat, on the St. Annastraat, will be rewarded there for a reward.
pleasure to be helped when they are in person or per Missive. Book seller is supplied.

Hendrik senior was born in Doorn in 1750, and arrived in Demerara about 1773. Hendrik junior could well have been born not long after, which would feasibly have him at about 20 in 1794.

The J. ten Brink making the enquiry is quite probably Jan ten Brink, book store owner and publisher. Netherlands Wikipedia has an entry for him. I wonder why he was being enquired about? Did he owe money?

Newspapers as sources

rodney — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:21:05 +0000

In a previous item I referred to the Australian Newspapers on line project. There are a number of other resources that I have encountered in my research.

The first I would like to mention is the transcription of Guyana colonial newspapers being transcribed by John Wilmer. These are a valuable source of information for an area for which it is extremely difficult to obtain any primary sources.

A great newspaper source for English research is the 19th Century British newspapers from the British Library. I have accessed these online by being eligible for a reader’s card at the National Library of Australia (NLA) and the State Library of Victoria (SLV). I’ll give some examples of specific interesting items in a subsequent item. The NLA also provides access to the 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers, however I’ve yet to explore these fully.

Another great resource provided through the NLA and SLV is the Times Digital Archive. I’ve found a number of Van Cooten and Smithers items in this collection.

Newspapers – Van Cooten Voices

Where is Hendrik junior?

Newspapers as sources