Kinship Boundaries in the Southern Dutch Village of Heugem in 1796

Peter Prevos

Kinship

Language of social structure

Influences social behaviour

Culturally dependant

Strength of ties

Little information about non-household kin available

Overview of the Eskimo kinship terminology. Commonly used in northern European societies. Source: Wikipedia.

Kinship as a Social Boundary

Council of TrentControl sexual behaviour

Marriage impediments

Kinship systemConsanguinity

Affinity

Ritual

The Council of Trent depicted by Pasquale Cati. Source: Wikipedia.

Methodology

Genealogical method

Synchronic viewPoint in time

Anthropological approach

Sources1796 census

Parish records

Civil registration (post 1796)

Secondary sources

Household sizes in Heugem (based on corrected population list).

1796 Census

All citizens over 12 years of ageName

Age

Profession

Origin

Number of children

Dpartement of the First French Empire in present day Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. Source: Wikipedia.

Internal police act of the commune of the Republic (1795)

Other Sources

Parish registersBaptisms

Marriages

Deaths

Civil registrationGenLias

Secondary sourcesBoersma (2002)

Paquay (2005)

St Michael Church in Heugem. Source: Wikipedia.

Sources

MethodologyFollow standard family history methodology as described by La Haye and van Drie

Assumed that baptism witnesses are related to child in cases where the parents are not immediately apparent

All data digitised in Gedcom file.

Family history data matched with census

Used discussion model to correct the census many children not mentioned.

Heugem in the 18th Century

Part of the county of Gronsveld

Market garden economy

1742, 1788 en 1788: Floods

1794: Maastricht capitulates to the French

1796: French census

Heugem in 1808 on the 'Tranchot map'.

Heugem is currently a suburb of Maastrich, but formed in the 18th century part of the county of Gronsveld, which formed part of the imperial circle of Westphalia

Heugem formed its own parish (St Michael)

Economically dependant upon Maastricht

Fertile floodplains of the river MaasFloods were regular occurences

1795: Incorporated in the French empireDepartment of Meuse-Infrieure

1796: French census

Demography: Population List

39 houses

173 inhabitants53% men

Life expectancy 66 years

89% born in Heugem

90% dies in Heugem

Population pyramid for Heugem.

Demographics39 houses with 172 inhabitantsAverage age 30 years

Youngest is two weeks old. Priest is the oldest (95)

Life expectancy for men 67 and for women 64 years1.2% of children dies before the age of ten

31 people (18%) reach the age of 80 and over

All born within 30km radius from Heugem

ProfessionsHousewife: 32

Farmer : 12

Day labourer: 10

Blacksmith: 3

Gardener: 3

Cobler: 2

Baker, brandy maker, mayor, sexton, milliner, teacher and carpenter

Poverty: 6

Priest

Five women were pregnant

Two identical twins (one deceased)

Six inhabitants born within 32 weeks from their parent's marriage.

Demography: Households

Dominated by nuclear households

One household with apprentice from other family

One single household

Kinship: Traditional View

Kinship: Heugem Overview

KindredMaleFemaleTotal

Parents93101194

Children10787194

Siblings190166356

Aunts/uncles128137265

Nephews/Nieces154111265

Cousins434336770

Grandparents302858

Grandchildren342458

Total1,1709902,160

Kinship: Matrix view

Individual connections

RedParents

Siblings

GreenUncles

Grandparents

Grandchildren

Nephews/nieces

YellowCousins

Kinship: Social Networks

Visualise social structure

LegendArrow: parent-child

Triangle: male

Circle: female

Blue: Born in Heugem

Red: Born elsewhere

White: Deceased

Partial network view of the Beckers family.

Kinship: Social Network view

Family relationships in Heugem

The network view provides a visual snapshot of the social relation in Heugem

The more central a person is in the diagram, the more connections they haveHousehold 39: Laurentius Beckers (de oude) and his wife are the most connected people in Heugem

Some connections have not been confirmed (dotted lines)

Conclusions

Kinship created a social boundary

Heugem a close community with few links to other villages

Further Research

Compare Heugem with other villagesSame methodology

Crowd-sourcing Internet research

prevos.net/heugem

Wie Was Wie genealogical website.

People per householdNumber of householdsAantal

1

5

7

9

106

107

102

100

102

AgeNumber of peopleMenWomen

0-10-3019

11-20-1213

21-30-1010

31-40-913

41-50-711

51-60-116

61-70-95

71-80-23

81-90-10

91-100-10