"How did they find each other"

My fathers name plate 1938 - on my desk 2011

This enamel name plate is about 73 years old.  When my father married my mother in 1938, it was normal custom for everyone to have a name plate on their door, so everyone in Holland had a name plate on their door.

The first house my parents lived in was Oos-Indiske Kade, 30, Wormerveer, they took it with them to their second house in Delistraat, 45, Wormerveer.  The reason was so the postie did not mix up the letters.  The sign was Jb Poulain, Jb stands for Jacob.   The women's mail would always be addressed to their christian, maiden and then married names e.g. my mother would be Mrs Aaltje van den Berg - Poulain.

My brother Louie who was not married continued to live in the house after my father died.  Louie was visiting New Zealand when he died in 1986, he was buried in Hastings.  How the name-plate came into my possession, is because a neighbour took care of the house, and took the name-plate of the door and put it in a box with other bits 'n pieces.  When my sister Hilda went back to visit Holland she was given the box and brought it back to New Zealand she gave the plate to me because I have the same name.  It is now proudly displayed and fixed to my desk, it will be passed onto my daughter Jacoby who has the female version of the name Jacob.  Several of my Dutch grandfathers are called Jacob, and my Dutch grandmother was Jacobtje, the more modern version was Jacoba, but my wife Keriana liked Jacoby.  In Holland we are not allowed new names, but in New Zealand you can have any name you like, so I agreed, but found it most unusual, everyone in New Zealand loved the name Jacoby.

The Story of a Mill-Stone Mason

 Louis Poulain 

 Jansje Bas

Louis Poulain

Felicien Poulain

Jacob Poulain (Snr)

Jacob Poulain (Jnr)

My great grandfather Louis Poulain was born on March 25, 1848 in Ecuassinnes d Enghien, Belgium (however his forefathers came from France), he died in Zaan, Holland on January 7, 1897.  Louis married Jansje Bas in Koog A/D Zaan, they married on December 14, 1873, Holland.  Together they had ten children three died as infants.

Louis was a skilled stone-mason in our district Zaan Streek, where there are hundreds of windmills operating with huge mill stones to grind the grain.  These stones had to be cut and shaped with chisels and files, all by hand, there was no machinery available.

There was a shortage of workers especially in Zaan Streek where all the windmills were, so they brought workers out from Belgium.  Louis arrived in Holland in 1869, he was a quiet serious man, who worked hard.  Jansje his wife was always cheerful; she loved making jokes, and played the mouth organ.  But he died at 49 years from lung-poisoning from the dust of the stones, leaving behind eight children, two girls and six boys.  He had been a widow for several years, his wife Jansje Bas died at the age of 41 years; we don't know how she died.  After Louis died, four of his sons Felicien, Maarten, Francois and Albert went to live in an orphanage; the oldest son Louis (Jnr) was already married, and Louis’s two daughters Elizabeth and Marie-Celene were also grown up and working.

None of our family has ever met this Poulain family, in fact we never knew, the two girls Elizabeth and Marie-Celene existed, our father never talked about them, yet all our lives they only lived 10 km from us in the next village. 

I do like Louis's beard, if only my wife would let me grow mine, oh well not meant to be I suppose.

Source:  Looijen J.C. (Compiled) What is some-one from Belgium doing in de Zaanstreek.  Genealogie van Louis Poulain 1848-1897 en Jansje Bas 1852-1893.  The Story of a Mill-Stone Mason.