Website Spotlight
Hier is de tweede aflevering van “Website Spotlights”, een selectie van bijdragen die op de Familie website www.crommelin.org te vinden zijn. Een korte inleiding wordt gegeven met de website link voor degenen die het volledige artikel willen zien. Deze rubriek wordt in het Engels gepresenteerd om ook onze buitenlandse familieleden meer bij de Crommelin geschiedenis en activiteiten te betrekken.
Louis Crommelin Memorial – Grave Desecration – HELP NEEDED!
In December 2010 we reported that the bronze cameo portrait of Louis Crommelin had disappeared. It was either stolen or spirited away from the Lisburn Cathedral graveyard in Ireland. This cameo was part of a bronze plaque that was erected on railings around the Crommelin burial area in 1964.
The ceremony that unveiled the plaque originally took place following a fundraising initiative organized by Ru Crommelin with contributions from family members to help finance this project. Ru, along with Ankie Labouchère-Crommelin and her son, Frits Fabius, represented the family during the unveiling in 1964 which took place in the presence of several local dignitaries.
The Lisburn Museum and Town Council are anxious to restore the grave and have requested architectural advice regarding next steps. Lack of funds may have contributed to the delay of this project. Angélique Day, a historian and descendant of Louis through the Crommelin-de La Cherois line, keeps Govert Deketh regularly updated on the progress of this restoration project. We have some ideas about how the family could help, and will make a detailed proposal once the deliberations of the Lisburn authorities have concluded.
The Huguenot name that is probably the best known in the Lisburn graveyard is that of Crommelin, thanks to the activities of Louis Crommelin. In 1697 Louis was asked by King William III to come to Ireland to become the overseer of the Royal Linen Manufacture. He came to Lisburn about 1698 and established a weaving operation in Lisburn and a bleach yard at Hilden. In 1705 he published an “Essay towards the Improving of the Hempen and Flaxen Manufacture in Ireland”, the first book in English on the subject. Much of the improved spinning, weaving and bleaching techniques were based on his knowledge of Dutch and Flemish practices in this industry.
For more on Louis Crommelin visit our website.
Queen Wilhelmina as seen by
Marinus and Edward CrommelinMiff posted an interesting set of photos taken by his grandfather, Marinus Crommelin (1882-1958) in the year 1898. They show the first official visit of the new Queen Wilhelmina to Amsterdam shortly after her coronation in September 1898. Being a talented 16-year old photographer, Marinus managed to take some nice views of the young queen on a rainy autumn day in Amsterdam.
Frederic de Conink Translation Project
Family members who are interested in the French origins of our family will be pleased to find translations of letters from Frederic de Coninck [a son of Catherine Crommelin and a nephew of Daniel Crommelin] dating back to the late 1600's. These letters mention our ancestor Daniel Crommelin around the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685; his residence at Greenway Court, Kent, England in the 1680's; his departure for Jamaica in 1693; and his eventual migration to New York in 1694. These letters also mention the Testarts and van Wickevoorts so they help bring many of our early ancestors to 'life'.
Crommelin Houses
Addresses in AmsterdamIn the Autumn 2004 Crommelin Journal Liesbeth Crommelin and Henk Visser wrote an extensive article on the history of the Crommelin houses on the Herengracht, Amsterdam. We added some other addresses some of which were found on a list found by Maryse Trannois in the SHPF (Protestant) museum in Paris.
