Digital Arena

Author: 
Archief Delft
Publisher: 
Gemeente Delft
Year: 
2007

Digital Arena, the digital archive of some of the Delft city archives.

The wonderful folks at Archief Delft are digitizing as much as they can as fast as they can. They have begun to put it online, some of it at the Digital Arena:

  • ONA (Oud Notarieel Archief - Old Notary Archive) notary records
  • Archive of the Charters - OAD 66 - 325 and hundreds more on the LAD (on right side-bar menu, see Old Archive and under Other sources, Collectie Losse Aanwinsten Delft). The charters in the OAD are more more like treaties, many of them between the dukes and counts ruling Holland and the increasingly wealthy and powerful merchants ruling Delft. The charters in the LAD are more like contracts. For example, in 1737, Leeuwenhoek's great-niece Elisabeth, transferred an annuity to her son Cornelis.
  • Crimineelboeken - ORA 46 - 53 (See Old Judicial Archive on right)

digitized and searchable:

  • number 49 1653 - 1684

  • number 50 1684 - 1726

  • number 51 1726 - 1781

  • number 52 1782 - 1805

  • number 53 1806 - 1811

Most of the information relating to Leeuwenhoek and his family and friends come from the Notary archives. On the welcome page of the Digital Arena web site, you can see the two dozen notaries out of the hundred and forty-some whose records are all or partly digitized. Clicking on Inhoudsopgave (list of contents) will show a more detailed list of which inventory numbers are available online.

Of the notaries who were active during van Leeuwenhoek's life, they have made available the complete records of:

  • Johan van Ruiven from 1638 to 1670
  • Willem Broccart 1686 - 1691
  • Cornelis van der Sleyden 1694 - 1722
  • Cornelis 's-Gravesande 1696 - 1717
  • Adriaan Hoppesteijn van Leeuwen from 1702 to 1724
  • Hubert Zagius 1705 - 1708

They have a portion of those of:

  • Johannes Ranck 1652 - 1682
  • Govert Rota, 1640 - 1659
  • Frans Boogert, 1642 - 1676
  • Schalckius van der Walle 1643 - 1662
  • Frans van Hurck 1650 - 1687
  • Johannes de Bries 1685 - 1730
  • Adriaen Leeuwenhoeck 1687 - 1729
  • Willem Vlaardingerwoud 1709 - 1741

A June 2012 search of the database for ant* for Voornam (forename) and leeuwenh* for Familienaam (family name) produced fourteen documents (see table below) that refer to Antony Philips Leeuwenhoek, spelled four different ways: Leeuwenhouck (1655), Leeuwenhoeck (1717), Leeuwenhoeck (1718), and Leeuwenhoek for the rest of them. Only two of them use the van in his name. The two entries for his daughter Maria include references to her father.

The gap between 1655 and 1708 does not denote inactivity. It shows the gaps in the digitization process. Johannes Ranck was the notary for the 1655 action. Jan de Bries was the notary for the 1708 action. Further digitization will fill in these gaps.

noordbelending = property adjoining on the north
voogd = guardian
schuldeiser = money owed to him
legaat = bequest
 
inventaris = estate inventory
testament = will
afrekening = settlement of accounts, either payment or receipt
scheiding = division, usually of property; also divorce
koop, verkoop = buy, sell
Clicking in a row above will show you the document's page on the Digitale Arena site. You can see a scan of the original document by clicking Toon akte (show act) in the top right corner. However, because you got there via a link rather than a database search, you will not see the list of people (Personen in deze acte). To see these names and information about them, you must return to the search page (zoeken) and run your own query.

The screen shot (above) of the page for the first item on the table shows the information read by humans off the original document. Below are the Dutch terms translated into English

Back to the results list --- Show act
Previous --- Next
Notary Johannes Ranck, inventory number 2113F, Folio 252
Type of act --- scheiding = division (of property)
Date of act --- 11-05-1655
Persons in this act --- Profession --- Residence --- Role --- Remarks (page number)
erfgenaam = beneficiary
notarisklerk = notary clerk
getuige = witness
Place --- Place name --- Function --- Street side --- Page reference
Groene Velt = Green Field (house name)
huis en erf = house and yard
Oosteinde oz = Oosteinde east side
Remarks