How prosperous was Leeuwenhoek's family?

Subsistence level: street vendors, resellers, day laborers, vagrants, beggars, unemployed who fall in and out of the next group.

Leeuwenhoek

None of his relatives, at least in the 1600's and 1700's, seemed to fall into this group.

included in 10 - 20% below

beggar

Service personnel inside and outside the house or building, soldiers, seamen, and the large group of unskilled laborers.

Leeuwenhoek

On his father's side, his grandfather or perhaps his great-grandfather was the generation that learned basket making, which would have taken them out of this group. On his mother's side, we would have to go beyond the extant documents into the 1400's or even 1300's to find this generation.

10 - 20%

bleacher

Skilled laborers, often self-employed, storekeepers, minor public servants such as toll collectors at bridges.

Leeuwenhoek

His paternal grandfather, a basket maker, was probably in this group. His father and uncle at some point, became prosperous enough to move into the next group. When Leeuwenhoek opened his draper's shop in 1655, he no doubt began in this group. By the time his camerbewaarder salary reached 400 guilders in the mid-1660's, he was in this group.

25%

watchmaker

Skilled laborer, usually a guild member, prosperous storekeepers, more educated public employees such as bookkeepers, schoolteachers, managers, and inspectors.

Leeuwenhoek

If not his grandfather, then his father may have been in this group given the size of their home and workshop on the Oosteinde. Given the extent of their real estate holdings, Leeuwenhoek's uncle Huijch and Huijch's son Lambrecht, master baskermaker, may have been at this level, too.

35%

schoolmaster

Successful craftsmen and retailers, such as booksellers and grocers, lower ranks of military officers and city officials, such as clerks and messengers.

Leeuwenhoek

His salaries for his camerbewaarder and city inspector jobs combined moved Leeuwenhoek into this group by his 50's. His cousin Maerten, also uncle Huijch's son, may have made this much during the years he was a tax farmer for the City. On Leeuwenhoek's mother's side, the van den Berch's who were cloth sellers and brewers were in this group and the next one up, too.

12 - 14%

attorney

Regents, high city officials, prosperous merchants and entrepreneurs, the most successful doctors, notaries, and attorneys.

Leeuwenhoek

His van den Berch and Hogenhouck relatives were among the most prosperous regent families in Delft. By the end of his life, the annual interest on Leeuwenhoek's bonds and annuities far exceeded this threshold. Even in retirement, his income from the City continued. While Leeuwenhoek never reached the level of Delft's most prosperous regents and he didn't seem to have invested heavily in real estate, he was among the wealthiest of Delft's citizens when he died, as was his daughter when she died twenty years later. Perhaps if Leeuwenhoek had had a son or son-in-law, he would have benefited from Antony's success and been accepted among the regents.

6 - 8%

regent family members sergeant Willem Claesz. van Assendelft and flag bearer Pieter Harmensz. van Ruyven of the Witte Vendel (white banner) civic guards