Help on my brick wall, Hendrika Jacoba (Gross) Boeyens (abt.1844-1933) will be appreciated

Question

She came to South Africa after 1840 and married Jan Christoffel Antonie Boeyens in about 1865. Her place of birth is stated as "Holland" on her Information of a Death as recorded on her profile. Additional information is given under Research Notes on her profile. There is evidence that she arrived in South Africa with Dr. Willem Rein Schummelketel. I assumed that he was her mother's brother (her uncle), but I failed to get a connection.

I will appreciate any help to find her parents, who probably stayed in Holland or maybe she was already an orphan. There is also a hint that she lost a brother and a sister during the trip to South Africa.

Thank you in advance.

Piet van Zyl

Comments

Can you please tag your question with the relevant area/country?

Answer 1

The story states that she arrived with 'her uncle' Schummelketel. I'm extending that tree, see https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Schummelketel-2 They are from a Notable family, although some were skipper as well. No clue for a Gross yet.

They also frequently moved to Bentheim, Germany. Gross is a more common name in Germany, maybe that is a better link.

Answer 2

I don't have a direct answer to your question, but please note that Boeijens and Boeijen are slightly more common spellings of the name. Hendrica (with a C instead of a K) is also a variant, and I have seen Jakoba with a K instead of a C as well.

Comments

We South Africans got lazy with the ij (pronounced y). In the fast handwriting the ij looked like ÿ. That lead to more laziness and the ÿ became just y.

My own surname is an example: van Zijl became van Zÿl, became van Zyl.

Answer 3

I found  Hendrika Jacoba Gros born  1847-03-05 in  The Hague / 's-Gravenhage. Her mother was also Hendrika Jacoba Gros  https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939D-WTJN-B?i=103&cc=1576401&cat=152271
 

At the headstone is mentioned that she was 86 year, so she must be born in 1847.

Hendrika Jacoba Gros (her mother) was born 1825-12-07 in The Hague, she was the daughter of Johan Pieter Gros and Hendrica Antonia van Voorden https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939D-WZBW-S?i=296&cc=1576401&cat=152271

I hope to find more sources

Comments

I am stunned and thankful... Many thank yous. Piet

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I don't know if this is the right person. I can't find any trace of her and her mother.

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I could not find any record on mother Gros but possibly her death in Gorinchem, 1884

• https://www.wiewaswie.nl/nl/detail/22340415
• "Netherlands, Zuid-Holland Province, Civil Registration, 1679-1942," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6GP9-BDY?cc=1576401&wc=9PGN-829%3A108146201%2C109963801 : 8 July 2014), Gorinchem > Overlijden 1883-1894 > image 119 of 1030; Nationaal Archief, Den Haag (National Archives, The Hague).

It is recorded that she was not married, born in 's-Gravenhage, age 54, names of family unknown to (unrelated) informants. Except for the age this might fit Elsa's birth find

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Sjaak,

It may well be the correct record. A lot of the puzzle fits.

Hendrika Jacoba Gros came to South Africa with Dr Schummelketel and his wife to start a new beginning in Prince Albert. Most likely she came from a hopeless situation at home without a father or stable environment. Her father is not mentioned on her birth registration... that says a lot. The mother dies at 54- unmarried and without family support. This confirms the probability that there was no normal family structure.

Regards

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Schummelketel emigrated with his wife and 2 childerenhttps://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSLD-BSXG-D?i=90&cat=227789

Interesting story a dutch boy who emigrated to South Africa

https://www.nporadio1.nl/nieuws/geschiedenis/387aab20-8b3a-431c-9c20-54569372fccb/als-kinderemigrant-werken-in-zuid-afrika-zo-ging-dat-in-de-19e-eeuw
Child migration of orphaned or disadvantaged children.

https://www.lunenberg.info/gerrit-een-kinderemigrant

Maybe she was one of those children.