Marriage of Jelles Douwes and Hester Douwedr

This is a microfilm copy of the original Banns (marriage vows) between Jelles Douwes and Hester Douwedr in 1641. Surnames were not used at the time in Holland. Douwes means son of Douw, Douwedr means daughter of Douw… they were not related, that we know of. The first image is the Baans certificate and the second is the register (Jilles and Hester are the second of three couples shown). Can anyone translate this into English?

jellisdouwe_1641_baans-registerjellisdouwe_1641_baans-certificate

(These images are courtesy of Kenneth David Fonda of Conyers, Georgia, USA who obtained them from his father, Frederick Martin Fonda, a member of the Holland Society).

Translation and clarification

In March 2009, Harry Snijder of the Netherlands provided an important clarification and English translation of these records. He identified the left image as an Amsterdam baptism record and the right image as the marriage bann for Jelle Douwes and Hester Douwes.

Marriage bann translation

19 January 1641
Appeared before us [the magistrates] Jelle Douwes of Agum, smith’s apprentice, living on Bickers Island, without parents, assisted by [name obscured], age 25 years; and Hester Douwes of Amsterdam, living on the Keizersgracht (Emperor’s Canal), age 24 years, without parents, assisted by Elsgen Douwes, her stepmother.

Signatures:
Jelle Douwes
Hester Douwessen

These persons were married on 10 February 1641 in Diemen, by [name of clergyman unreadable].

Snijder also explained that the baptism record identifies Jelle Douwesz as the father, Ester Douwes as the mother, Annetje Jans as witness, and their firstborn son as Douwe.

He noted that examination of the original handwriting supported the given name Jelle, rather than Jilles or Jellis. The form Douwes/Douwesz is patronymic, meaning essentially “son of Douwe.”

The crossed-out wording in the marriage bann appears to conceal the name Elsgen Douwes, Hester’s stepmother. Snijder suggested that the clerk may have become confused because Jelle, Hester and Elsgen all carried the same patronymic.

An important genealogical detail

Snijder further reported that the notes in the left margin refer to death certificates for Jelle’s parents.

This is significant because an earlier interpretation had suggested that Jelle’s parents were still living but simply absent from the marriage proceedings. If the marginal notes instead document their deaths, that changes the genealogical interpretation and may provide an important clue for tracing Jelle’s family in the Netherlands.

Translation and interpretation contributed by Harry Snijder, Netherlands, March 2009. The material originally appeared in the comments to this post and has been incorporated here so that it remains part of the permanent article.