Trijntje Harmenz - second wife of Willem van Wijk email: Richard Ball

|   |   |   |

	Trijntje Harmens is first recorded living with Willem van Wijk as his wife in the Opgaaf Roll of 1695, and she continues in the Muster and Opgaaf records as his wife until she is recorded as his widow in 1702. On 31st March 1702 Trijntje Harmensz: is named in the Weeskamer minutes1 as the widow of Willem van Wijk who had first been married to Trijntje Hillebrands. I assume that the marriage took place at Drakenstein - there is no record of it or its date.  In the Opgaaf rolls of 1695 Willem and Trijntje Harmens are recorded with two sons and one daughter. The two sons must be Arij and Gerrit, sons of the first wife2,3  so the daughter must belong to Trijntje Hermansz: and is possibly Anna van Wijk4, suggesting that Willem and Trijntje Harmensz must have been together since 1694 and, pending further evidence, I shall assume the marriage took place then.  By 1700 (Opgaaf roll) they have two sons and two daughters, suggesting that Anna had been born by then, and in 1702 they are listed with 3 sons and 2 daughters, giving a possible birth date for Willem.4 The couple are recorded in all these records as living in Drakenstein. There are no records of the baptism of any of children of this couple in any of the Cape baptismal registers of the period, except possibly one in the Drakenstein Church Records5. The Drakenstein baptisms which would have covered this period are known to be in large part lost or defective. The sons  of Willem van Wijk and his two wives, Arij, Gerrit and Willem van Wijk, are recognisable by their use in their adult lives of the patronymic 'Willemsz:' in addition to their surname of Van Wijk; Gerrit and Willem used this device more consistently than Arij. This was to distinguish them from other Van Wijks with the same forenames. There would appear to have been no other Willem van Wijk for them to have been sons of. Other evidence: for Gerrit Willemsz van Wyk In the Inventory 6 taken after the death of Arij van Wijk Willemsz: (1731), reference is made to Gerrit van Wijk, brother-in-law of Antonetta Campher. Witnesses to baptisms were usually close relations of the child, usually grandparents or aunts and uncles, but those for the children of Gerrit van Wijk Willemsz: include a number of apparently unrelated people, but where they are related they are: Arij van Wijk and Antonetta Campher (1730), and Christiaen Victor and Catharian Kervel who would be his brother and sister if my interpreation is correct. for Arij Willemsz van Wyk Since he has generally been accepted as the son of Willem van Wijk perhaps we don't need to provide any evidence and, indeed we cannot! The baptism of his children give us little in the way of evidence, in 1714 Gerrit van Wyk and Aletta van Wyk, in 1725 Isaak Nieuwout and Anna van Wyk, otherwise no Van Wyk relations, and, as plain Arij van Wyk he was twice a baptismal witness to his sister Anna van Wyk's children. for Willem Willemsz van Wijk There is practically no other documentary evidence for his parentage. We only know he was not the child of Arie van Wyk and Cornelia Helmes (note), nor the child of Arij van Wijk and Antonetta Campher (note), that he is pretty consistently called Willem Willemsz van Wyk and that, according to the Weeskamer notes4, Willem van Wyk and Trijntje Harmensz did have a son called Willem.
	The above notes were written and researched by Richard Ball ©2003-2005  with help from André Kellerman, Graham Lloyd and Mansell Upham.
	1. 1702. 31 Maart na het overleijden van den vrijman Willem van Wijk, diezijn 2 voorkinderen geprocureert bij zijn eerste huijsvr: Trijntje Hillebrands ter Weescamer beweesen heeft f 1729 : desselfs nagelaatene wed: Trijnte Harmensz: ter Weescamer compareerende is afgevraagt, om het voorsz bewijs ter weescamer [is afgevraagt, om - deleted] te moeten brengen ...  (MOOC 5/1, Weesmeesteren: Extracten 1699 enz., p.7 recto: courtesy of Mansell Upham)
	2. Inventaris ... Goederen nagelaten bij de overledene vrijborgeresse Trijntjen Hillebrants ten behoeve van haare Egte man Willem van Wijk ten eenen en twee minderjarige kinderen anderen sijde ...  (Caper Archives - MOOC 8/5, 40 - 25 September 1731)
	3. 1712. 2. 7br: ... Arij en Gerrit van Wijk meede kinderen van de voorm' Willem van Wijk d'oude in voorig huwelijk verwekt bij desselfs eerste vrouw sal: Trijntje Hillebrands ...  (MOOC 5/1, Weesmeesteren: Extracten 1699 enz., p.7 verso)
	4. 1712. 2. 7br: ... haar 3 minderjarige kinderen Maria, Anna en Willem van Wijk geprocureert bij haar overleedene man Willem van Wijk d'oude ...  (MOOC 5/1, Weesmeesteren: Extracten 1699 enz., p.7 verso)
	5. 31 Julij 1703 Guillaume, d'Vader Willem van (sic), d'Moeder Trijn arme, de getuijgen David Senecal en Magdalena du Puis (Drakenstein Baptismal Register) Note: This date is too late for him to be the son of Willem van Wijk, unless the baptism came rather longer after the birth than seems to have been usual at that time, or the copying the baptism was defective and mistakenly put under 1703 rather than 1702 where it would make sense
	6. Inventaris ... den goederen ... Wijle Arij van Wijk ten voordeelen van sijn huijsvrouw Antonetta Campher ... in presentie van haar swager gerrit van Wijk ...  (Caper Archives - MOOC 8/5, 40 - 25 September 1731)

|     |    |