About the Dutch Fergusons
William Ferguson is the ancestor of all Dutch Fergusons.
Unfortunately not much is known about Williams' time in Scotland and England.
He was born in 1735 in Kelso, Scotland, from where he went to London via Northumberland. In 1760 he married Elisabeth Buckley there and they had no fewer than 8 children. Elisabeth died in London in 1793.
In 1780 he left for Amsterdam and in 1782 he was registered in Amsterdam as a burgher. He married again in 1794 in Longnor near Leek (Staffordshire UK) to Cicily Godbeheve and we had 2 more children.
William Ferguson opened a silver shop in 1785 in the Kalverstraat - Amsterdam, on the corner with the Weeshuispoortje. The building at Wijde Kapelsteeg 5 is still there and can easily be found: Click here for the link.
William died in Amsterdam in 1796 and was buried in the Noorderkerk.
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Jonathan, William's grandson, left for Curaçao in 1818. You can read more about this in 'Stories from the Old Box - Landgoed Ascencion.’
He had 4 children, of which the 2nd George August Laan * married Anna Constancia Kikkert. They had 17 children.
His brother Jan Helenus ** married Maria Eleanor Waijmouth and they had 13 children.
This resulted in 2 lines of descendants: the Group of 17 and the Group of 13, of which we can still see the division both in the Netherlands and all over the world.
It is striking to report that many artists and intellectuals descend from the Group of 13. The ancestor of this group was a diplomat and inventor.
The Group of 17 has actually produced more doctors and here the ancestor was a doctor.
Which group do you belong to and how does it fit you? Otherwise, ask the Archivist of the Dutch Ferguson! Click here.
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** IV A 3
Old Family Stories
Jonathan Ferguson *, the grandson of our forefather William Ferguson, left for Curaçao in 1817. There he married, now 34 years old, the orphaned girl Helena Elisabeth Martijn of 14 years old (FOURTEEN!). Together they had 4 children.
Helena was well-mediated thanks to an inheritance and from this money he bought the Ascencion estate in Curaçao in 1829 for 58,000 guilders **.
Jonathan died when his widow was 24 years old. Their children were between the ages of 5 and 8 years old. Unfortunately, she had to sell the estate on December 24, 1836 for only 16,000 guilders, because she could not bear the costs for the interest on the loan **.
That year there were only 4 slaves, of which 2 children, in her possession who belonged to the mansion. They were manumitted in 1856.
Country house Ascension still exists and can even be visited: Click here for more information.
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** For comparison: In 2020 this is approximately equal to € 675,000.00
Fergusons have also gone through difficult times.
We introduce to you: Helena Elisabeth Ferguson-Martijn *. The photo shows a somewhat sad portrait of a woman, toothless and a bit emaciated. She actually did not have much of a childhood: At the age of 14 she got married, at the age of 16 she had her first child, at 19 her fourth and at the age of 24 she was a widow with the task to bring up 4 children.
She was called "Groot Leentje". “Groot” not as an abbreviation for grandmother (“grootmoeder” in Dutch), but referring to the size of her character and ability (“groot” means ‘big’ in Dutch). According to Stance **: "I've never heard the "Groot" said with so much awe!".
She married Jonathan *** and they bought Landhuis Ascension (see above) with her money. This was sold at a great loss after his death. She had to place one of her daughters in a 'insane asylum' on "t Rif" in Curaçao. This was subsequently swept away by a hurricane.
Ultimately, Groot Leentje started making marmalade. Her one son George August Laan **** would eventually become a doctor and son Jan Helenus ***** became consul in China (see also below: "Audience with the Emperor of China).
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**: VI C 1
***: III A 2
****: IV A 2
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Deze gravure is gemaakt met toestemming van Buitenlandse Zaken van China, door Malet, secretaris van de Britse Legatie in Peking.
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Het is 29 juni 1873, 9 uur 's morgens. Prins Kung (knielend) zegt de Keizer dat de geloofsbrieven van de staatshoofden van verschillende staten voor hem liggen. Deze was eenvoudig in het paars gekleed, zonder versierselen. De 4 Prinsessen achter de Keizer droegen een kleed met gouden draken geborduurd op de rug en schouders.
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De centrale figuur van de gezanten is Mr.Wade van Groot Britannie, rechts van hem Gouverneur Low van de VS, en generaal Vlangaly van Rusland. Daarachter staat de Heer Bismark van de Duitse legatie. Links is de Franse afgevaardigde M. de Geoffrey en de Heer Jan Helenus Ferguson* van Nederland.
De Chinese waardigheidsbekleder links is de groot-Secretaris van Staat.
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De burger Mandarijnen links hebben ooivaars op hun mantels, terwijl de militaire Mandarijnen een luipaard hebben. Beide groepen dragen hun zwaarden.
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Jan Eduard Helenus Ferguson * was married to his aunt Isabel Constance **. But he was also a self-made man. His father had no money to pay for further education for his children, so after primary school Jan Eduard started as a stoker-bank worker at the railways in Padang (Dutch East Indies).
He was fairly good painter, and his main hobby was mushrooms. He has an impressive number of drawings, colored in watercolors, then carefully cut out and collected in writings. He called this the "Album of true-to-life, colored images of higher fungi in the Netherlands".
According to experts, this collection is a very valuable asset to Dutch mycology and was housed in the Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, now located in the Uithof in Utrecht.
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** V B 13
Wilhelm Albert Statius Muller *, also known as Pep, was an artistic person. During his internment during the Japanese occupation, he made drawings on the blank areas in the book: “Contemporaries, by Willem van Schaik”. He depicted the heads of his fellow prisoners of war, like on the front of this block. With this he earned a little extra to provide for his necessities. He also made his own paper during this period, so that he could continue drawing.
He was married to Marguerithe Georgine Julie Jacqueline Ferguson ("Aunt Dee") ** which you see below, so 2 blood Fergusons were married to each other.
Do you want to know more? Then contact the Genealogist of the Dutch Ferguson Family!
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It is May 5, 1820. It is cold outside, 5 degrees and partly cloudy.
That day Johanna Pieternella Bernard, the wife of George * died after 36 years of marriage. At their marriage he was 22, she was 26 and they had a shop in "Engels Glaswerk en Galanteriewaren" (English Glassware) in the Kalverstraat in Amsterdam.
The when and why is shrouded in mystery, but suddenly, a year after the funeral, George turned up in Tours, France, where he became an instrument maker. There he met Dymphna Wouters.
Subsequently, a birth certificate of 9 November 1821 was found, on which son Williams Michel is indicated. George was almost 59 at the time. Unfortunately Tours's birth registration is very difficult to read.
The question that now arises is: is this George his child or did he honor Williams Michel?
The birth is very short after the death of his 1st wife ...
After this, a gray mist falls on the further history of this family until 1836.
Father George died at the age of 74 on July 6 of that year in Hengelo (Gelderland), in the hamlet of Dorp, house no. 14, where he lived with Williams Michel from April 27, 1836.
The death books say he was a widower. It then turned out that Michel had been brought up in the English Orphanage at 120 O.Z Achterburgwal (Now hotel Heart of Amsterdam).
From this we may infer that Williams Michel was indeed not George's son, as you were only admitted here if you were an orphan.
When Williams Michel turned 15, the orphanage administrators decided to enroll him in military service. A small boy, 1m64, with a sharp nose and a wart on his left neck.
Then it remained silent again, until 1852. Williams Michel is 31 years old and appears in the police files of Rotterdam. It states that he:
"served with the Indian troops and was sentenced to three years in detention and declared disqualified from the military position for theft." "At his desire" he was sent to England, after which there is nothing more to be found of him, of a few descendants.
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A family member, and any descendants, who has completely disappeared in the fog.
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More Genealogy of the Dutch Ferguson Family?
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Costs approx. € 65.00
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