The story of my great-great grandmother killed by the spinning sails of her windmill , the Middle Mill in Stompwijk, Holland.
My great-great grandmother, Petronella van Dorp, was killed June 9, 1881, by the Middle Mill of these Three Windmills of Stompwijk. A row of windmills built in 1672 to drain water out of the Driemans polder in Stompwijk, Holland.
She was feeding the chickens, when the wind turned the windmill sails that grabbed her skirts and killed her, on June 9, 1881.
She was a miller’s wife — a widow at the time — of Leendert (Leonardus) van der Burg, my great-great grandfather.
Her eldest son Albert (my great-grandfather), a water miller too, and a former Papal Zouave (see below), reported her death the next day at the village town hall in Stompwijk.
Albert must have lost his Dutch citizenship after he had taken up ‘military service with a foreign power’, as a 16 year old boy, joining the Papal Zouaves from February 5, 1868 until 1870.
That might have had consequences for work as a water miller. He married in 1883 and appears to have lived a few years in Vlaardingen (near Rotterdam) – where my grandfather Machiel was born – before returning to Stompwijk with his wife Johanna van der Togt.
Albert’s brother, Pieter van der Burg, married May 8, 1882 with Magdalena de Bruin — a year after the fatal accident of his mother — and was a water miller on this Middle Mill (Middelmolen) in the Driemans polder in Stompwijk until 1892.
Notes
Death Petronella van Dorp. Municipal archive The Hague in Den Haag (Netherlands), Civil registration deaths
Ambachten en gemeenten Leidschendam (1812-1817), Stompwijk en Veur, Stompwijk, archive 5270-01, inventory number 910, 10-06-1881, Overlijdensakten Stompwijk, record number 1881-29 . Permalink https://hdl.handle.net/21.12124/01783BA8766C46A0A57A16DB227ABC38
Girls’ Gym Suit 1930 Cycling in Waddinxveen along Gouwe River | 20231210_1 | 1-memo•com
– (nederlands beneden / dutch below) –
EN – Confusing in this historical picture…those bare female legs on the bicycle ! While looking for another picture of the De Schoone Haas windmill from the paper factory along the Gouwe in Waddinxveen, I found a photo in the archives of the SAMH museum in Gouda with the mention ‘Freight ship in front of the Alblas timber trade, windmill in the background, after 1905.’ — above (20231210_1) an edited version with sharpening, and brightness adjustments.
At first glance I miss the sawmill of Alblas, and next to it the Remonstrant church – of which I previously posted moving images (1). Watching that film again shows that both buildings are further back – the Remonstrant church probably because it was a clandestine church – and therefore kept out of sight here. The film also shows this second Alblas building, on the water and close to the sawmill. Not far from the De Schoone Haas paper-wind-mill there was another windmill – De Nijverheid, of which an overview photo was recently posted (2). That windmill – De Nijverheid – is recognized here in the background of the photo. The Schoone Haas windmill, which was closer to the Alblas company, appears to have disappeared at this time. The blades of the De Nijverheid windmill are missing here. The Dutch windmill database mentions (info from Jacob Stolp) that the sails of De Nijverheid were removed in 1929, and the mill was demolished in 1932 (3). So this photo was taken around 1930.
At image analysis for dating, those cyclists with bare legs are initially confusing in such a historical picture. Closer inspection reveals that posing is taking place: the cyclist on the right in the picture is perhaps a boy, and is still standing next to the bicycle, which suggests that the others have just started cycling, with the young woman (girl) on the left not yet sitting straight. Over the past month I saw a lot of photographic images of life and work along the Gouwe up to about 1920, and I almost always saw the women in skirts down to the ankles, some down to mid-calf (4).
Above is an enlargement of the cyclists (20231210_2). The woman on the bicycle in the middle wears unusual clothing with short legs with elastic on the thighs, and over that a cardigan and large (shoulder) bag. Such fashion was found in women’s magazines from around 1930…such as the Modern Gym Suit in the American magazine The Delineator Aug. 1931, for juniors (5), with option to purchase a Butterick sewing pattern. Below is a collage of clippings (edited image) from this magazine of the one-piece v-neck gym suit… “One just steps into it from the top and fastens it on the shoulders. Simple to make.”.
Modern Gym Suit | 20231210_3 | 1-memo•com | @michelvanderburg | Edited montage of cuttings from The Delineator Aug. 1931
Such a One-Piece Gym Suit is also recommended in the 1932 catalog of the American Sears Roebuck with: “You will now find this suit standard equipment in many colleges and high schools, also used by dancers …. ” (6).
Bloomer – Women’s Rights
The ‘Bloomer’ – usually larger, see also that page in the Sears Roebuck 1932 Catalog (6) – goes back – in longer versions – to the 1850s.
Bloomer ca 1852 | 20231210_4 | 1-memo•com | A Poser for a Bloomer. By J L (monogram) ca 1852. | Bodleian Libraries Oxford University | Wikimedia Commons. CC BY
Satirical cartoon : In a reversal of genders, a “bloomer” asks her fiancé’s shocked father for consent to marry his son (Ref 7).
In general, women’s sport and activewear has helped emancipation (8).
John Noble’s 1895 ‘New Convertible Costume’ | 20231210_5 | 1-memo•com | Los Angeles Herald, 1895
John Noble’s 1895 ‘New Convertible Costume’ … appropriate for walking, golfing and wheeling. In: Los Angeles Herald, 1895 | Source K. Jungnickel in The Sociological Review (Ref. 8).
Dutch :
NL – Verwarrend in dat historisch plaatje boven…die blote vrouwenbenen op de fiets! Op zoek naar nog een plaatje van windmolen De Schoone Haas van de papierfabriek langs de Gouwe in Waddinxveen, vond ik in het archief van het SAMH museum te Gouda een foto, met vermelding ‘Vrachtschip voor houthandel Alblas, op de achtergrond molen, na 1905.’ Hierboven (20231210_1) een bewerkte versie (met verscherping, en helderheid aanpassingen) van die foto.
Op het eerste gezicht mis ik in die foto de houtzagerij van Alblas , en daarnaast de Remonstrantse kerk – waarvan ik eerder film beeld gepost heb (1). Bij weer bekijken van die film blijkt dat die beide gebouwen meer naar achteren staan – de Remonstrantse kerk waarschijnlijk omdat het een schuilkerk was – en daarom dus wat uit het zicht. Voorts laat die film ook dit tweede Alblas gebouw zien, aan het water en dicht bij die zagerij. Niet ver van papiermolen De Schoone Haas heeft nog een windmolen gestaan – De Nijverheid, waarvan recent een overzichts-foto is gepost (2). Die molen – De Nijverheid – wordt hier in de foto herkend op de achtergrond. De Schoone Haas molen , die dichter bij Alblas stond, blijkt dus op dit tijdstip al verdwenen. De wieken van molen De Nijverheid ontbreken hier. De Nederlandse molen database vermeld (info van Jacob Stolp) dat de wieken van De Nijverheid werden verwijderd in 1929 , en de molen in 1932 werd afgebroken (3). Deze foto is dus rond 1930 gemaakt.
Bij de beeldanalyse voor de datering zijn die fietsers met blote benen in eerste instantie verwarrend in zo’n historisch plaatje. Nadere beschouwing van de uitvergroting hierboven van de fietsers (20231210_2) leert, dat er wordt geposeerd : de fietser rechts in beeld is misschien een jongen, en staat nog naast de fiets, wat suggereert dat de anderen zojuist zijn gaan fietsen, waarbij de jonge vrouw (meisje) links, nog niet recht zit.
De afgelopen maand zag ik veel fotografisch beeld van leven en werken langs de Gouwe tot ca 1920 , en zag ik de vrouwen vrijwel altijd in rokken tot de enkels, een enkeling tot halverwege de kuit (4).
De vrouw op de fiets in het midden draagt aparte kleding met korte pijpen met elastiek op de bovenbenen, en daarover een vest, en grote (schouder-) tas.
Dergelijke mode werd teruggevonden in vrouwenbladen van rond 1930…zoals dat Modern Gym Suit in het Amerikaanse blad The Delineator Aug. 1931 , voor jongeren … ‘Juniors’ (5), met optie om een Butterick naaipatroon aan te schaffen. Hierboven ( zie Modern Gym Suit | 20231210_3 ) een collage van knipsels uit dit blad, van het gympak uit één stuk met V-hals … ” je stapt er van boven in en sluit het op de schouders – simpel te maken. “
Zo’n One-piece Gym Suit wordt ook aangeprezen in de catalogus uit 1932 van het Amerikaanse Sears Roebuck met : “Tegenwoordig is dit standaarduitrusting op veel hogescholen en middelbare scholen, alsook bij dansers…”(6).
Bloomer – Vrouwenrechten
De ‘Bloomer’ – doorgaans ruimer , zie ook die pagina in de Sears Roebuck Catalogus 1932 (6) – gaat terug – in langere versies – tot de 1850s.
Zie boven (20231210_4) de spotprent uit een krant/magazine van ca 1852 ‘A Poser for a Bloomer’ . In een omgedraaide genderrol vraagt een ‘bloomer’ de geschokte vader van haar verloofde om toestemming om met zijn zoon te trouwen (Ref 7).
In het algemeen heeft sportkleding en activewear voor vrouwen, geholpen bij de emancipatie.
John Noble’s 1895 ‘New Convertible Costume’ (beeld : 20231210_5 ) … appropriate for walking, golfing and wheeling … Los Angeles Herald, 1895 (Ref. 8).
Refs
1. Alblas Hout – 1920s Waddinxveen Works – Gouwe River | 20231117 | Michel van der Burg | 1-memo•com 2. Windmills Hoop & Nijverheid ca 1898 in Waddinxveen Along the Gouwe River | 20231208 | 1-memo•com | @michelvanderburg 3. De Nijverheid, Waddinxveen. Ten Bruggencate-nr. 01213r. Nederlandse Molendatabase | URL https://www.molendatabase.nl/molens/ten-bruggencate-nr-01213-r 4. Markt – 1920s Gouda Works – Gouwe River | 20231127 | Michel van der Burg | 1-memo•com | URL https://1-memo.com/2023/11/27/markt-1920s-gouda-works-gouwe-river-20231127/ 5. The Modern Gym Suit – in the Junior assembly of smart new cloths – Delineator Vol. 119, No. 2 August, 1931 | University of Wisconsin Library | URL https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/ANZCBWLRGZ4KWD8C/pages/APXEIY7ESINPKB8K 6. Gym suits, Sears Roebuck Catalog, 1932 in : The History of Fashion for Getting Physical | Summer Lee | The Vintage Woman Magazine | URL https://thevintagewomanmagazine.com/history-of-exercise-fashion/ 7. A Poser for a Bloomer. By J L (monogram) ca 1852. | Bodleian Libraries Oxford University | Wikimedia Commons. CC-BY. URL https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40711232 . Satirical cartoon about the Bloomerism movement. Girl in bloomers seeking consent to marry from her fiance’s father. Cutting from newspaper/magazine. Shelfmark: Fashion 19 (56) (subsection: Satire and reform movements: Bloomers and Bloomerism). 8. Jungnickel, K. (2023). Convertible, multiple and hidden: The inventive lives of women’s sport and activewear 1890–1940. The Sociological Review, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00380261231153754
Citation info : Girls’ Gym Suit 1930 Cycling along Gouwe River | 20231210 | 1-memo•com | @michelvanderburg
Images
1. Girls’ Gym Suit 1930 Cycling in Waddinxveen along Gouwe River | 20231210_1 | 1-memo•com | @michelvanderburg | TakeNode 9e5188f1-2ced-458a-817c-9e8bcc221b85
3. Modern Gym Suit | 20231210_3 | 1-memo•com | @michelvanderburg | Edited montage of cuttings from The Delineator Aug. 1931 (Ref. 5) | TakeNode a1543a33-f0b0-4ba4-9bb4-70978707575a
4. Bloomer ca 1852 | 20231210_4 | 1-memo•com | A Poser for a Bloomer. By J L (monogram) ca 1852. | Bodleian Libraries Oxford University | Wikimedia Commons. CC BY | Takenode e7f54d92-800e-4e06-be2f-b54c019bbecc
5. John Noble’s 1895 ‘New Convertible Costume’ | 20231210_5 | 1-memo•com | Los Angeles Herald, 1895 | TakeNode 34a18b6c-7562-4310-ba79-713dca5bb018
Window with a View ~ Pinhole Film .
Watching the sails spinning outside the Red windmill window – sitting inside the Red hollow post mill – in Holland known as “Rooie Wip” wipmolen , build 1639 for draining the polder water into the nearby Old Rhine river in Hazerswoude , Alphen , Holland.
Filmed summer 2013 with a pinhole camera : SLR Magic ‘Toy’ Pin Hole cap – f/128 aperture, 12mm focal length (24mm-equivalent), 84° angle view – mounted on a Olympus Micro Four Third camera (E-PM1). Synchronized sound from Olympus LS-10 Linear PCM Recorder.
First edition published as Windmill Window in lower resolution in 2016 (20160726).
Window with a View ~ Pinhole Film | 20160726 ~ 20200711 | Michel van der Burg | 1-memo•com | miracles•media
Spinning Sails ~ Pinhole Film .
Personal anecdote (to a grandchild, told at the end of this film , in dutch) : “a great-great grandmother of me was caught and killed by such spinning sails (blades) of her windmill” nearby in South-Holland.
Pinhole videography (camera without a lens – just a pinhole) of the sails of the hollow post corn windmill ‘New Life’ (dutch : wipstelling korenmolen “Nieuw Leven”) in the little town Hazerswoude , Alphen, South-Holland, Netherlands.
Previously as a shorter – one minute – edition published : Windmill Sails | 20160410 | Michel van der Burg | 1-memo.com .
Filmed summer 2013 with a Olympus Micro Four Third camera (E-PM1) capped with the SLR Magic ‘Toy’ Pin Hole cap – f/128 aperture, 12mm focal length (24mm-equivalent), 84° angle view. Synchronized sound from Olympus LS-10 Linear PCM Recorder.
Spinning Sails ~ Pinhole Film | 20200710 | Michel van der Burg | 1-memo•com | miracles•media
Red Polder Windmill ~ Pinhole Film .
In dutch known as “Rooie Wip” wipmolen – Red hollow post mill – build 1639 for draining polder water into the nearby Old Rhine river in Alphen (near Hazerswoude) , Holland.
Filmed summer 2013 with a pinhole camera : SLR Magic ‘Toy’ Pin Hole cap – f/128 aperture, 12mm focal length (24mm-equivalent), 84° angle view – mounted on a Olympus Micro Four Third camera (E-PM1). Sound recorded from both inside the mill (a little) and outside using a Olympus LS-10 Linear PCM Recorder. Red Polder Windmill ~ Pinhole Film | 20200709 | 1-memo.com
Dancing July 5th, starting 11h11 – all together via internet with ZOOM for the 2000th daily dance with the french performance artist Nadia Vadori-Gauthier ( @uneminutededanseparjour #oneminuteofdanceaday ) as part of Nadia’s project ‘One Minute of Dance a Day’ .
Following the Charlie Hebdo attack on January 7, 2015 Nadia Vadori-Gauthier established her project ‘Une minute de danse par jour’ and has been dancing daily ever since january 14, 2015 for a minute or a little more. A daily act of poetic resistance, involving dance and video.
For her 2000th dance she organised this extraordinary event ‘2000 danses pour la danse 2000’ together with Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse.
Nadia’s Motto
…as Nietzsche once said…
« A day without dancing is a day wasted »
Or, more exactly :
“And lost be the day to us in which a measure hath not been danced. And false be every truth which hath not had laughter along with it!” From: Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche in “Thus Spake Zarathustra”.
Nadia’s 2000st dance film
Nadia’s 2000st dance film was publised today July 6 ( 20200706 ) at instagram : @oneminuteofdanceaday | facebook : Une minute de danse par jour @uneminutededanseparjour | and Nadia’s web site : uneminutededanseparjour.com .
We loved it – thank you Nadia , and congrats with your 2000th day of daily dancing.
Below my bonus film
Danse 2000 | 20200705 ~ The one minute film I produced yesterday of that first minute at 11h11 we were dancing live in Nadia’s ZOOM event in a dutch polder – inspired by that windmill in the background, in Alphen, Holland . Recorded with a second camera , and in this edit using a different song (for copyright reasons) and a ‘comic’ filter. Danse 2000 ~ Music : Lie in the Sun by ORKAS | Artlist ~ Film : 20200705 Michel van der Burg | 1-memo.com | miracles.media .
Water Windmiller Pieter van der Burg | 20140821 | 1-memo.com | Great-great-great grandfather ‘Pieter’ van der Burg was a water-miller 200 years ago (from 1811) on the ‘Noorddammolen’ (the North Dam Mill) of the “Oude Pijnackerse polder” (Old Polder of Pijnacker) in South-Holland. The Noorddammolen was demolished in 1861 (a few years after Pieter had died) when a steam pumping-engine was build for the job. This picture from around 1900 shows both the similar neighbouring water mills and the steam pumping engine : in the front first the Zuiddammolen (South Dam mill) – then the chimney of the steam pumping-engine at the site were that ‘Noorddammolen’ of Pieter used to be, finally the Noordmolen (North Mill).
Background on the Noorddammolen – That mill had been rebuild in 1577 after the original mill had been destroyed during the Spanish Siege of Leiden. Further note that Pieter had moved to another mill already in 1815. Image source / part of the info : molendatabase.org | Allemolens.nl.
