Drysdale - a Douglas sept
Drysdale is considered a sept of the Douglas clan, but it is quite likely that this was a separate family which existed previous to when the three Douglas brothers adopted the Drysdale name. A sept is a family that can be related to a clan or larger family for various reasons. Usually this came about either through marriage or by a small family seeking protection from a larger and more powerful neighbour.
Scots living in Holland in 17th & 18th Centuries
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_International_Church
The Scots International Church or the Scottish Church (Dutch: Schotse Kerk) is located in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.
The church was first built in 1643 for the many Scottish merchants, sailors and soldiers who lived in Rotterdam, and was built on behalf of the city. The first Scottish minister was Alexander Petrie, who travelled from Perth in Scotland to take up his position.
The Netherlands Archives holds quite a few Douglas & Drysdale records from this era, including from the Scots church
A search for Douglas 1599-1660 gives 137 results
A search for Drysdale 1587-1720 gives 36 results
Some birth record examples of Drysdale & Douglases
Jonat Drysdeal baptism 10-7-1646 Daughter to William Drysdeal & Margaret Ramsey Rotterdam
Page 36 in Image file
Lodovick Douglas son of George Douglas of Chossor?? & Kathrin Lindsay his lady was baptised on this tenth day November 1651
Page 41 in Image file
Could this be the 4th son of :
William [Douglas], 7th Earl of Morton, KG PC born c. 1584 mar. c. Mar 1604 Lady Anne Keith (d. 30 May 1649), 1st dau. of George [Keith], 4th Earl Marischal, by his first wife Hon Margaret Home, only child by his first wife of Alexander [Home], 5th Lord Home
children
1. Hon Robert Douglas, later 8th Earl of Morton
2. Hon Sir James Douglas of Smithfield, later 10th Earl of Morton
3. Hon John Douglas (k. at the Battle of Carbisdale 27 Apr 1650)
4. Hon George Douglas, in the Dutch service (dsp.)
1. Lady Anne Douglas (bur. 6 Dec 1677), mar. after 7 Sep 1622 George [Hay], 2nd Earl of Kinnoull, and had issue
2. Lady Margaret Douglas (b. 1610; d. 13 Mar 1677/8), mar. 7 Aug 1626 her first cousin once removed Archibald [Campbell], 1st Marquess of Argyll, and had issue
3. Lady Mary Douglas (d. c. 1659), mar. after 9 Nov 1632 Charles [Seton], 2nd Earl of Dunfermline, and had issue
4. Lady Jean Douglas (d. Jun 1694), mar. after 13 Jul 1640 James [Home], 3rd Earl of Home, and had issue
5. Lady Isabel Douglas (d. 16 Dec 1672), mar. (1) as his third wife Robert [Ker], 1st Earl of Roxburghe, and (2) 15 Nov 1656 James [Graham], 2nd Marquess of Montrose, and had issue by her second husband
Ref: http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/morton1457.htm
Best regards
Ronald Drysdale
Douglases in Holland & Belgium
Two early mentions of Douglas in Belgium:
Inschrijving [Registration] Universiteit Leuven in 1432 in Leuven (Belgium)
Registered - Jacobus Dengloes Extra information - Bisdom [Diocese] Tornacensis
https://www.openarchieven.nl/abl:47fcaffc-72fe-773c-fb7a-94588180b41a
Inschrijving [Registration] Universiteit Leuven on August 21, 1505 in Leuven (Belgium)
Registered - David Dugles, born in Moray Extra information - Herkomst [origin] de Moravia
https://www.openarchieven.nl/abl:c25321f8-921e-a856-1af3-1b75b1524e...
Earliest record found for Douglas in Holland:
Minute deeds of notary Salomon Lenaertsz. van der Wuert, 1596.
Type of registration: Notarial deeds
(Deed) date: 08-07-1596
Location: Leiden
Municipality: Leiden
Details: Notary: Wurt, Salomon Lenaertsz van der
Registered - Willem Dougles
https://www.erfgoedleiden.nl/collecties/personen/zoek-op-personen/d...
There are many Douglases recorded in Holland after this date:
One notable example:
Birth records of Robert Baron van Breugel 31-7-1791 to Casper baron van Breugel & Mary Douglas & 1861 decree re name change to Douglas
Father: Casper baron van Breugel, secretary of Hertogenbosch, director of Direct Taxes in Friesland, member of the Council of Haarlem
Mother: Mary Douglas
Child - Robert baron van Breugel Douglas - Born in Hertogenbosch 26 juli 1791
https://www.openarchieven.nl/frl:55a71804-537f-4909-8903-51788b6f93...
Type of registration: DTB baptismal certificate (Deed) date: 31-07-1791
Location: Hertogenbosch
Particulars: By His Majesty's decree of the thirtieth of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-one,
number sixty-seven, the Jonkheer Robert Baron van Breugel, mentioned in this deed, was permitted
to adopt the surname of Douglas, with the consequence that..........
Baptism Robert van Breugel
Father Casper van Breugel
Mother Mary Douglas
Witness
Robert Douglas
Helena Douglas
https://www.bhic.nl/memorix/genealogy/search/deeds/a8c60fc9-4dd4-d4...
Image (see below) available at:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89QX-R96R?cc=20379...
Records of the first marriage of Robert van Breugel [Douglas] to Louisa Albertina Glinstra van Sminia on 08-09-1821
Huwelijksregister 1821
Registration type BS Huwelijk akte (Deed) date: 08-09-1821 Place: Leeuwarden Deed type: Huwelijksakte
Father of the groom
Casper van Breugel
Mother of the groom
Mary Douglas
Groom
Robert van Breugel (inspecteur der belasting)
age 30 jaar
Bride
Louisa Albertina Glinstra van Sminia
age 22 jaar
Father of the bride
Hector van Sminia
Mother of the bride
Wiskje van Haersma
https://allefriezen.nl/en/search/persons?ss=%7B%22q%22:%22robert%20...
Image on 2 pages
Best regards
on Sunday
Russell Lynn Drysdale
https://douglashistory.ning.com/group/drysdale-archives/page/hendri...
https://douglashistory.ning.com/group/drysdale-archives/page/willia...
Also ages ago I dug these names up. Sailors headed toward Batavia Given their names I would say all were local to the Netherlands except for William, his record states (uit Edinburgh)
Below a burial record I believe for a Jan Drysdale [right page about 3rd or 4th from the bottom] but he predates all the above Fellows perhaps father of Jan Seir and Hendrik (uit Rotterdam)
on Sunday
Ronald Drysdale
Three Drysdale slaves on St. Eustatius in the Caribbean - freed in 1863
Slavery
St. Eustatius, is an island in the Dutch Caribbean with an area of 21 square kilometres, formerly part of the Netherlands Antilles.
The Netherlands had a significant involvement in both the transatlantic slave trade and slavery within its own colonial empire, with Dutch merchants transporting and exploiting enslaved people from Africa and Asia between the 17th and 19th centuries, particularly through the Dutch West India Company.
In 1678 the islands of St. Eustatius, Sint Maarten and Saba were under the direct command of the Dutch West India Company, with a commander stationed on St. Eustatius to govern all three.
At that time, the island was of some importance for the cultivation of tobacco and sugar.
The plantations of St. Eustatius were primarily set up during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by European settlers. Workers [slaves] on these plantations were obtained from human trafficking. The proceeds from the plantations primarily went back to the mother country.
In the 18th century, St. Eustatius's geographical placement along with its large harborage, neutrality and status from 1756 as a customs free port were all factors in it becoming a major point of transhipment of captured Africans (in the transatlantic slave trade) goods, and a locus for trade in contraband. In its role as a transit point for enslaved Africans, Sint Eustatius became the most profitable asset of the Dutch West India Company.
Following the outbreak of the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War between Britain and the Dutch Republic, George Rodney, acting under orders from London, captured St Eustatius on 3 February 1781.
A series of French and British occupations of St. Eustatius followed from 1795 to 1815 (during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars).
St. Eustatius reverted permanently to Dutch control from 1816 onwards.
The Netherlands abolished slavery in the Netherlands Antilles on 1 July 1863 (Emancipation Act). On that day, about 12,000 slaves on the Dutch islands in the Caribbean were given their freedom.
Ref: Wikipedia
How these Drysdales came to be slaves (or alternatively how these slaves came to be Drysdales) is not known, although the British occupations of St. Eustatius in 1781, 1801-1802 and 1810-1816 probably will have played a part. It's also odd that quite a few of the surnames mentioned in the slave register (see image above) seem to have British origins:
Matherson
Fairfields
Archer
Russel
Lake
Hall
Picket
The population of St. Eustatius according to a census taken in 1818 amounted to;
501 Whites
302 Free Coloreds
1865 Slaves
Which gives a total of 2668 souls.
While there are many references to 'white slavery' of Scots and Irish in the Caribbean and Colonies, this invariably refers to the transport of indentured labour, i.e. those who were 'slaves' for a fixed term (e.g. 7 years), working without payment.
Slavery was a permanent, inherited status, with the enslaved person's body being owned by another.
The three Drysdales mentioned above appear to be genuine slaves and were emancipated in 1863.
Best regards
17 hours ago