Name
Guillaume Roelants was an orphan from Amsterdam who arrived in New Amsterdam in 1655. His first name was also spelled Guilliaem or Guillame.[1] His last name, Roelants, is a patronymic, indicating his father’s first name was Roelant.
Origin
Guillaume Roelants lived at the Uilenburg in Amsterdam prior to his departure to New Netherland in 1655.[2] His first name suggests a French or Walloon background.
Migration
In 1652, the Amsterdam almoners who oversaw the care for poor orphans called all the children under their care to their office, and asked whether they were willing to go to New Netherland. Guillaume Roelants was unwilling to go.[3] Despite his earlier reluctance, Guillaume Roelants was one of seventeen teenaged and young adult orphans who were brought to New Netherland from Amsterdam in 1655.[4]
The orphans probably sailed on the Waegh, a war ship sent from Amsterdam to New Netherland in the summer of 1655. On 26 April 1655, Amsterdam promised to send one of its largest and best ships, the Waegh, armed with 36 cannon, to sail with 200 men to deal with the Swedes on the South River [the Delaware].[5] Guillaume Roelants is not explicitly mentioned as a passenger, but other orphans sent over by the almoners travelled on that ship.[6]
Biographical Details
Guillaume Roelants was born say 1637–1638. He was fifteen in 1652,[7] and seventeen when he arrived in New Amsterdam in 1655.[8] He died at an unknown time after 1655.
Education
Guillaume lived as an orphan in Amsterdam, and would have spoken Dutch. He probably learned the trade of basket maker on the job.[9]
Occupation
In the 1650s, the almoners responsible for poor orphans paid residents to house and feed the children and found employers for older children to learn a trade. In 1652, Guillaume Roelants worked as a basketmaker for Arent Janss, a woodworker living at the Uijlenborgh, behind the “Spijckermant” (perhaps the name of a house).[10] At an unknown date, he lived with Stijntge Jans and Adriaen Jans at the Ulenburg in Amsterdam, perhaps relatives of Arent Jans.[11]
Associations
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Guillaume Roelants lived with Stijntgen Jans, Adriaen Jans, and Arent Jans in Amsterdam between 1652 and 1655.[12] He was sent over to the colony along with Trijntge Pieters, Trijntge Jans, Jannitge Dircx, Lijsbet Jans, Dieuwer Volckerts, Annitge Pieters, Lijsbet Gerrits, Debora Jans, Marritge Hendrix, Catalijntge Jans, Jan [—?—], Mathijs Coenraetsz, Hendrick Thomasz, Pieter Stoffelsz, Otto Jansz, and Jan Hendricksz.[13] He may have known some of them in Amsterdam and would have gotten to known them all during the voyage to New Netherland.
Literature
Scott, Kenneth. “Orphan Children Sent to New Netherland.” Halve Maen 49, no. 3 (October 1974): 5–6. The article discusses several groups of orphans sent to New Netherland, and lists those brought over in 1655, including Guillaume Roelants.
Source Editions
Fernow, Berthold, ed. Documents Relating to the History of the Early Colonial Settlements Principally on Long Island. Vol. 14. Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New-York. Albany, New York: Weed, Parsons and Company, 1853. pp. 325–26. Includes a translation of the letter from the burgomasters of Amsterdam regarding the orphans sent to New Netherland.
Gehring, Charles T., ed. Correspondence, 1654–1658. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2003. pp. 64–66. This includes the translation of the correspondence about the children sent over in 1655, including the list of children.
Citations
[1] Almoners (Amsterdam), lists of orphan children eligible for migration to New Netherland, circa 1652–1656, registration number 464, Guillaume Roelants; imaged, Gemeente Amsterdam Stadsarchief (https://archief.amsterdam/inventarissen/file/d27fe62c-e13a-5f27-067f-656553aecf6b), images 22, 43, 53, 61 of 67; citing call no. 437, Record Group 343: Archief van de Regenten van het Aalmoezeniersweeshuis en rechtsvoorganger [Records of the Regents of the Almoners’ Orphanage and Legal Predecessors], Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
[2] Almoners (Amsterdam), lists of orphan children eligible for migration to New Netherland, circa 1652–1656, registration number 464, Guillaume Roelants.
[3] Almoners (Amsterdam), lists of orphan children eligible for migration to New Netherland, circa 1652–1656, registration number 464, Guillaume Roelants; image 53 of 67.
[4] List of children sent from the almshouse to New Netherland, circa 1655, in New Netherland council, Dutch colonial administrative correspondence, vol. 12, 1654–1658, document 25; imaged, “Digital Collections” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/45209), identifier NYSA_A1810-78_V12_25; citing series A1810-78, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.
[5] Letter from Amsterdam to Stuijvesant, 26 April 1655, in New Netherland council, Dutch colonial administrative correspondence, vol. 12, 1646–1664, document 18; imaged, “Digital Collections,” New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/45201), identifier NYSA_A1810-78_V12_18; citing series A1810-78, New York State Archives.
[6] Order for the punishment of a boy and girl in the service of Pieter van Couwenhoven for dishonesty, 4 January 1656, in New Netherland council, Dutch colonial council minutes, vol. 6, 1655–1656, p. 213a; imaged, New York State Archives (https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/52560), identifier NYSA_A1809-78_V06_0213a; citing series A1809, Dutch colonial council minutes, New York State Archives.
[7] List of children sent from the almshouse to New Netherland, circa 1655.
[8] List of children sent from the almshouse to New Netherland, circa 1655.
[9] Almoners (Amsterdam), lists of orphan children eligible for migration to New Netherland, circa 1652–1656, registration number 464, Guillaume Roelants; image 53 of 67.
[10] Almoners (Amsterdam), lists of orphan children eligible for migration to New Netherland, circa 1652–1656, registration number 464, Guillaume Roelants; image 53 of 67.
[11] Almoners (Amsterdam), lists of orphan children eligible for migration to New Netherland, circa 1652–1656, registration number 464, Guillaume Roelants; image 61 of 67.
[12] Almoners (Amsterdam), lists of orphan children eligible for migration to New Netherland, circa 1652–1656, registration number 464, Guillaume Roelants; image 53, 61 of 67.
[13] List of children sent from the almshouse to New Netherland, circa 1655.
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