Hi Dan ! I’ve not had the time to read all your replies so you’ll have to excuse me if I repeat what’s already been said ! Also, as I see from the last page it has progressed somewhat !
I’ve been living in the French Wallonia south for over 40 years and my wife’s father was called Isidore..., so yours looks like it’s probably Flemish. But I suppose you must obviously have an address for Jean..., north, or south.
Remark: I’ve been doing my British tree for a few years now and with it becoming less and less dynamic, I ‘pushed’ my wife to ‘encourage’ me to do hers. Lol ! I won !
I’ve only been on it for a few weeks now and it’s “as easy as pie”!
Because I had her 1xG ID card, the street number on this card didn’t coincide with our/his house. (50 instead of 3) As such, because Google is getting worse by the minute, I went to our local Town Hall to ask for a research rendezvous in order to see if they had an old map. No rendezvous was needed !
On my arrival and explaining the situation, the secretary went directly to the attic and brought down a book about one meter high by 50cms wide filled with old maps. (beautiful..., abt 1880) As I looked at the open book with its orange and dimpled pages fully decorated; I bit my lip that I hadn’t taken my digital camera.
As such, I made some excuse and said, “please wait 5 minutes and I’ll be back in a gif.” When I got back, she had printed 20 pages from her computer with all my mother-in-law’s family, with some going back to 1720 and others even further, but without dates.
Being a Scotsman, I doubly appreciated the gesture as it was free ! Lol !
Quite a difference from the long hard slog using census reports !
Also..., as we live in such a small country (10 million) with a north/south divide 10 times worse than any Hadrian’s Wall could ever produce, “everybody knows everybody.” To such an extent that the French word “cretinism” tinkles as you look at the family names and relationships.
Meaning, that when someone in Belgium publishes their family tree on the Internet and you know from which half you belong, you’re just about certain to stumble over a relation.
Example:
http://users.skynet.be/fa297341/gen/gen.htm (63000 people)
http://home.euphonynet.be/lambermont-joris/ancetres/ancetres.htm (80000 people)
As such, if you want to spend a few days in Belgium eating the best chocolate and drinking the best beer in the world..., just give ‘your’ Town Council a ring and ask for advice. (not the weekends)
99% of Flemish speak English with at least 5 different accents when asked..., on the other hand, the Walloons are a bit like the British; not often bi-lingual ! Lol !
..., Iain.
