Good evening All…
Over the past 10-years, I’ve been doing a lot of research in relation to my regiment The Scots Guards at Waterloo, and for the time being, one such Belgian local is bothering me.
Just in the off-chance, (as RootsChat has helped me enormously over the past few years) I’m wondering if someone may be able to provide some advice. Of course…, I must obviously provide you all with a mini-mini-history lesson.
Wellington’s right flank held a farm called Hougoumont. The farm had 4 orchards, meaning that its product was cider. Most of the other farms in the region like the Mont-Saint-Jean brewery specialized with beer of all sorts, to become the world’s N°1 beer exporter.
The farm had a farmer called Antoine Dumonceau, and its gardener was a bloke called Guillaume Van Cutsem. And it’s this gardener that interests me. In the meantime, I started a brief Ancestry tree for him…
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/tree/183501865/family?cfpid=332390978756My problem is that there are two Guillaume Van Cutsems…, one who was born at Plancenoit, (where the Prussian leader Blücher arrived at the very last moment) and the other lived at Braine-L’Alleud, being the closest town to the farm.
Perhaps I should explain that concerning French/Dutch/Flemish names, there’s a difference between ‘Van’ and ‘van.’ As many of you already know, a capital ‘V’ is used for a commoner, while a small ‘v’ usually refers to nobility. (many Belgians ignore this ‘V’ and opt for a pretentious ‘v’…, however, when you trace back a few generations, their 2xGr Grandad had a ‘V’)
Because of it, and because he was a gardener, I chose Van Cutsem from Plancenoit.
(as a note of interest, Victor Hugo maintained that ‘Van’ Cutsem and his daughter were in the farm on the morning of the battle, while the Guards teased her with hard-tack biscuits)
However, here’s my problem.
Last month, I visited a friend who is the owner of the Mont-Saint-Jean brewery, Anthony Martin. (lol…, another note of interest, and probably the most important…, he produces my favourite beer ‘Gordons,’ plus the Battle of Waterloo beer) During our conversation, Anthony commented that his company was mulling over the possibility of manufacturing cider…, and if all goes to plan, he may also include Calvados.
Suddenly, on the other side of his enormous bureau, surrounded by dozens of open-air office-staff, I thought… “WOW, could Hougoumont have produced Calvados”? In the meantime, Guillaume van Cutsem (small ‘v’) was a distiller.
Of course, I couldn’t keep it to myself, and I mentioned it to him. In turn, he advised me to contact the Customs and Excise.
In the meantime, I know a couple of people in the Braine-L’Alleud Town Hall, and one lady in particular is called Véronique Denis, an expert with the region’s history. However, before I contact her, I was wondering if anyone could provide some advice ?
Any advice, would be very much appreciated.
Kind Regards…, Iain.
