Isn’t technology amazing? Here I sit at my laptop in New Zealand, able to transport myself halfway round the world to the small town of Weert in the Netherlands, and back three centuries to the year 1714, to view the actual handwritten record that mentions my great[x7]-grandparents on my mother’s side, Joannes Dooren and Maria Engelen (right-hand page, third entry down).
No blue blood, though – they’re shown in Latin as extranei pauperis mendicantus (‘poor beggars from outside the area’)! And if my Latin is correct, I even think it says that they ‘pretend’ to have been married!
I bet these poor beggars could never have envisaged that three centuries later a descendant would be reading about them from his home in Terra Incognita!
DRESSING THE LINES 
Hiya Roly
A belated Merry Christmas.
Re the peasantry in your precursors – all you needed to do was ask. Anyone here could have provided the answer for you!! 8O))
More seriously – I wouldn’t rule out any blue blood flowing through your veins based solely on this document. Many other precursors would be involved in the careful breeding program that has delivered such a fine being as your self to the world. 8O)
Salute
von Peter himself
That is just so cool…
Hi Roly,
I love the Connie it was my first airline ride on KLM from Dhahran to JFK with stops at Rome and Amsterdam. There is a magnificent restored Connie at the Pima Air Museum in TWA colors.
As an aside I tried to down load your family history from the Dutch site link and they have changed their formatting and access so the link no longer goes to its intended location. Could you send a copy of your family book to me? I would love to read it. I am of Dutch ancestry as a Quackenbush via my mom. My middle name is Weiant and my next project is to track it through Holland for it genealogical source a probably hopeless quest. I also enjoyed your rendering of the DC 8 as I had spent many happy hours piloting the aircraft in my career for 3 different airlines worldwide. I actually attended DC 8 School for a German company at KLM, so long ago. To see a DC8 today is such a ririty, I love your blog and love your work.
Doug