Who Do You Think You Are - Chris and Xand Van Tulleken 29th June

[kiterunner]

On BBC1 at 9 p.m. and repeated next Wednesday at 10:40 p.m (although the time of that repeat may change as it follows Wimbledon on tv.)

[kiterunner]

Episode summary:

Chris and Xand Van Tulleken are identical twins. Their real surname is Van Hoogenhouck-Tulleken and is of Dutch origin. Their parents, Tony and Kit, are both Canadian and moved to the UK in the 1960's. Their parents' house has lots of old pictures, memorabilia, etc of their ancestors, so Chris and Xand went to look around for clues to help with tracing their family tree. They found a document showing the Van Tulleken coat of arms and showing that the family had the title Jonkheer. They found another document which said that Jan Tulleken was appointed as captain of the Dutch ship "Gelderland" in the British Royal Navy. They also found a portrait of "Captain John Tulleken".

Tony and Kit showed Chris and Xand a photo of their great-grandparents John Alexander and Frances Van Hoogenhouck-Tulleken, with John wearing a Dutch military uniform, also a photo of John's parents Rodolphe Van Hoogenhouck-Tulleken and Louise nee De Bruyn. There was a family story that Louise was Indonesian. Tony and Kit also showed them an old silver shovel with an inscription on it which mentioned H De Bruyn.

Chris and Xand went to Chatham Dockyard and met an historian who told them that their 4xg-grandfather Jan was born in 1762, the son of Ambrosius Tulleken and Susanna Marguerita nee Hoogenhouck, and that he joined the Dutch navy at the age of 13. By 1787, when he was 25, he was captain of a ship. A Dutch document showed that he was reported to have said that he was on the Orange side in the conflict between the Orangists and the Patriots. When France invaded the Netherlands in 1795 and put the Patriots in power, William V, Prince of Orange fled to England. Jan Tulleken was naturalised as British and known as John Tulleken. It was at this time that he was appointed captain of the Gelderland, in the war against France. He was also the leader of the Orangist squadron within the British Navy in 1800. After the Treaty of Amiens was signed in 1802, Jan Tulleken returned to the Netherlands. The Kentish Gazette published an announcement of the auction of his furniture.

Chris and Xand went to Amsterdam and met an historian who showed them a report in the Ipswich Journal of 1813 about the arrival of William Frederick, Prince of Orange, (William I of the Netherlands), the son of William V, who had died in exile. It said that he was welcomed by his supporters. Another publication, the Franklin Repository, dated 1815, reported that Jan Tulleken was the leader of a fleet sent to the Mediterranean to rescue Dutch seamen who had been captured by Algerians ("Barbary pirates"). The historian told Chris and Xand that Jan started negotiations but the Algerians broke these off and left, chased by all the Dutch fleet except for Jan's ship which raised the white flag in the hope that this would help the negotiations to continue. This was considered somewhat disgraceful back in the Netherlands. Chris and Xand were then shown a document with the Tulleken coat of arms, which said that William II of the Netherlands appointed Jan and his family to the nobility, with the rank of Jonkheer / Jonkvrouw.

Chris and Xand went to the Supreme Council of Nobility in The Hague and met an historian who showed them a document from the 1820's saying that Jan was allowed to add his mother's maiden name Van Hoogenhouck to his surname. The historian explained that the Van Hoogenhoucks were an aristocratic family and the Tullekens were not. He showed them another document dated 30 Nov 1846 in which Jan requested ennoblement for his son Constantine George Van Hoogenhouck-Tulleken, and it was after this that the King granted nobility to Jan and his family. The historian explained that Jonkheer is the lowest rank in Dutch nobility and is not a title but a designation of noble status. He also showed them a portrait of Jan in his 80's. The application for noble status stated that Ambrosius died between 1775 and 1785 in Demerara and that Susanna Marguerita died between 1785 and 1795, probably in or near Leiden.

Chris and Xand went to the Maritime Museum in Rotterdam and met an historian who told them that Demerara was a Dutch colony where sugar, coffee, and cotton were grown, and showed them a document from 1764 which said that Ambrosius was the bookkeeper of a vessel which transported slaves from Angola to Surinam. Another document said that he owned a ship which was also involved in the slave trade. A newspaper advertisement from Jan 1788 offering his estate for sale (after his death) showed that he owned coffee and sugar plantations in Demerara. Another document showed that he also managed other people's plantations.

Chris and Xand then went to the Dutch East Indies Museum to find out about their 2xg-grandmother Louse De Bruyn. They met an historian there who translated the inscription on the silver shovel and said that it was given to Mr Hendrick De Bruyn, Louise's father, who was a well-known engineer in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Hendrick was born in Amsterdam on the 22 Apr 1815, and was sent to the Dutch East Indies in 1834 as a military engineer. He was given an honourable discharge from the army in 1841, and in 1842 he married Maria Anna De La Brethoniere. Chris and Xand met a genealogist who showed them Maria's baptism record from a church in Salatiga (which is in Java, Indonesia). This stated that she was born on the 15 Oct 1823 and baptised in Apr 1824, the natural daughter of Pierre Hamar De La Brethoniere and "an infidel" (i.e. not Catholic) "free mother named Daria". There was also a baptism record from 1828 of Martina Daria, "born to Javanese parents about 30 years ago". The genealogist explained that Pierre was a coffee baron, one of the richest people in Java.

Chris and Xand went to the Tropenmuseum of World Culture and met the curator whoc showed them portraits of Hendrick and Maria which were donated to the museum by their granddaughter, who had told the museum that Hendrick resigned from the army because his superiors opposed his marriage to Maria because of her racial background. A biography of Hendrick written after Maria's death in 1878 said that he felt that without her, his life was not worth living.

[Ann from Sussex]

I fell asleep halfway through. I was feeling tired but it also had a lot to do with me being bored. It was all a bit one dimensional for me.

[Guinevere]

It was an interesting history lesson for me. Those portraits were a wonderful find.

I can't believe they grew up with all that stuff around them and knew nothing.

[Olde Crone]

I almost switched off after 20 minutes but found the slavery part moving. I felt the same shock and disgust when I discovered slave owners in my own tree.

The rest I found rather boring, but as Gwynne says, hard to believe they knew nothing when they grew up with all that around them.

OC

[crawfie]

It was a bit more interesting for me as I have Dutch and Indonesian in my family. I found the indonesian part to be interesting more in what they didn't say. In my research I have never found any problems with the Dutch marrying local women, at times it was actually encouraged. In their society, if you married, the woman and her children were raised to the same social level as the Dutch; this also applied if children were born outside marriage and the father acknowledged them, as in the case of Maria Anna de la Brethoniere. It therefore seems strange that their grand-daughter said that he resigned from the army due to racial concerns over his marriage.

Hendrik de Bruijn was an engineer with the Water department in Indonesia in the 1850's. So was my great great Grandfather. I wonder if they knew each other!

And I also found it strange that they had never looked at any of the photos and documents in their house. It even looked like some family trees on their walls.

[Ann from Sussex]

They did actually discuss one of the framed trees on the wall and commented that they had never thought about or really looked at it before. The family must have great pride in their ancestry to have all those portraits, trees and documents, not only kept but out on display so I can't believe that they had never heard them discussed. Even if they weren't particularly interested as they were growing up surely some of it would have stuck? As a teenager I would mentally switch off when my grandmother started talking about her vast number of siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews. I regret that now but I still knew who they were and how they fitted in.

[Ann from Sussex]

What struck me was the interaction between the twins. I noticed that, when talking together, they stood much closer and looked more fully at each other than people, even siblings, usually do. I haven't personally ever known a pair of twins so don't know if this is normal twin interaction or whether these two have an even closer bond than most. Did anyone else notice it?

[Olde Crone]

Ann, yes, I thought the same, they were like a double act, lol. I was at school with a set of twins but can't say I noticed this particular closeness, istr they were always fighting, lol!

OC

[ElizabethHerts]

OH is an identical twin and his interaction with his brother is completely different than with other people. They are still children when they are together!

I enjoyed this but found the beginning of the programme rather chaotic!