Everyone in the research, from A to Z
Download the family tree (GEDCOM)
The confirmed family line — 34 people, from progenitor Laurens Verniers († 1600) to the Verniers of Weesp around 1700 — can be downloaded as a GEDCOM file, the standard format for genealogy software. You can import it into Genealogie Online, FamilySearch, MyHeritage and Gramps, among others.
The file contains names, dates and family relationships, and grows along with the family tree: many more family members will be added in the coming months. Notes and sources for each person are on the Family page and in the stories. You are welcome to use it with attribution.
Name index
All persons with a noteworthy role in the research, alphabetical by surname. The color of the bar immediately shows which branch someone belongs to:
confirmed family line not (yet) linked to the family line
- Anslo, Claes Claesz
- (1555–ca. 1632) Born in Anslo (Oslo, Norway), came to Amsterdam around 1580; married Giert(e) Jans, stepdaughter of stamvader Laurens, in 1582; cloth merchant on the Nieuwendijk, deacon among the Waterland Mennonites, founder of the Anslo almshouse; son-in-law and later co-signatory of the 1625 will.
Not yet linked: the connection runs via a stepdaughter, not via blood relation.
Story #4, #5, #6, #8, #17 - Anslo, Cornelis Claesz
- Son of Claes Claesz Anslo and Giert(e) Jans; Waterland preacher; married Aeltje Gerritsdr. Schouten in 1611; portrayed by Rembrandt and celebrated in verse by Vondel.
Story #8, #17 - Anslo, Gerbrand Cornelisz (1612–1643)
- Son of Cornelis Claesz Anslo and Aeltje Schouten; cloth merchant at the Kalkoensche Haan (Nieuwendijk). Betrothed on 20 March 1636 to Abigael Schouten, a first cousin of his mother; Vondel wrote the wedding poem. Had a house built by Philips Vingboons in 1642.
Story #17 - Anslo, Teuntie Cornelisdr (ca. 1616–1648)
- Daughter of Cornelis Claesz Anslo and Aeltje Schouten; married Jan Claesz Del, son of a Weesp brewer-burgomaster, on 12 November 1637.
Story #17 - Berckman, Mr. Claes Dircksz
- Surgeon; second husband of Trijntgen Verniers (betrothed 1618).
Story #6 - Busschaert, Hans (ook: Hans Bouwens Busschaert, "de Wever")
- Friend and fellow believer of Laurens Verniers; Mennonite elder, possibly confirmed by Leenaert Bouwens. Wrote Laurens two letters from Cologne in January 1570; played a leading role in the later Huiskopers dispute (1587-1590), in which he and Laurens initially stood on the same side.
Story #1 - Beverwijck, Maria van
- Daughter of the lord of Goidschalksoord, a Dordrecht orphan-master/alderman/mayor/heemraad; married captain Pieter Vernier in 1589.
Story #9, #10 - Del, Claes Claesz (ca. 1566–na 1639)
- Brewer in Weesp at de sterre met de croon; alderman, several times burgomaster, councillor and orphan master of Weesp. Married (1594) Ytje Huybertsdr, daughter of brewer Huybert Gooyer, and later Niesje Cornelisdr Schouten.
Story #17 - Del, Jan Claesz (ca. 1611–1681)
- Son of Claes Claesz Del and Ytje Huybertsdr; merchant and broker in Amsterdam; married Teuntie Cornelisdr Anslo in 1637.
Story #17 - Gooyer, Huybert Gysbertsz (ca. 1550–na 1599)
- Brewer and merchant in Hoorn at de drie schuppen; married to Jannetje Ansemsdr. Grandfather of Jan Claesz Del. How Grietje Pieters de Gooijer, wife of Mr. Cornelis Verniers, relates to him will be worked out further.
Story #17 - De Buck, Meester Pieter
- Ghent land surveyor and almanac author; the first (1563) to use the title "ghezworen geometrist", later also used by Jan Verniers. Given varying, partly false titles across different almanacs.
Story #13, #14 - Dirckss, Dirck
- Widower of Griet Jans; third husband of Trijntgen Verniers (betrothed 1627).
Story #6 - De Windt, Maeijken
- (b. ca. 1555, Laken) Wife of Joris Verniers, progenitor of a second, unlinked Antwerp Verniers family in Amsterdam; mother of Francois, Catalijne and Huybrecht.
Story #15 - Duyck, Anthony
- Secretary of the Council of State; kept a journal of the siege of Geertruidenberg (1593), in which captain Vernier appears.
Story #11 - Vernier, Egidius
- Transferred properties in Leuven to the Dominican monastery in exchange for a hereditary annuity in 1437 — the oldest, isolated mention of the name in this scattered-traces research.
Story #16 - Verniers, Bertram
- Receiver who renewed the rent register of the Count of Nevers for the parish of Elsegem in 1576.
Story #16 - Vernieri, Francesco (François Verniers)
- Painter, living in Rome between 1639 and 1642 with the likewise Flemish painter Artus del Monte; possibly originally "François Verniers", possibly identical to Jean Le Clerc's apprentice in Nancy (1628).
Story #16 - Vernier, kapitein (Regiment van Varenne)
- Succeeded captain Plato in 1710 in the Regiment of Varenne, army of the Republic; first name unknown.
Story #16 - Werner van Oberwesel (Heilige Vernier, Sint-Verny)
- (1271-1287) Murdered boy from Womrath, canonized in 1429; patron saint of winegrowers, venerated especially in the Franche-Comté under the name "Vernier". Not a family member, but a possible explanation for the regional popularity of the name as a baptismal name.
Story #16 - Huijgen, Grietje (Geurtje)
- (b. ca. 1645) Named "Geurtje Huijgen" in the betrothal deed of 24 September 1672, unmarried woman of Weesp, aged about 27; assisted by her eldest sister Hilletje Huijgen. Married Claes Pieters Verniers; mother of son Lourens.
Not in the 17 Hidden Stories — but in the family tree. - Jans, Geertje (Guijrt)
- Second wife of Abraham Verniers, married in Enkhuizen (1626); sole and universal heir in his will.
Story #3 - Jans, Giert(e) (Guijrt)
- (ca. 1560–20 Dec. 1639) Stepdaughter of Laurens Verniers (daughter of Grietge Joosten from her first marriage); her 1625 will with Claes Claesz Anslo is the key source for the Weesp connection.
Story #4, #5, #6, #8 - Jansdr., Jannetgen
- Second stepdaughter of Laurens Verniers, sister of Giert(e) Jans.
Story #4 - Joosten, Grietge
- Second or third wife of stamvader Laurens Verniers; brought two stepdaughters (Giert(e) and Jannetgen Jansdr.) from an earlier marriage. Sold the house De Witte Voet (1601) after Laurens's death.
Story #1, #3, #4, #5 - Langedul, David
- First husband of Trijntgen Verniers (married 1592).
Story #6 - Materen, Amelberge van
- Wife of Joos Verniers of Hof ter Schoonderhaege; together they bought a share of that Ghent farm (before 1496).
Story #12 - Saint-Julien, Aubert II de
- (ca. 1170/1185 – ca. 1235/1250) Baron de Saint-Julien-le-Châtel (Creuse); married "N. de Vernier-Angibault" c. 1210, thereby gaining administration of the fief of Angibault.
Story #16 - Saint-Julien, Guillaume I de
- (ca. 1215 – ca. 1270) Son of Aubert II and the Dame d'Angibault; inherited both territories; married N. de Pierre-Buffière.
Story #16 - Saint-Julien, Pierre I de
- (ca. 1245 – ca. 1300) Grandson of the Dame d'Angibault; married Agnès de Rochechouart.
Story #16 - Saint-Julien, Guillaume II de
- (ca. 1275 – ca. 1330) Great-grandson of the Dame d'Angibault; married Jeanne de Châteaumeillant; last generation before the weakening of the fief.
Story #16 - Sanderus, Antonius
- Author of the book of praise De Gandavensibus eruditionis fama claris libri tres (1624), which praises Jan Verniers and other learned citizens of Ghent.
Story #14 - Schouten, Abigael (Abigel)
- Daughter of Laurens Cornelisz Schouten; married Gerbrand Anslo in 1636. Inherited the Schoutenhof on the Gein and sold it as a widow in 1647.
Story #17 - Schouten, Aeltje (Aeltie) Gerritsdr. (ca. 1590–1657/59)
- Daughter of Gerrit Cornelisz Schouten and Aeltgen Gerbrantsdr; married Cornelis Claesz Anslo on 9 January 1611. Painted together by Rembrandt (1641, Berlin).
Story #8, #17 - Schouten, Gerrit Cornelisz (1567–1626)
- Cloth merchant, born in Weesp, died in Amsterdam; father of Aeltje Schouten and brother of Laurens Cornelisz Schouten.
Story #17 - Schouten, Laurens Cornelisz (1568/69–1642)
- Mennonite merchant and brewer, the richest inhabitant of Weesp in his day; host of stadholder Frederick Henry in 1631; built the Schoutenhof on the Gein. Uncle of Aeltje Schouten, father of Abigael.
Story #17 - Simons, Menno
- (1496-1561) Former priest and namesake of the Mennonites; the movement stamvader Laurens Verniers joined as a young man and within which he later became elder and deacon.
Story #1 - Stevens, Sara
- Born between 1 February 1596 and 31 January 1597. Married Lourens Verniers, a cloth merchant, on 31 January 1615 (son of Pieter Verniers and Stijntgen Willems). Together they had two children: Mr. Pieter Lourens Verniers, surgeon in Weesp, and Sara, married to Claes Willemss.
Not in the 17 Hidden Stories — but in the family tree. - Taye (Tayaert), Jan
- Ghent teacher whose French-Flemish dictionary (1582) is almost identical to that of Gillis Verniers; his school was already closed in 1569, just as Gillis's would be later.
Story #14 - Tongerloo, Cornelis van (1555–1617)
- Silk-cloth and textile merchant from Antwerp, Warmoesstraat; bought and sold houses and land in Amsterdam and Weesp. Banned by Haarlem together with Laurens Verniers in 1590; Vondel wrote his earliest known poem for the wedding of Cornelis's daughter Clara (1605).
Story #1, #17 - Tongerloo, Thomas van (1522–1591)
- Silk-cloth merchant from Antwerp, settled in the Amsterdam Warmoesstraat before 1585; in 1585 one of the hundred highest-assessed citizens of the city. Father of Cornelis van Tongerloo.
Story #17 - Vernier, Andries
- Bearer of the name in Mechelen, married to Alit Dorlant(dt); recorded 1540-1544 — possibly a generation older than captain Pieter, François and Karel Vernier.
Story #10 - Vernier-Angibault, N. de (Dame d'Angibault)
- (ca. 1190 – after 1210) Heiress of the fief of Angibault (Berry); married Aubert II de Saint-Julien c. 1210. Her own first name and parents have not survived.
Story #16 - Vernier, François
- Name that appears in Mechelen deeds (1583, 1585) alongside Pieter Vernier, and possibly (not certain) as a lawyer at the States-General (1611) — probably a different person from captain Pieter Vernier.
Story #10 - Vernier, Karel (Charles)
- Best-documented of the Mechelen bearers of the name: a notary in 1570, appointed in 1578 as Geswoorne of the Poorterye of Mechelen; married to Anna Robijns.
Story #10 - Vernier, Pieter (kapitein)
- Captain in the States' army, commander of Sint-Geertruidenberg and Breda; married Maria van Beverwijck in 1589; described as descending from an "old noble family of Mechelen"; died/buried September 1593.
Story #9, #10, #11 - Verniers, Claes Pieters
- (ca. 1647 – 21 Aug. 1714, Weesp) Son of Mr. Pieter Lourens Verniers and Marretje Dircksdr. Became betrothed in Weesp on 24 September 1672 to Grietje (Geurtje) Huijgen; father of son Lourens.
Not in the 17 Hidden Stories — but in the family tree. - Verniers, Mr. Cornelis
- (1652 – 18 Apr. 1719) Son of Mr. Pieter Lourens Verniers and Marretje Dircksdr, brother of Claes Pieters, Pieter Pietersz and Mr. Lourens. Married Grietje Pieters de Gooijer; father of the bierbeschooier Lourens Verniers. Died at age 67. More material about him to follow later.
Story #8, #17 - Verniers, Dirck
- Son of Mr. Pieter Lourens Verniers and Marretje Dircksdr, brother of Claes Pieters, Pieter Pietersz and Mr. Cornelis. A shoemaker by trade. Married Marritye Jans Garst on 6 September 1673.
Not in the 17 Hidden Stories — but in the family tree. - De Raet, Henrick
- Husband of Catalijne Verniers; married her on 5 July 1603 in Amsterdam. Possibly the subject of his own Hidden Story later.
Story #15 - Verniers, Catalijne (later De Raet)
- (b. 1576, Ghent or Antwerp) Daughter of Joris Verniers and Maeijken De Windt; married Henrick De Raet on 5 July 1603 in Amsterdam.
Story #15 - Aerjeans, Pleuntje
- Also recorded as Plermtje-Adriaensdochter. Married Francois (Francys) Verniers on 6 January 1605 in Amsterdam.
Story #15 - Verniers, Francois (Francys)
- (b. ca. 1575, Ghent or Antwerp) Eldest son of Joris Verniers and Maeijken De Windt. Married Pleuntje Aerjeans on 6 January 1605 in Amsterdam.
Story #15 - Verniers, Gillis
- Ghent schoolmaster, published a French-Flemish dictionary around 1580; school closed in 1584; possibly later a registrar at the Orphans' Chamber; son of Jan, father of Joos.
Story #14 - Verniers, Jan (schoolmeester/geometrist)
- Ghent schoolmaster and sworn land surveyor/geometrist, active 1578-1592/1612; taught land surveying, wine measuring and sundials; praised by Sanderus (1624); father of Gillis.
Story #2, #13, #14 - Jans, Maritje
- (b. 1581, Amsterdam) Married Huybrecht (Hubert) Verniers on 27 April 1606 in Amsterdam; mother of son Jan (Johannes). Remarried after his death, on 28 February 1632, to Hieronymus Prinster.
Story #15 - Aris (Aerts), Aeltje
- (b. ca. 1607, Amsterdam) Also called "possibly Aeltje Wit"; mother was Giert Jans. Married Jan (Johannes) Verniers around 8 September 1635 in Amsterdam; mother of daughter Diewer Jans.
Story #15 - Verniers, Jan (Johannes)
- (ca. 1607/1612 – 1 Nov. 1647, Amsterdam — birth year uncertain, see bio) Son of Huybrecht (Hubert) Verniers and Maritje Jans. Married Aeltje Aris (Aerts) around 8 September 1635; father of daughter Diewer Jans. Named as a witness, "aged about 36 years", in a notarial deed of 20 April 1643 concerning water damage at the shop of clothes dealer Francois de Gouwe. Buried in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam.
Story #15 - Verniers, Diewer Jans
- (bap. 24 Aug. 1638, Nieuwe Kerk Amsterdam) Daughter of Jan (Johannes) Verniers and Aeltje Aris (Aerts). Baptismal record notes "Binnenheiligeweg".
Story #15 - Verniers, Huybrecht (Hubert)
- (ca. 1580 – 22 Apr. 1629, Amsterdam) Youngest son of Joris Verniers and Maeijken De Windt. Wine decanter and pork seller, living at the Damse Sluis in Amsterdam. Married Maritje Jans on 27 April 1606; father of Jan (Johannes). Buried in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam.
Story #15 - Verniers, Joos (Hof ter Schoonderhaege)
- Ghent landowner, owner of (half of) Hof ter Schoonderhaege in Sint-Lievens-Esse; died before 1496; possible (distant) ancestor behind the patronymic "Joesz" in Alva's sentence against Laurens.
Story #12, #14 - Verniers, Joris
- (b. ca. 1550, Antwerp) Progenitor of a second, unlinked Antwerp Verniers family in Amsterdam; brother of Peeter Verniers. Married Maeijken De Windt before 1575; father of Francois, Catalijne and Huybrecht.
Story #15 - Verniers, Peeter
- Brother of Joris Verniers, progenitor of the second Antwerp family. Nothing else is known about him.
Story #15 - Verniers, Joos (Joost, almanakschrijver)
- Grandson of Jan Verniers (schoolmaster/geometrist); schoolmaster and almanac writer (1636-1637); sub-dean of the guild of free schoolmasters (1639).
Story #14 - Verniers, Josse (Joost, rekenmeester)
- Professor of arithmetic, wrote the manuscript Arithmetica (1584); possibly a brother of Gillis Verniers, and therefore possibly also a son of Jan.
Story #14 - Vernier, Philippe
- (b. Meaux, 1665/66-...) Walloon (French-speaking Protestant) typesetter in Amsterdam; member of the Walloon Church since 1693, together with his sisters Jeanne and Marie; betrothed in 1695 to Cristina Lombart; lived on the Laurierstraat and was supported by the Walloon Diaconate 1696-1698. No demonstrated tie to our family or the other branches described on this site.
Not in the 17 Hidden Stories — see the Professions page and/or the Sources overview. - Vernier, Pierre
- (1580-1637) Mathematician and military engineer from the Franche-Comté, in the service of the Spanish Habsburgs; described his famous precision scale (later called the "vernier scale") in Brussels in 1631, still used in calipers and other measuring instruments today. No demonstrated tie to the Flemish branches elsewhere on this site — a different region, a different branch.
Not in the 17 Hidden Stories — see the Professions page and/or the Sources overview. - Verniere, broeder Jan
- Brother of the hospital of Sint-Jans-ten-Dullen in Ghent, involved in measuring the wine of that house (1406) — the oldest trace of the name on this site.
Story #13 - Vernier, Pieter (ontvanger, 1403-1406)
- Priest and receiver of the Our Lady's Guild of Sint-Jacobs in Ghent; bought and managed hereditary annuities, acted as ground lord in various real-estate transactions.
Story #13 - Verniers, Abraham
- Son of stamvader Laurens; writer of the Middelburg Almanac (1603); afterwards a pedlar, a distiller, and finally, in Enkhuizen, a teacher of ocean navigation, orphan-master and orphanage housefather. Died 1627, no children.
Story #2, #3, #6 - Verniers, Laurens (stamvader)
- Cloth merchant and Mennonite elder; banished by Alva on 26 November 1569 (under the name "Joachim Joesz Vernier"); died December 1600 in Amsterdam. The oldest proven link of the family line.
Story #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #13, #14 - Verniers, Lourens (lakenkoper, †1623)
- (b. between 1 Feb. 1594 and 31 Jan. 1595 – before 10 April 1623) Son of Pieter Verniers and Stijntgen Willems; a cloth merchant by trade; in 1618 called a "sijde Laecken Cooper" (silk-cloth merchant), in the protest of a bill of exchange from Danzig. Married Sara Stevens Verniers on 31 January 1615; father of Mr. Pieter Lourens Verniers (surgeon, Weesp) and Sara (married to Claes Willemss). Died at age 28.
Story #17 - Verniers, Mr. Lourens (chirurgijn/schepen, kleinzoon)
- (b. before 1652) Son of Mr. Pieter Lourens Verniers and Marretje Dircksdr, brother of Claes Pieters and Pieter Pietersz. Town surgeon and alderman; married Lijsbet Jans Garst around 1671, at age 19; father of Aeltien. Named in an Admiralty letter about the voyage to Chatham on "De Vreede" (1667), concerning the treatment of two wounded crew members — to be worked out later as a separate Hidden Story.
Not in the 17 Hidden Stories — but in the family tree. - Verniers, Lourens (bierbeschooier)
- Son of Mr. Cornelis Verniers and Grietje Pieters de Gooijer; married to Elisabeth Langerbeen; bierbeschooier at Diemen. In May 1700 a beer delivery of his was seized by the excise master; his father stood surety.
Story #17 - Verniers, Maria
- Married Jodocus van der Mandere, a secretary, on 30 April 1646 in Ghent; died 29 April 1703. Their son Philippus François van der Mandere became a knight and councillor in the Council of Flanders; the Van der Mandere family later branched into the highest administrative circles. No demonstrated tie to the other Verniers traces on this site, but a marker of high standing.
Story #14 - Verniers, Pieter (zoon van Laurens)
- Son of stamvader Laurens; married Stijntgen Willems in 1594; father of Louwerens (Lourens) Verniers, the link to the family branch in Weesp. Died before 1611.
Story #4 - Verniers, Mr. Pieter Lourens
- (1623-1673) Surgeon, first Verniers documented in Weesp; master's exam in Amsterdam on 3 March 1648; married to Marretje Dircksdr.
Story #7, #17 - Verniers, Pieter Pietersz
- (b. ca. 1650) Son of Mr. Pieter Lourens Verniers and Marretje Dircksdr, brother of Claes Pieters. Married twice: first (c. 1673) to Heijndrickje Eemen Geijn, later to the widow Aaltje Geijn (previously married to Ment Dircxsz Witteveenen). Named in 1688 as alderman of Weesp and testamentary guardian in an inheritance deed of the Van Aarden family. Death not yet researched.
Not in the 17 Hidden Stories — but in the family tree. - Verniers, Trijntgen
- Daughter of stamvader Laurens; married three times (David Langedul, Claes Dircksz Berckman, Dirck Dirckss); her 1622 will names her nephew Louwerens Verniers as heir — the key to the Weesp branch.
Story #6, #7 - Willems, Stijntgen
- Born in Breda; wife of Pieter Verniers (son of stamvader Laurens), whom she married in 1594. Died around 3 October 1611 in Haarlem.
Not in the 17 Hidden Stories — but in the family tree.