|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Family Van Haelst / Van Aelst |
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
| The Coat of Arms of the Van Haelst Family  Description of the Coats of Arms (Armorial Général van Rietstap):Ecu d'or à deux fers de moulin de sable, l'un au second quartier et l'autre dans la pointe; au franc-quartier du sable, chargé de deux fasces d'argent. The arms indicate that the early generations of Van (H)Aelst were millers. >>more The Family Van Haelst in Zuiddorpe by Dr Guy van Haelst. This book describes the 200 years of history of the 2 branches of the Van Haelst family that settled in Zuiddorpe. The text in PDF-format. Map of Zuiddorpe and surroundings (Map by Nicolaas Visscher,1681) Map Zuiddorpe 19th Century map Zuiddorpe 2001  The Belfry at Ghent. The current spire dates from the 1911-1913 restoration by Valentin Vaerewijck. The copper dragon at top was first placed in 1377. |
Sources: 1. Albert Alexander Clement Van Haelst, "1470 - 1970, Vijfhonderd Jaren der Familie Van Haelst / Van Aelst", uitgegeven in eigen beheer te Antwerpen omstreeks 1970. 2. Dr Guy van Haelst, "Het Geslacht Van Haelst in Zuiddorpe", uitgegeven in eigen beheer te Mechelen, december 1999. 3. Dr Guy van Haelst, "Het Geslacht Van Haelst in Verrebroek", uitgegeven in eigen beheer te Mechelen, maart 2002. 4. Dr Guy van Haelst, "Speurtocht door de Middeleeuwen", uitgegeven in eigen beheer te Mechelen, mei 2004. Jan van Haelst and Filips van Beergine were the architects of the Belfry at Ghent, built 1313-1338. The belfry is a fortified guard tower and is 320 feet high. The lowest chamber was used to store the city charters. The tower houses the famous "Klokke Roeland", the huge bell that warned the Ghent population when the enemy drew closer, called up the burghers and to announced executions, important visitors, the opening of the markets etc. The first Roeland bell, cast in 1314 /15 by Jan van Ludeke and Jan van Roosbeke, was melted in 1659 together with the other bells of the carillon and served as metal for the new bells. Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502-1550) was a leading Antwerp artist. Pieter Bruegel the Elder married Van Aelst's daughter Mayken in 1563 and by doing so Pieter Coecke became the ancestor of a dynasty of painters Van Aelst and Breughel that survived into the 18th century. The name Van Aelst does not necessarily includes a family relation with our ancestors van (H)Aelst (see right column about the origins of the name Van Aelst). More on Pieter Coecke van Aelst and his decendents of the Breughel family. The tapestries of Pieter Coecke van Aelst and his workshop. Willem van Aelst (1626/27- ± 1687). Dutch painter of flower pieces and still lifes. The relation with our family Van Aelst is not known, but he was a good painter! Willem van Aelst was born in Utrecht, son of the notary Jan van Aelst. He was a pupil of his uncle Evert van Aelst (1602 - 1657). He worked in Paris, Florence, and Rome (he was court painter to Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany). His paintings are found in the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam), The Mauritshuis (The Hague), The Palazzo Piti (Florence) and many other outstanding museums in the world. |
Van Haelst / Van Aelst, The Origins of the Family
Our Family Van Haelst / Van Aelst probably finds it origins in the medieval town of Aalst, between Ghent and Brussels. The history of our family starts around the year 1320 in Eksaarde in The Waesland, west of Antwerp. During the 14 and 15 century the Van Haelst had land in fief from the Lords Van Vaernewijck in Eksaarde and the Abbey of Boudeloo (Sinaai). The Knights Van Vaernewijck, were also magistrates in Aalst on behalf of the Count of Flandres and it is likely that they invited the Van Haelst to come to Eksaarde to manage and cultivate part of their land they had in fief from the Count of Flandres. At the end of the 15 century the family moved gradually to Belsele, only a few miles east where they stayed most of the 16th century. Around 1280 several Van Aelst lived in Dendermonde and members of that family moved to Antwerp and the Antwerp area. The relation with the family Van Haelst, described in these pages is not proven.  The medieval Saint Andreas (St. Andries) Church in the beautiful little town of Belsele, west of St. Niklaas. Paschier van Aelst, his wife Anna Borgeljoen and their children must have lived close to this historic place. In the middle of the 17th century Laureys (= Laurentius) van Aelst settled in Verrebroeck as a miller. The family coats of arms refer to this profession and the wooden mill at the "Hooge Wilde" near Verrebroek.  The St. Laurentius Church in Verrebroeck (B), "The Cathedral of the polder". His son Joannes Baptista van Haelst, mayor of Verrebrouck, married twice, first to Joanna Theresia Laureys and later to Dorothea Picavet. He and his spouses were burried in the church of Saint Laurentius where his tomb can still be seen half hidden under the main altar (click on the picure to enlarge).
|
|||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
Paintings by Willem van Aelst. Left Vase, right still life entitled "Melon", painted in1652, collection Palazzo Piti, Florence.
To see the enlargment: click on the picture. |
A Flower Still-Life of Roses, Irises, Poppies and other Flowers in a Glass Vase. Oil on Canvas, 49.8 x 37.5 cm. Courtesy Gallerie Koetser |
||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
Download de nieuwe Bijlagen bij de Stamboom Van Haelst
Bijlagen in PDF-formaat. Alleen voor familieleden in het bezit van de toegangscodes. |
|
|
The name Van Haelst / Van Aelst The family name has changed over the years and is found in the following forms: de Alost, d'Alost, de Alosto, van Alst, van Halst, van Aelst and finaly van Haelst. According to the "Meertens Institute of the Dutch Language" other villages/towns, existing since the Middle Ages and now known as Aalst, may be at the origin of the name Van Aalst, Van Aelst or van Haelst. In the Bommelerwaard south of the Meuse river in The Netherlands a village Aalst was known as 'in villa Halosta' in the period around AD 850 (The French name for Aalst is Alost, TdM). The village of Aalst, south of Eindhoven, was known in 1281 as 'Alst', later, in 1306, as 'Haelst' and finally in 1458 as 'Aelst' before it became 'Aalst'. It is supposed that the origin of the word 'Aalst' comes from the German word 'alhust' meaning, 'homestead' or 'place of the temple'. Other candidates for the origin of the familyname are the village Aalst near Lienden, Ter Aalst near Oosterhout and Aalst in the Belgian Province of Limburg. Another village 'Alst' with the homestaed Den Alst, is situated near Ewijk, in the municipality of Beuningen. Villages with the same name are also found in Germany like Alst near Münster, Alst near Bracht in Nordrhein Westfalen and Alst über Burgsteinfurt, also in Nordrhein Westfalen. References: • Literature about the name of the villages and towns 'Aalst': Gysseling-1960; LNT; Van Berkel & Samplonius-1995; D.P. Blok, 'Aalst', in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, I, München-Zürich 1980. • Arnoldum de Halst, Harelbeke 1252; Jhan van Aelst, Kortrijk 1359; Johannes de Aelst, Stevoort 1381 [WFB]. • Jan Gerritsz van Aalst, schoolmeester Uitdam 1734-37 ['Uitdammer ambtsdragers en beroepsbeoefenaars', in: Jb. Waterland 2 (1995), p 95]. • [M. van Aalst, Genealogie van Aelst-van Aalst-van der Aelst, z.p. 1993]. various ways of writing: Van Aals, Aalst, Vd Aalst, Aalstius den Appel, Van Aelst, Vd Aelst, Alst?, Van Alst, Van Halst, Kraijer van Aalst, Visscher van Aalst. Source: Meertens Instituut Albert Alexander Clement Van Haelst first author of the genealogy Van Haelst Missionary of the order of Van Scheut. Born at Kieldrecht, 3 September 1903 as the oldest son of Theodorus Leopoldus Josephus van Haelst (# 316) and Prudence Maria Broeckx. Died Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, 4 March 1976 and is burried in the court of the Missionaries Van Scheut, Klein Bijgaardenstraat 27a, Zuun (Sint-Pieters-Leeuw). Albert van Haelst is the first author and editor of the Genealogy of the Family Van Haelst. He started his publication in the early 1970-ies. The older generations were described by Antoine van der Gucht (# 548), born 22 April 1898, son of Eugenia van Haelst (# 307). He died 7 May 1974. His first introduction to the family history dates of 3 November 1953. Albert van Haelst, priest and missionary left in 1933 for Belgian Congo where he stayed until 1967. During the first 13 years he was working as a teacher. In 1946 Albert van Haelst was appointed by the Bishop to promote films in the mission schools and the parishes of the Kasai province. During the trips with his truck (serving as projection cabin and caravan) Albert van Haelst began to take movie pictures by himself of the people and landscapes that crossed his way. His films encountered such a big enthusiasm, that he started producing movies based on a scenario and distribution all over the Congo with his own organasation LULUAFILM. In a short time he produced some 40-50 films, sometimes documentaries, but mostly films about the daily life of the black population with a moralistic motive. Also comic films such as "Matamata and Pilipili" still popular in Congo. These movies were recently re-broadcasted on Belgium TV. Look here for a review of those comic movies and the recent documentary by Tristan Bourlard about the series. |
||||||||
 Previous page |
