A landloper was literally a “land walker,” a vagrant who roamed the countryside. Vagrancy used to be a crime, and vagrants could be incarcerated or banned. Some regions employed special “armenjagers” [pauper hunters] to drive them away.
Vagrant, by Pieter Jans Quast, 1634. Credits: Rijksmuseum (Public Domain)
About Yvette HoitinkYvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist, writer, and lecturer in the Netherlands. She has a Master of Letters in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee, and holds the Certification of Genealogist and Qualified Genealogist credentials. Yvette served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Professional Genealogists and won excellence awards for her articles in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly. Yvette has been doing genealogy for over 30 years. She helps people from across the world find their ancestors from the Netherlands and its former colonies, including New Netherland. Read about Yvette's professional genealogy services.
Yvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist, writer, and lecturer from the Netherlands who helps people find their ancestors from the Netherlands and its former colonies, including New Netherland. She has a Master of Letters in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee, and holds the Certified Genealogist and Qualified Genealogist credentials.
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Dear Yvette, did you write about the Maatschappij van Weldaadigheid on here yet? An important part of Dutch history and source of finding ancestors! I I did not know about Veenhuizen etc. until a facebook friend told me . It was some kind of a breakthrough as regards to my personal family research… Groetjes, Anita
No, that has been on my to-do list for a while 🙂 Great topic, I agree!
…I wonder if Americans know about this topic at all… no need to be ashamed of ancestors who have lived there… we are not ashamed that we have voorouders who did… on the contrary ! best regards, Anita