Chapter 5. Carel Dewulf and Eugenia Borra, Torhout, 1805 to 1878
Four months after a funeral
Carel Dewulf buried his father in June 1834 and married in October. On Thursday 23 October 1834 he stood before the first alderman of Torhout with Eugenia Borra. That year Torhout kept one running register for births, marriages and deaths together, and their marriage is act number 434.1
Transcription and translation
434. Het jaer duyzend acht honderd vier en dertig, den drie en twintigsten october om tien uren voor middag, zyn voor ons Pieter François Vergauwe, eersten schepen, belast met den burgerstand der stad Thourout, provincie West-Vlaenderen, gecompareerd: Carel De Wulf, landbouwer, oud acht en twintig jaren, geboren te Thourout den vyf en twintigsten frimaire jaer veertien der fransche tydrekening, woonende te Thourout, meerderjarigen zoon van Jan De Wulf, overleden te Thourout den achttienden junij achttien honderd vier en dertig, en van Anna Theresia De Corte, ook overleden te Thourout den zevenden october achttien honderd acht en twintig; gemelden Carel De Wulf heeft ons verklaerd geene andere ascendenten te hebben; en Eugenia Borra, landbouwersdochter, oud vier en twintig jaren, geboren te Thourout den vier en twintigsten february achttien honderd tien, woonende te Thourout, meerderjarige dochter van Jan Borra en van
No. 434. On 23 October 1834, at ten in the morning, before Pieter François Vergauwe, first alderman in charge of the civil registry of Thourout, appeared Carel De Wulf, farmer, 28, born at Thourout on 25 Frimaire Year XIV of the French calendar [16 December 1805], adult son of Jan De Wulf, who died at Thourout on 18 June 1834, and of Anna Theresia De Corte, who also died at Thourout on 7 October 1828; he declared that he had no other living ancestors; and Eugenia Borra, farmer's daughter, 24, born at Thourout on 24 February 1810, adult daughter of Jan Borra and of
Transcription and translation
Marie Therese Pollet, landbouwers, woonende te Thourout, deze laetste alhier tegenwoordig en toestemmende ... de afkondigingen gedaen zyn geweest voor de voornaemste deur des ingangs van het stadhuys op de uer van den middag, de eerste den twaelfden en de tweede den negentienden dezer maend; geene tegenstrydigheid aen dit huwelyk ons te kennen gegeven zynde ... verklaren wy in den naem van de wet dat Carel De Wulf en Eugenia Borra door het huwelyk vereenigd zyn ... in tegenwoordigheid van Carel Louis Denys, byzonderen, oud vyf en twintig jaren, Peter Rousseau, agent van politie, oud twee en veertig jaren, Louis Coeman, werkman, oud vyf en twintig jaren, en Jan van Wynberghe, smit, oud acht en veertig jaren, allen woonende te Thourout. [Signed:] C. Dewulf; Eugenia Borra; Jan Borra; the witnesses; Vergauwe.
... Marie Therese Pollet, farmers living at Thourout, she being present and consenting ... The banns were read at the main door of the town hall at noon on the 12th and the 19th of this month, and no objection was made ... we declared in the name of the law that Carel De Wulf and Eugenia Borra are united in marriage ... Witnesses: Carel Louis Denys, of independent means, 25; Peter Rousseau, policeman, 42; Louis Coeman, labourer, 25; and Jan van Wynberghe, smith, 48, all of Thourout. Signed by the groom (C. Dewulf), the bride, her father Jan Borra, the witnesses and the alderman.
The alderman wrote down what the law required: that the groom was Carel De Wulf, landbouwer, oud acht en twintig jaren, a farmer aged twenty-eight, born at Torhout on 25 Frimaire of the Year XIV; the son of Jan de Wulf, who had died at Torhout on 18 June 1834, and of Anna Theresia De Corte, who had died there on 7 October 1828; and that gemelden Carel de Wulf heeft ons verklaerd geene andere ascendenten te hebben: Carel declared that he had no other living ascendants, no grandparents whose consent was needed. The bride was Eugenia Borra, a farmer's daughter, aged twenty-four, born at Torhout on 24 February 1810, the daughter of Jan Borra and Marie Therese Pollet, who were present and consented.1
The witnesses were townsmen, none of them family: Carel Louis Denys, a man of independent means; Peter Rousseau, a police officer; Louis Coeman, a labourer; and Jan van Wynberghe, a smith. The banns had been read at the door of the town hall at noon on the two Sundays before. Carel signed C. Dewulf, and the bride and her father signed too.1
It was the second Dewulf-Borra marriage in four years. Carel's brother Pieter Leopold had married Eugenia's sister Catharina in 1830 (chapter 4).
A farmer's family
The couple farmed at Torhout. Their children were born there:2
| Child | Born at Torhout |
|---|---|
| Romania | 7 April 1837 |
| Jan | 1 November 1838 |
| Desiré (Desiderius) | 11 March 1841 |
| Carel Louis | 24 July 1843 |
| Augustin | 23 December 1846 |
| Felix | 14 December 1850 |
Desiré was born at eleven in the morning on 11 March 1841, and his father registered him the same afternoon. Carel was thirty-five, Eugenia thirty-one. One of the two witnesses was Ambrosius Dewulf, farmer at Lichtervelde, aged thirty-nine: Carel's brother Ambroise.3
Transcription and translation
76. Het jaer duyzend acht honderd een en veertig, den elfden Maert om vier uren na middag, is voor ons August van Caillie, schepen, ambtenaer van den burgerstand der stad Thourout, provincie West-Vlaenderen, gecompareerd Carel Dewulf, landbouwer, oud vyf en dertig jaren, geboren en woonende te Thourout, den welken ons heeft vertoond een kind van het mannelyk geslacht, geboren te Thourout heden om elf uren voor middag, van hem vertoonder en van Eugenia Borra, zyne vrouw, oud een en dertig jaren, geboren te Thourout, en aen het welk hy heeft verklaerd te geven den voornaem van Desiré. De voornoemde vertooning en verklaring gedaen in tegenwoordigheid van Ambrosius Dewulf, landbouwer, oud negen en dertig jaren, woonende te Lichtervelde, en Carel Louis Denys, byzonderen, oud een en dertig jaren, woonende te Thourout. Na lezing den vertoonder en de getuygen hebben dezen act met ons geteekend. [Signed:] C. Denys; Dewulf; A. Dewulf; Caillie.
No. 76. On 11 March 1841, at four in the afternoon, before August van Caillie, alderman and civil registrar of Thourout, appeared Carel Dewulf, farmer, 35, born and living at Thourout, who showed us a male child born at Thourout today at eleven in the morning, to him and to Eugenia Borra, his wife, 31, born at Thourout, and declared that the child is to be named Desiré. Witnesses: Ambrosius Dewulf, farmer, 39, living at Lichtervelde [Carel's brother], and Carel Louis Denys, of independent means, 31, of Thourout. Signed by both Dewulf brothers.
The birth acts of the other children show the family around them. When Romania was registered in 1837, the witness was her grandfather Jan Borra, sixty-four. At Jan's birth in 1838 it was Carel's brother Pieter Dewulf, who signed beside him. For Carel Louis in 1843 it was Philippe Jacob Faes, a farmer from Bovekerke and the husband of Carel's sister Angela; for Augustin in 1846 and Felix in 1850, Eugenia's brothers Joannes and Carel Borra. Carel signed every one of them.2
Transcription and translation
174. Het jaer duyzend acht honderd zeven en dertig, den zevenden april om elf uren voor middag, is voor ons Louis Benedict Moke, burgemeester, ambtenaer van den burgerstand der stad Thourout, provincie West-Vlaenderen, gecompareerd Carel De Wulf, landbouwer, oud een en dertig jaren, geboren, getrouwd en woonende te Thourout, den welken ons heeft vertoond een kind van het vrouwelyk geslacht geboren te Thourout heden om twee uren 's morgens, van hem vertoonder en van Eugenia Borra, zyne vrouw, oud zeven en twintig jaren, geboren te Thourout, en aen het welk hy heeft verklaerd te geven den voornaem van Romania. De voornoemde vertooning en verklaring gedaen in tegenwoordigheyd van Jan Borra, landbouwer, oud vier en zestig jaren, en Carel Louis Denys, byzonderen, oud zeven en twintig jaren, beyde woonende te Thourout. Na lezing den vertoonder en de getuygen hebben dezen act met ons geteekend. [Signed:] C. Dewulf; jan Borra; C. Denys; L. B. Moke.
No. 174. On 7 April 1837, at eleven in the morning, before Louis Benedict Moke, mayor and civil registrar of Thourout, appeared Carel De Wulf, farmer, 31, born, married and living at Thourout, who showed us a female child born at Thourout today at two in the morning, to him and to Eugenia Borra, his wife, 27, born at Thourout, and declared that she is to be named Romania. Witnesses: Jan Borra, farmer, 64 [the child's maternal grandfather], and Carel Louis Denys, of independent means, 27, both of Thourout.
Transcription and translation
423. Het jaer duyzend acht honderd acht en dertig, den eersten november om zeven uren 's avonds, is voor ons Louis Benedict Moke, burgemeester, ambtenaer van den burgerstand der stad Thourout, provincie West-Vlaenderen, gecompareerd Carel Dewulf, landbouwer, oud twee en dertig jaren, geboren en woonende te Thourout, de welke ons verklaerd heeft dat hy heeft vertoond een kind van het manlyk geslacht, geboren te Thourout heden om een uer 's morgens ... van hem vertoonder en van [continued]
No. 423. On 1 November 1838, at seven in the evening, before Louis Benedict Moke, mayor of Thourout, appeared Carel Dewulf, farmer, 32, born and living at Thourout, who showed us a male child born at Thourout today at one in the morning, to him and to [continued]
Transcription and translation
Eugenia Borra, zyne vrouw, oud negen en twintig jaren, geboren te Thourout, en aen het welk hy heeft verklaerd te geven den voornaem van Jan. De voornoemde vertooning en verklaring gedaen in tegenwoordigheyd van Pieter Dewulf, landbouwer, oud acht en dertig jaren, en Carel Louis Denys, oud negen en twintig jaren, byzonderen, beyde woonende te Thourout. Na lezing den vertoonder en de getuygen hebben dezen act met ons geteekend. [Signed:] C. Dewulf; P. de wulf; C. Denys; L. B. Moke.
... Eugenia Borra, his wife, 29, born at Thourout, and declared that the child is to be named Jan. Witnesses: Pieter Dewulf, farmer, 38 [Carel's brother Pieter Leopold], and Carel Louis Denys, 29, both of Thourout. Signed by both brothers.
Transcription and translation
152. Het jaer duyzend acht honderd drie en veertig, den vier en twintigsten july om vyf uren na middag, is voor ons August van Caillie, schepen, ambtenaer van den burgerstand der stad Thourout, provincie West-Vlaenderen, gecompareerd Carel Dewulf, landbouwer, oud zeven en dertig jaren, geboren en woonende te Thourout, den welken ons heeft vertoond een kind van het mansgeslacht geboren te Thourout heden om elf uren voor middag, van hem vertoonder en van Eugenia Borra, zyne vrouw, oud drie en dertig jaren, geboren te Thourout, en aen het welk hy heeft verklaerd te geven de voornamen van Carel Louis. De voornoemde vertooning en verklaring gedaen in tegenwoordigheyd van Philippe Jacob Faes, landbouwer, oud vier en veertig jaren, woonende te Bovekerke, en Carel Louis Denys, byzonderen, oud drie en dertig jaren, woonende te Thourout. Na lezing den vertoonder en de getuygen hebben dezen act met ons geteekend. [Signed:] Dewulf; ph. jac. faes; C. Denys; Caillie.
No. 152. On 24 July 1843, at five in the afternoon, before August van Caillie, alderman and civil registrar of Thourout, appeared Carel Dewulf, farmer, 37, born and living at Thourout, who showed us a male child born at Thourout today at eleven in the morning, to him and to Eugenia Borra, his wife, 33, born at Thourout, and declared that he is to be named Carel Louis. Witnesses: Philippe Jacob Faes, farmer, 44, living at Bovekerke [the husband of Carel's sister Angela], and Carel Louis Denys, 33, of Thourout. (The index gives this as act 151; the register numbers it 152.)
Transcription and translation
194. Het jaer duizend acht honderd zes en veertig, den drie en twintigsten december om elf uren voor middag, is voor ons August van Caillie, schepen, ambtenaer van den burgerstand der stad Thourout, provincie West-Vlaenderen, gecompareerd Carel Dewulf, landbouwer, oud een en veertig jaren, geboren en woonende te Thourout, den welken ons heeft vertoond een kind van het mansgeslacht geboren te Thourout heden om drie uren 's morgens, van hem vertoonder en van Eugenia Borra, zyne vrouw, oud zeven en dertig jaren, geboren te Thourout, en aen het welk hy heeft verklaerd te geven den voornaem van Augustin. De voornoemde vertooning en verklaring gedaen in tegenwoordigheid van Joannes Borra, landbouwer, oud dertig jaren, en Carel Louis Denys, byzonderen, oud zes en dertig jaren, beide woonende te Thourout. Na lezing den vertoonder en de getuigen hebben dezen act met ons geteekend. [Signed:] C. Dewulf; J. Borra; C. Denys; Caillie.
No. 194. On 23 December 1846, at eleven in the morning, before August van Caillie, alderman and civil registrar of Thourout, appeared Carel Dewulf, farmer, 41, born and living at Thourout, who showed us a male child born at Thourout today at three in the morning, to him and to Eugenia Borra, his wife, 37, born at Thourout, and declared that he is to be named Augustin. Witnesses: Joannes Borra, farmer, 30, and Carel Louis Denys, 36, both of Thourout.
Transcription and translation
238. Het jaer duizend acht honderd vyftig, den veertienden december om vier uren na middag, is voor ons Charles Boutens, schepen, ambtenaer van den burgerstand der stad Thourout, provincie West-Vlaenderen, gecompareerd Carel Dewulf, landbouwer, oud vyf en veertig jaren, geboren en woonende te Thourout, den welken ons heeft vertoond een kind van het mansgeslacht geboren te Thourout heden om acht uren 's morgens, van hem vertoonder en van Eugenia Borra, zyne vrouw, oud een en veertig jaren, geboren te Thourout, en aen het welk hy heeft verklaerd te geven den voornaem van Felix. De voornoemde vertooning en verklaring gedaen in tegenwoordigheid van Carel Borra, landbouwer, oud zes en twintig jaren, en Jan Denys, byzonderen, oud vyf en twintig jaren, beide woonende te Thourout. Na lezing den vertoonder en de getuigen hebben dezen act met ons geteekend. [Signed:] J. Denys; C. Dewulf; C. Borra; Chs Boutens.
No. 238. On 14 December 1850, at four in the afternoon, before Charles Boutens, alderman and civil registrar of Thourout, appeared Carel Dewulf, farmer, 45, born and living at Thourout, who showed us a male child born at Thourout today at eight in the morning, to him and to Eugenia Borra, his wife, 41, born at Thourout, and declared that he is to be named Felix. Witnesses: Carel Borra, farmer, 26, and Jan Denys, of independent means, 25, both of Thourout.
The hungry forties
Augustin was born in December 1846, in the middle of the worst years Flanders knew in the nineteenth century. A harsh winter in 1844-45 spoiled the grain. From the summer of 1845 the potato blight destroyed more than nine-tenths of the potato crop in large parts of Flanders. At the same time the rural linen trade collapsed, undercut by English machine-made cloth. Famine followed, then cholera and typhus. In Belgium about 44,000 people died, mostly in East and West Flanders, and the district around Tielt and Roeselare, just south of Torhout, was among the worst hit.4
The records read for this history say nothing about how Carel and Eugenia came through those years. They were farmers, not weavers, and a farmer with land to work was better placed than a cottage weaver. Whether any of their children died in those years has not been checked.
In the same months the railway reached Torhout. The first stretch of the line from Bruges, a single track, opened on 4 October 1846, and for nine months Torhout was the end of the line; in July 1847 it was opened through Lichtervelde and Roeselare to Kortrijk.8 Augustin was born two months after the first train came in.
Widower
Eugenia Borra died at Torhout on 8 May 1858, aged forty-eight.6 Carel lived on for twenty years as a widower among his children. In April 1875 he was still farming at Torhout. He was present, aged seventy-one, when his son Desiderius married at Lichtervelde, gave his consent, and signed (chapter 6).6 A year later, in May 1876, he stood as witness at the birth of his grandson Alidor, "Carel De Wulf, landbouwer, oud zeventig jaren", and signed once more.7 He died at Torhout on 13 April 1878, aged seventy-two.5
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Marriage of Carel De Wulf and Eugenia Borra, Torhout, 23 October 1834, act 434 [S5] (grade A). ↩↩↩
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Birth acts, Torhout: Romania, 7 April 1837 (act 174); Jan, 1 November 1838 (act 423); Carel Louis, 24 July 1843 (act 152; the index says 151); Augustin, 23 December 1846 (act 194); Felix, 14 December 1850 (act 238) [S13] (grade A), and Desiré [S4]. That the Borra witnesses were Eugenia's brothers is inferred from name and age (grade C). ↩↩
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Birth act of Desiré Dewulf, Torhout, 11 March 1841, act 76 [S4] (grade A). That the witness Ambrosius is Carel's brother Ambroise, born 1801, is grade C. ↩
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Canon van Vlaanderen, "The Potato Crisis"; FARO; Centrum Agrarische Geschiedenis [S33]. ↩
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Death dates from the author's FamilySearch tree and the 2019 pedigree [S23, S24] (grade D); not yet read in the civil registers. ↩
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Marriage of Desiderius Dewulf and Barbara Hillewaere, Lichtervelde, 28 April 1875, act 19 [S3] (grade A), which also gives Eugenia's death at Thourout on 8 May 1858. ↩↩
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Birth act of Alidor Dewulf, Torhout, May 1876, act 124 [S14] (grade A). ↩
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Inventaris Onroerend Erfgoed, "Station Torhout"; Wikipedia (Dutch), "Spoorlijn 66" [S39]. ↩