In the previous message I already indicated that I had some doubts about whether we were on the right track. But is there another choice? It seems best to me to see how far we get with this direction in our research. A matter of “crossing things off.” This sounds a bit disrespectful, but that is ultimately what it comes down to.
Following the great help from the CBG, we have been given a direction to search in. The left coat of arms belongs to the noble Southern Netherlands family “Van Delft”. The right coat of arms, belonging to the lady, needs to be researched further.
The portraits are dated 1890. Assuming the portrait subjects were still alive when the portrait was made, the following family members are eligible:
- Emile van Delft (1834-1917), married to Nelly Baré (1847-1904)
- Louis van Delft (1854-1926), married to Céline van Wickevoort Crommelin (1865-1936)
- Alphonse van Delft (1817-1894), m. Delia Guyot (1828-1898)
- Léon van Delft (1845-1926), m. Countess Clémence Le Grelle (1855-1932)
Now we come to the “process of elimination.” This is going to be a challenge. All we can do now is estimate the age of the portrayed gentleman. It is known that people used to look “older” in the past than they do today. I am trying to take this into account, but even so, it is difficult to make a good estimate. The gentleman and the lady look like they are in their seventies, but it is also possible that they are in their sixties. If we use this age range, who is left?
The age of the Van Delft gentlemen in 1890:
– Emile van Delft: 56 year
– Louis van Delft: 36 year
– Alphonse van Delft: 73 year
– Léon van Delft: 45 year
According to our assessment, two gentlemen are eligible:
Emile en Alphonse.
But how to proceed now? Let's see if we can find out something about the wives. Emile was married to Nelly Baré and Alphonse to Delia Guyot. I need to find some more information about these ladies. This could ensure that we take another step forward in our research, but we might also be right back to square one.
I have the Wikipedia of the Van Delft Family opened and am staring a bit at how we should proceed now. Then my eye catches the “Literature” chapter of this page.
The Literature lists a book about the coat of arms of the Belgian nobility. Why did I not notice this sooner? This book could very well provide the missing piece of the puzzle. After all, we know what the lady's coat of arms looks like. And we have two last names.
Quickly look up the book on the internet. When I type the title into the search bar, several results appear. It's striking that it consists of four parts. Let's see what the set costs. € 700,- !!!!!!!!!! That is quite a lot for this research. I admit, they are beautiful books, but they are also quite rare. What now?
A PDF document is also listed in the search results. Perhaps this document can be downloaded and contains the information we are looking for. I click on the URL and see that you have to register to download the file. Too bad, because I don't feel like doing that right now. Thinking about the next step, I scroll down a bit on the page in question. Then I see something that might get us a lot further ……………………..
