Elizabeth Opke (1779-1856)

Elizabeth Opke was born 8 Dec 1779 in Amsterdam, 238 years ago. She belongs to the Broekman side of the family, but is not technically related to my husband; she illustrates the importance of networks and social relations.

Her father came from Kirchlengern (50 km east of Osnabruck) in Germany to Amsterdam before 1770; he had one daughter with his first wife, and five children with his second. Elizabeth and her sister Geertruij were daughters of the second marriage. In 1811 Elizabeth married Harmen Hendrick Broeckman, also from Germany, but from Bramsche, about 20 km north of Osnabruck. Their son Jan Hendrik married in 1836 Hendrica Peters, the niece of my husband’s ancestor Jan Bartold Petersen (dutch link), my husband’s fourth great-grandfather. He was from Vlotho, about 25 km east of Kirchlengern, and his daughter married Gerrit Lucas Broekman (dutch link), my husband’s 3rd great-grandfather. His father had come from Melle, Germany, about 30 km south-east of Osnabruck.

Elizabeth’s sister Geertruij married Johan Hendrik Duijvendak in 1802. He was from Osnabruck (surprise, surprise), and two of his grandsons married sisters of my husband’s grandfather Marinus Johannes Broekman (dutch link)

So here we have the the power of expats networks, even after three generations in Amsterdam, they still marry within the original expat group. Of course, in addition to the German heritage, they also had religion in common, they were all Lutherans.

I have not figured out yet, whether Elizabeth’s husband Harmen Hendrick Broeckman of Bramsche is related to Broekman of Melle. Whether he is or not, it has been an interesting puzzle to unravel.