| Commentary | In 1606, Cornelis van der Block was living on the St. Anthoniessluijs, next to the Swarte Os, when he bought lots for 1 f. 16 st. in the Haarlem lottery. Magdalena van der Block, living at the same address, bought lots for 12 st. (GAA 48/4 F 378 and 48/17 F 380). Briels in his book, De Zuidnederlandse immigratie, supplies useful biographical data on the Van den Blocke family. Cornelis was born in Mechelen in 1569, married Jacomijntje Pieters and, after her death, Grietgie Willems (mentioned in the introduction above). On 15 September 1611, Cornelis van der Blocke, sculptor (steenhower), declared before the Orphan Chamber that Jannetje, 9 years old, and Maritge, 5, his two sisters, children of a second marriage, of Philips van der Block, his father, were entitled to 128 f. 12 st. for their inheritance (WK 5073/787). In 1624, Cornelis van den Blocke, sculptor, about 55 years old, made a deposition, along with the sculptor Steven Jacobsz., at the request of the master-sculptor Garbrant Heynsz., concerning the value of carvings made on a ship at the behest of Harmen van der Pelle (Van Dillen, Bronnen tot de geschiedenis van het bedrijfsleven 78(1933), p. 525). Steven Jacobsz. beeldsnyder, who had recently died, was cited in a document of the Orphan Chamber of 24 January 1631 (WK 5073/789). After the death of Jacomijntje Pieters, the first wife of Cornelis van den Block, an inventory was made of the couple's jointly owned possessions on 27 October 1625 (NA 567, fol. 658 and foll., Not. Lamberti). At the time the couple owned a house on the Breestraet. Cornelis apparently remarried with Grietge Willems, at whose request the goods in this sale were auctioned on 5 December 1629. |
