Every family has its share of quarrels. For some reason, people often had their disagreements recorded by a notary back in those days. Lucky for us, because this means we can now enjoy those stories and know a little about what was going on in their family. Through all these small different insights, they become people of flesh and blood.

On 21 February 1726, Cornelis and Constantia dragged two of their employees along to the office of Jan Ardinois, namely their maid Johanna van Macasser and the cleaning lady Giertje Jans, the same girl we met in the previous story (1).

Johanna and Giertje tell the notary that since 1719, at Constantia's request, they have regularly brought money to her youngest sister Maria Soreau. Not only during the time Maria was married to Jan van Leeuwsvelt (with whom she first lived on the Rokin and later ran a Chitzeshop in the Kalverstraat, where she sold pieces of cloth), but they also did this during the period in which Maria had become a widow and lived on the Prinsengracht near the Utrechtsestraat.

In addition to money, the servants also brought goods to Constantia's sister, such as fine linen, nettle cloths and other shop goods, always in good quantity (so quite a lot).

The sums of money brought were not small. Giertje reports she gave Maria Soreau one hundred guilders, then fifty and more or less sums at the same time. The cleaning lady suspects the total amount all together will have been more than a thousand guilders!

Furthermore, Giertje remembers she made many trips to Maria Soreau on Constantia's orders, to urge her sister to repay part of the amount owed. A debt which amounted to six thousand guilders (including the sent shopping goods). Yet the girl only received one hundred guilders from Maria twice...

In addition to their own two servants, Cornelis and Constantia also recruited two of Constantia's sister's old servants to accompany them to the notary. One girl lived as a servant at Maria Soreau's house from All Saints' Day 1719 to May 1720 and in this period she worked as a seamstress and assistant in the shop. The second servant worked as a maid for Maria from Women's Day 1722 until the year 1724. Servants can be reliable witnesses, because they were present in the house day and night and are often aware of many things.

These two girls confirm that during their service they often saw Johanna and Giertje and also other servants bringing various goods, such as the already mentioned nettle cloths and linen. In addition, during their work they clearly noticed Maria Soreau was very much in need and very short of money, so she had to pawn and loan goods. Items Maria had received from her sister Constantia were also brought to the pawn shop.

What is the matter with Constantia's youngest sister (the girl who was only six months old when their father died)?

The youngest sister

After some digging, we discover that widow Maria Soreau, after the death of her first husband, remarried in May 1724 to a certain man with the name of Lourens Groen. However, this soon turned out not to be a pleasant marriage. On January 10, 1725, she stands on the doorstep of the notary with no less than three witnesses (again a whole battery of maids), who take turns declaring that Maria's new husband had treated her very maliciously (2).

Her husband's "treat" is indeed quite serious. It is said he repeatedly kicked her, hit her, dragged her by the hair, attacked her with pliers and a beer jug, squeezed her throat with his thumbs, and treated her so badly that to this day she still bears blue spots and marks from the bottom to the top of her body and is even having difficulty walking because of it.

And it doesn’t stop there. The witnesses confirm Maria was abused without any reason or exchange of words and was hit so hard on the head one of the witnesses said to her husband: Mons. Groen, your wife is dead. To which Groen said: I will show you otherwise. He took a burning candle and let some melted candle wax drip into Maria’s hand. When Maria moved her hand, her husband said: Do you see now she is still alive. 

Eventually, the poor woman died a year later. We do not know exactly under what circumstances. She was not even thirty years old. On January 4, 1726, Maria Serjou, wife of Lourens Groen, wine merchant, comes from the Princegracht near the Utrecht Straat, was buried in Amsterdam for 15 guilders (3). 

Pheew… What an intense story! From what we read, Maria Soreau had fallen on hard times and Constantia wanted to help her youngest sister where she could. Now we suddenly know why the Vlaming couple is at the notary a month after Maria's death and has all kinds of servants testify about the money and goods they have been giving her for years. They want Maria's annoying husband to pay back the debt, perhaps out of a kind of revenge. Because we think Cornelis and Constantia did not really need the amount owed.