Meet Roelof Lucas Mur. A handsome gent isn't he? He was born on the 21st June 1855 in Loenen aan der Vecht, a full century before my own birth. He died in 1920 aged 64 and his occupation was 'beurtschipper', in other words the skipper of a barge. In 1898 he is recorded as having bought a 'motorschuit', and the family's website state that this is now being maintained as a museum ship. There is a small picture attached, and guess what motorschuit it is? Yes, you know, don't you? It is my very own Vereeniging.
So there you have it, a face and a name to go with the old photo I also possess. This is quite an exciting development for me as although I know a lot about my ship, I didn't have this information before. I feel more connected now. It's a good face, isn't it?
On another note, the video below (apologies for the poor quality) was one I made with my little compact camera yesterday. It shows an 80 ton tugboat being lifted by crane off the slipway to be lowered onto blocks in the yeard. It was quite an event here, and quite a sight to see as well!
On top of that...if it isn't enough...today, we went with the Wandering Snail to Schiedam. It was a gorgeous day and I took a few photos of course. You can find them here or in my sidebar further up the page. Definitely the best way to close their visit to Rotterdam! Goodbye Snails...we shall miss you.
Do I now have a voice to the name, Val?
ReplyDeleteThat was quite the manoeuvre with the tugboat!
You must be absolutely thrilled to have that large piece of missing history filled now. It most definitely is a good face!
The photos from the "Snail" are amazing, too!
I might take deer in the yard forgranted as you take floating on a canal boat through The Netherlands forgranted. But I know you appreciate your watery world as much as I appreciate my world in the mountains!
I see someone remembered to pack the scooters...
xx
I was going to ask the same thing Dale. There was a bit of background noise, but is that you Val?
ReplyDeleteHow terrific to have history and all the pieces to the puzzle.
Wonderful photos too.
xo
I like the one of Sindy!!
ReplyDeleteHow fabulous that you have found out about the previous owner of your fine barge, and yes, what a handsome gentleman he was. I suspect that your love of history and details is another thing we have in common. Are you able to communicate with any of his descendants through this Web site you found?
ReplyDeletexx
AM
Well,yes Dale, one of the voices is mine. The other is Mo's, so take your pick! I was also on the video of the boat lifts, speaking a bit of Dutch ;-)I have a feeling whatyou saw there was A&M's Royal Enfield motorbike?
ReplyDeleteHaha, Grace, I did the one of Sindy specially for you!
Anne Marie, yes, I love history and have spent hours looking for information about my ship over the years. It's fascinating to read about the people involved and the Mur family grew into a major transport company inthe Netherlands. I'm going to try and find out some more about what my ship was doing over the years too, but what I really want to know is if there are any others like it and that I cannot find. I can only find two examples of the same type of barge, but they have very different conformations.
I agree, what a great thing to find out! I recall finding some pictures hidden in the attic of the house I used to own in AZ. Only one owner before us and it was of them and their family when the house had just been built. Felt very good seeing them and knowing the faces to put to the names imprinted in concrete on our walkway!
ReplyDeleteAnd here's the link to a movie I made on the way to Schiedam.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the boat ride Koos. How ominous the big ship was. Started out the waters a bit rough.
ReplyDeletethumbs up!
That's wonderful to find out a little more history about your barge. While watching the video I too was wondering who the girls were behind those beautiful English accents! Oh yes and nice photos. I suspect that Koos' photographic hobby is rubbing off on you ;-)
ReplyDeleteIt's so great having that background knowledge.
ReplyDeleteString, that must have been quite a find! Very exciting to come across old photos in your own home. I wish I could have found some kind of evidence on my barge itself, but alas all that was there were old cow pats on the bottom and a few rusting nails ;)
ReplyDeleteGrace, the trip was perfect and the Snail handles choppy waters beautifully, much better than the Vereeniging!
Thanks Lannio, it was great to find Mr Mur. I'm now on the track of the family.
Tim, nice to see you here. We have a similar lifestyle but with very different vessels!
hey ma! check out http://marionaagje.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteWow, that's so neat to have a boat of such history. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I adore the new photo you have up as the header on the blog layout!
Momo, been there done that, got the paintbrush ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Lemon! I particularly like the header photo too. It's of a very rare situation when our harbour was empty of boats with the exception of mine and my partner's. We probably won't see an image like that ever again.
That's great that you've found out some of the history of your boat.
ReplyDeleteI'm a boat owner myself as well now but nothing close to the size of your boat.
Oh... and I've started blogging again and I'm living in the same city as you ;)