Genealogy TAMMEL

Introduction

Hello, genealogy friends. My name is Willy Tammel from Dinxperlo. In the early seventies my father and I decided to do research into the history of our family (name). Later on others joined in. It is my goal to publish the results of this research on these pages, making it available to everyone interested. We have found that there are three Tammel families, originating from Aalten in the Netherlands. In one of these families quite a large number of persons have the name variation Tammer. The information has been collected especially by A.J.W.Tammel en G.W.Tammel from Dinxperlo, J.W.Young-Tammel from the isle of Man and C.T.M.Sweerts-Tammer from Horst. Information already collected by others has also been used. Reactions, questions, supplementary information, corrections etc.are welcome, not only concerning Tammel but also the family names Kortbeek and te Slaa which are also part of my genealogy research.
click here to send email or contact G.W.Tammel, Kerkpad 2a, 7091ZX Dinxperlo.

The family name

The name Tammel originates from an area in the eastern part of the Netherlands, close to the border with Germany, near the hamlet of Lintelo southwest of the town of Aalten in a region called the Achterhoek. Here you will find the farms Groot and Klein Tammel (great and small Tammel) which were first mentioned in documents in 1384. During the centuries there were many variations of the name: Tanbulen (1384), Tangbell (1471), Tangeboldinck (1550), Tangebeldinck (1590), Tangerelinck (1614) and Tambel (1680). Tambel is the first variation that appears in christening and marriage records, A few times also Tambol and Tamboel was used. At the end of the 17th century Tambel is used less and less and finally replaced by Tammel, why this happened is unclear. A number of members of one Tammel family later changed their name to Tammer. The meaning of the name Tammel is not undisputed, there are two possible explanations. According to B.J.Hekket, an expert on family and farmnames in the eastern part of the Netherlands, the name has been derived from the mans name Thancbald. This name can be separated into two words "thank" (think) and "bald" (brave). Another explanation could be that the oldest written form of the name from 1384 has two words "tan" (fir or pine tree) and "buul" (hilly landscape). This could be a possible explanation as the area of the Tammel farms is somewhat higher than the surrounding area and was perhaps covered with fir or pine trees in the days that the original farm was build.

Before 1800 many people living in the Achterhoek area in the eastern part of the Netherlands used the name of the farm where they lived as their surname. So the ancestors of all people with the surname Tammel somewhere in the past have lived either on Groot or Klein Tammel. The oldest known Tammels are listed as members of the Dutch Reformed church in Aalten. Willem Tambel and his wife Berntjen, Jan Tambel and Jenneken Tambel were already members before 1645. In the years after 1645 several Tammels are mentioned but if and how they were related is not clear. The christening and marriage records (which begin in Aalten in 1665) tell us more, but there still are a number of Tammels who can not be linked to any family tree. All these Tammel lines end in the early 1700's, you can find them here: 'Unknown' Tammels

The three Tammel families

The 1947 census listed 56 people with the surname Tammel in the Netherlands. These 56 Tammels and all currently living Tammels are part of one of three different families who have no known common ancestors (at least not in the paternal line). There is a catholic family that already used the surname Tammel by the time the christening and marriage records begin. Nowadays most of them still live in the Achterhoek region and some in the Ruhr area in Germany. Half of the 56 people with the surname Tammel in 1947 were part of this family. They were born in Aalten (10), Didam and Wehl (5 each), Winterswijk (3), Gaanderen and Zeist (2 each) and Terborg (1). There are two protestant families who's ancestors both started to call themselves Tammel after they married a women who lived on one of the Tammel farms. The descendants of one of these families have spread out over the Netherlands. In 1947 there were 12 people in this family who were born in Deventer (4), Doetinchem and Terborg (3 each) and Veenhuizen (2). The other protestant family today mainly lives in Dinxperlo, Canada and the United States. In 1947 there were 16 people in the Dutch branch of this family who were all born in Dinxperlo.

The catholic Tammels

Geert Tambel, son of the late Jan Tambel from Lintelo, married on april 18th 1669 in Aalten, Elsken Terincks, daughter of the late Willem Terincks, living in Gaanderen near Doetinchem . Geert is the ancestor of the catholic Tammels, you can find his descendants here: The catholic Tammels

The protestant Tammels

Willem Tambel married Maria Aelberts daughter of Geert Ekinck op Aelbersstede and Hilleken Oberinck. ; they had two daughters:

Geesken Tambel, daughter of the late Willem Tambel in Lintelo, married Hendrick Krejenbrinck, son of Jan Krejenbrinck in Breedenbroek under Varsseveld, on may 21st 1676 in Aalten.
Gerritjen Tambel, daughter of the late Willem Tambel in Lintelo, married Herman Ekinck, son of the late Tobe Ekinck in IJzerlo, on november 24th 1689 in Aalten.

Maria Tambel (Aelberts), living in Lintelo, remarried on july 28th 1667 in Aalten Arent Krejenbrinck, son of Jan Krejenbrinck in Breedenbroek under Varsseveld . Arent then called himself Tambel. They had two sons and two daughters: Willem, Lubbert, Jenneke en Aaltje. Arent Tambel (Krejenbrinck) remarried on may 28th 1676 in Aalten Elsken Rensinck, daughter of the late Arent Rensinck and Jenneken Tambel. They had three sons and four daughters: Arent, Jacob, Jan, Maria, Arentjen, Willemke and Elske. Son Lubbert from the first marriage is the ancestor of the protestant Tammels in the Achterhoek region and in Utrecht province, you can find his descendants here: The Krejenbrinck Tammels

Elsken Tambel (Rensinck) , living in Lintelo, remarried on june 12th 1692 in Aalten Hendrick ter Braecke, son of Reijnt ter Braecke from Lintelo . Hendrick then called himself Tambel. They had one daughter:

Jenneken Groot Tammel was christened on june 4th 1693 in Aalten and died on march 21st 1778 in Aalten, daughter of Hendrik Groot Tammel in Lintelo, married Arent Tammel (te Cortbeeck), son of Derck Tammel (te Cortbeeck) and Geertjen Beuijtinck, on june 22nd 1748 in Aalten. Arent was christened on march 5th 1719 in Dinxperlo.

Elske Groot Tammel was christened on august 10th 1690 in Aalten and died on may 21st 1778 in Aalten, daughter of Arent Groot Tammel (Krejenbrinck) and Elsken Rensinck, living in Lintelo, married on april 30st 1734 in Aalten Derck te Cortbeeck, living in Lintelo, widower of Geertjen Beuijtinck from Dinxperlo . Derck then called himself Tammel. Derck is the ancestor of the protestant Tammels in Dinxperlo, Canada and the United States, you can find his descendants here: The Cortbeeck Tammels

Tammels in other countries

Although the surname Tammel is quite special, it is not unique. There were also Tammels who lived in Germany during the 17th and 18th century in the town of Bollendorf, in the Eifel region, close to the current German-Luxembourg border. Today a smal number of people with the surname Tammel are living in Austria, south and east Germany and a larger number of people with this surname in Estonia (especially on the island of Sarema). Any relation to the Aalten Tammels seems highly unlikely.

te Cortbeeck and te Slaa

Before my ancestor Derck used the surname Tammel, he was called te Cortbeeck. His younger brother, Jan te Cortbeeck, also changed his surname. After he got married he called himself te Slaa; more about them here: Genealogy Kortbeek

My ancestors

Most of my ancestors came from the southeastern part of the Achterhoek (Aalten en Dinxperlo) and the northwestern part of the Achterhoek. With the start of the marriage and christening records (appr. 1650), ancestors are relatively easy to track down; in the period before the start of these records this is a lot more difficult. For some data and descendancy there is no 'hard' evidence available , in a number of cases it is only a presumption. You can find more about my ancestors here: Ancestors of Gerrit Willem Tammel