A Favourite Find

52 Ancestors in 52 weeks challenge, week 2 

Anyone researching ancestors from Amsterdam, Netherlands, will have found the fabulous Amsterdam Archives site, Stadsarchief Amsterdam - https://archief.amsterdam/. At least I hope you have, because it is beautifully set up and very informative. 

Here, in the Image archive, Beeldbank, I found many images of my great-grandfather, Jan Blomberg, who was the head teacher at a primary school in Amsterdam. Not only of him, but also of his eldest son, Johan, as a young boy. What's more, all these photos are in the public domain.

The photographer was Jacob Olie (1834-1905) who was a carpenter and engineer and later a teacher at the first vocational school in Amsterdam. Photography was a hobby for him which he would only take up full-time in retirement. He recorded many scenes of Amsterdam life and surrounding country side which are now a valuable historical record of Amsterdam in the 1890's.

Jan Blomberg, also a teacher, got to know him and came along, together with his son Johan, on some of these outings. They are featured in twelve photos, in various locations. I was particularly interested in a those featuring Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, where he got his first teaching job, but my favourite one shows him on the dyke, along the Weesper trekvaart with Diemen in the distance, with his silk top hat on. Perhaps he was in his Sunday best. This image is from 1893, so he would have been thirty-seven years old. It also connects him to his family roots, being the eldest son of a binnenvaart schipper - river boat skipper.

Jan Blomberg along the Weesper Trekvaart.
From Beeldbank, Amsterdam Stadsarchief,
Collectie Jacob Olie Jbz, Public Domain