Abraham Joseph married Anna Catharina Riphagen (KL89-WGT) on 21 November 1802 in the Dutch Reformed Church, Wolvendaal, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Abraham was born circa 1763, Lichding (Lorraine) Germany. He died in 1817 in Sri Lanka. He belonged to the Regiment of de Meuron. Anna was born in 1781 in Epe, Gelderland, The Netherlands and died in 1850 in Sri Lanka

Abraham was a soldier in the Le Suisse Règiment de Meuron. He was a Hofmeister to Colonel Pierre Frederik de Meuron – Commanding Officer of the Regiment de Meuron commissioned to garrison Dutch Ceylon from 1785 - 1796. He was on a ship “Diamant” between 15 September 1788 and 19 June 1789, which sailed from Batavia (north coast of Java) to Rammekens Holland. Abraham was in the military service as a Hoffmeister (soldier in charge of horses) to Colonel Frederick de Meuron who was the commander in the de Meuron Regiment Military service from 15 September 1788 to ?. It is not known whether on the way from Batavia to Holland he decided to alight in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)

I have more information about his voyages, etc. but nothing about his genealogy. Any help tracing Abraham would be like manna from heaven. Please, please help me if you have any information about his ancestors. Thank you very much in anticipation of some good news.

Charles Joseph thejosephfamily@comcast.net

Hier komt Abraham Joseph uit Lutach 

VOC: Opvarenden | Nationaal Archief

Lutago is Italië
Lichding is Duitsland
Lorraine is Frankrijk

for the original marriage record [here and here]:

with the children:
 

with "Lichding" or "Lutach", one could consider Luttange (FR) / Lüttingen/Leuchtingen (DE) in département de la Moselle

Ik lees bij het huwelijk van Abraham: lichding in Duits Lot(t)eringen. (Toendertijd was een deel van Lotharingen nog Duits, vandaar dat de volkstaal daar nog gedeeltelijk Duits is.). Duitse personen hadden vroeger twee voornamen waarvan meestal de tweede naam de roepnaam was en in Nederland als voornaam genoteerd werd.

Zij is JD. van Colombo.

Could someone please help me translate the two above marriage entry documents into English. The photo copy writing is very faint and difficult to discern. Any help from forum members would be most appreciated. Thank you in anticipation of your help. Charles Joseph

Translations [and explanations between sqare brackets] into English to the best of my knowledge:

"Joseph Abraham from Lichding in German Loteringen [GE: Lothringen; FR: Lorraine] youngman [meaning: never been married] with Anna Catharina Rubhagen from Col[lombo] youngd[aughter; meaning again never been married]"

and:

"Joseph Abraham from Lichding in German Lotteringen youngman with Anna Catharina Rubhagen from Collombo Y[oung] D[aughter]

The conversation above is about 2 things. First, that nowadays we are talking about Lorraine in France, but back then that area was 'German' territory [with 'German' being not very well defined since Germany as a nation only came into existance from 1815 or 1866. The best definition of 'German' in those days probably is 'where people speak German'. The same goes for the area called Alsace (FR) or Elsass (GE)]. Second, it is about where/what Lichding or Lutach might be. With the suggestion from Peter it might be Luttange (FR) / Lüttingen/Leuchtingen (DE). Which seems quite plausible to me.

See also Elsaß–Lothringen or Alsace–Lorraine:

Between brackets....

You say "[...] Hoffmeister (soldier in charge of horses) [...]". I.m.h.o. that is not an accurate description. We are probably talking about the function of Hofmeister (GE) or Hofmeester (DUT). Not specifically in charge of horses, but rather responsible for the day to day household of an highranking person (like a Colonel-commander of a regiment). Household in the military context meaning things like shelter, assets, food, bedding, other servants etc. His function when leaving Europe was officially 'Fuselier' meaning a soldier with a rifle or gun.

Basic data about Abraham and Anna is recorded in the "Journal of the Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon" which must be known already to Charles but is probably unknown to some other members of this forum. Specifically 1954 volume 44 number 4 page 176:

I suspect the data on where Anna Catharina originated (Epe, 1781) is not solid. Yes, there were Riphagens in Epe around 1780. But no, I cannot find her baptism. What I can find however is a Johan Hendrik Riphage sailing to the East Indies in 1779, and disembarking in December 1780 in Colombo.

In this publication he is staged as the father of Anna Catharina Piekzen alias Riphagen in 1778 in Epe, but I cannot verify any of that data. What is more, it is highly unlikely that a soldier would have taken his family onboard a VOC ship. A soldier whas not in the position to do that. So I suspect Anna Catharina was born in Colombo in the early 1780's as a daughter of Johan Hendrik Riphage and a yet unknown woman.

Johan Hendrik Riphage originated from "Meijendresse"; I do not have the faintest idea where that may be.

There is a second entry about Johan Hendrik, where he is recorded as 'Riphege', appearing to be in VOC service until 1794.

...in Colombo and Jaffenap[atnam].

He originated from 'Meijndesse':

@Bart

Hier staat toch niet Abraham Joseph? (eerder Joseph Heploni o.i.d.)

linker pagina

Ja, het kan er staan.

Hoi Frank,

Tja, op het eerste gezicht..... toch denk ik dat er Abraham staat.

1) De 'p' van 'Heploni' is geen p, maar een letter zonder stok naar beneden, want dat is de 'J'van Jongman
2) De 'l' van Heploni is geen l, maar een 'h'; dezelfde schrijfwijze als de 'h' in 'Lichding', of in 'Catharina'
3) De 'H' is eigenlijk een hoofdletter A gevolgd door een kleine b
4) Het puntje op de i is gewoon een vuiltje.

etc.

Anyway, de andere inschrijving is veel beter leesbaar en de echtgenote is zonder twijfel dezelfde.

zie mijn aanvulling.

En Anna Catharina lijkt mij Duits.

Nagekomen:

"In 'T kasteel Kolombo Ende Maand Januarij Ao 1785"

[...]

"Jan Hendrik Riphage"

Thank you everyone for your helpful hints on Abraham Joseph. I am still looking for further information about his ancestors. Any further help will be most appreciated. Please feel free to email me directly at thejosephfamily@comcast.net. Thanks.