Genealogy is a fascinating hobby. I've been working on this family tree since 1992. Sometimes you discover wonderful things, and sometimes you'll hit a brick wall. And on some rare occasions one tiny little bit of new data pops up and helps shed new light on old mysteries. Here's a list of some of the things I'll eventually hope to resolve:
- What happened to Jan Baptist Deblier? Did he marry in Tilleur around 1921? Unfortunately records are not public yet.
- Where did Nathalie Deblier die? In her last known residence, Tintange? Once again the records are not public yet.
- Does the original version of the letters patent of Nicolas de Blier, written on vellum, with seals, still exist somewhere in one of the state archives in Belgium or Luxemburg? It's not part of the collections of the State Archives of Namur.
- Where can we link the Deblire family from Tellin? Unfortunately the church records from Waha, parish Saint Martin, from before 1777 haven't been digitised yet.
- Where can we link the Deblire family from Bastogne?
Some mysteries may remain unsolved, because the church records of Fisenne were burned by a passing German army around 1597, which means that about half a century of critical data has been lost.
- How does a Nicolas de Blier end up getting married in the Wallonian calvinist church in Amsterdam in 1620? Was this a godchild and namesake of the other more famous Nicolas? In that case it's likely that he was a previously unknown child of one of the brothers, but which one? Why did a member of a previously strictly catholic family become a calvinist?
In times of war, vital records may simply not have been recorded:
- Where did Remy Joseph De Blier die? Was his death related to the French troops abandoning Minden on the 3rd of November 1813, just prior to the collapse of the first French Empire? This was just days after the birth of his son Josephe Deblire. In a civilian evacuation just before that imminent fall, and during the flight back to more friendly territory, it's unlikely that this newborn child survived this ordeal.
More miscellaneous:
- What happened to the tombstone of Nicolas de Blier, originally in the St-Nicolas church in Durbuy? When and why was it removed? Nobody seems to known.