| Aantekeningen: |
As a boy our great-grandfather was too weak physically to walk the distance to school every day from Santpoort to Haarlem and back. Therefore, he received his education at home from his father, who had a large personal library. This was probably a very good education. He entered military schools in Kampen and Den Bosch. Because his commander thought the Van der Voort family's social status was not high enough for being a member of the officer corps, he was refused at first to take part in the officer's examinations. Fortunately, his next commander saw no objections, an our great-grandfather passed the exams top of his class. He was an infantry officer in 1871 until his honorary discharge in 1874. His intention was to marry Anna Wilhelmina Metman, but he could not afford to raise a family just on a young lieutenant's salary. Officers were then still expected to have access to their family's supposed wealth. He then became a geography teacher at a secundary school from 1874 until his retirement in 1909. It is said that our great-grandfather's interest in the Van der Voort family's origins was triggered when a collegue at his school could prove that he was a descendant of an Amsterdam "regentenfamilie", which gave him the right to the title of jonkheer. But our great-grandfather would certainly also have remembered his rebuke when first applying for the officer's exams. In fact, the golden ring with the Van der Voort coat of arms dated 12-8-72 mentioned above, was made shortly after he had become an officer.
Later he became "lid van het hoofdbestuur van de Volksbond tegen Drankmisbruik" (a board member of the National Society against Alcohol-Abuse) perhaps because of his brother's problems?, and had many other social functions. For his services, he was appointed "Ridder in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau". |
