*  Hans Verelst (ca. 1565 - Antwerpen, after 1591)

                      ¤ Hans Verelst (Antwerpen, 1591 - between 1626 and 1633; x Anna Van Altenaken)

                               • Peter Verelst (Antwerpen, 1625 - Berchem, 1701; x Mortsel, 1649 Joanna Janssens)

                                              --> 8 generations to sample 322230

                                              --> 8 generations to sample IN122465
 
3.2.  Michiel Verelst (Duffel, ca. 1562 - Aartselaar, 1644; x Broechem, 1589 Margaretha De Laet), basket weaver, innkeeper 
        --> 11 generations to sample 429510


2) Genetic evidence: connecting the branches

The Y-chromosome of representatives of each branch indicated above has been investigated (YSTR111 test in most cases), and this has convincingly revealed their shared ancestry. All Verelst descendants from these three branches belong to the DF19-L644 haplogroup below R-P312, and their genetic matches are 101/111 or higher. However, several reversions in YSTR values are suspected, as well as identical mutations that occurred in parallel in different family branches. While YSTR marker analysis clearly proves that all tested individuals are related to each other, it does not allow the more detailed reconstruction of their genealogical connections.

The latter research question can however be answered with the help of YSNP testing. For all samples the Big-Y test has been carried out. This has revealed the topology of how the three branches connect to each other in a distant past, before sufficient written sources were available. It has also shown how the Verelst family connects to other DF19-L644 lineages, which carry different surnames and which have split off from the Verelst male line around 300 AD. This is explained in much more detail in the DF19 & Subclades Project, and below only the part specific for the Verelst family will be discussed further.

After the acquisition of two SNP mutations (FGC9773: 11701238 T>G, and Z17121: 21638130 T>A, originated around 300 AD) the Verelst lineage has split off from a large number of other families, that ended up with different surnames. After this point, the Verelst Y-chromosome has accumulated another 13 SNP mutations, before splitting up into the different family branches that have been listed above. The following 9 SNPs are present in all tested Verelst men that belong to this family, and their origin should therefore be situated between ca. 450 AD and ca. 1350 AD, although their chronology cannot yet be determined:

 Z21271: 6788470 G>C

 Z21272: 7165914 A>G
 
 Z21273: 8083722 C>A

 Z21274: 14220425 C>T

 Z21275: 14584695 C>T

 Z21276: 21041222 C>T
 
 Z21277: 21587703 A>T
 
 BY19342: 16963860 C>A

 BY43655: 20066686 C>T
 
 BY19337: 6895653 C>T

 FT74195: 3859583 C>A

 FT74238: 26552593 C>T


After this point, branch A has split off from the other two branches. Two independent descendants of Laureys Verelst (1596-1653) from branch A have been tested, and this revealed that their ancestral Y-chromosome had acquired another 6 SNP mutations, between the split from the other 3 branches (in the 14th century?) and the birth of Laureys Verelst in 1596 (among which BY19345: 21316710 T>C, and BY19346: 21470963 T>C).

In the generation when branch A went its own way, branches B and C were still united in a single male ancestor, who was a brother of the ancestor of branch A. The Y-chromosome of branches B and C acquired four SNP mutations (among which BY975: 11499893 G>A, and BY1750: 19277554 C>A), before branch C split off. The three tested lineages within branch B remained together long enough after this generation to accumulate another two SNPs in their Y-chromosome (PF3451: 8382431 T>C, and FT178749: 6983679 G>C). The common ancestor of branch B (Gielis Verelst, ca. 1550 – 1607) must already have possessed these two mutations, and their origin must thus be situated between the birth of the MRCA of branches B and C on the one hand (estimated around 1450 – 1470 AD), and the birth of Gielis Verelst (° ca. 1550) on the other hand.

The current results and my interpretations thereof are shown graphically in the "Photos" section of this Verelst Project.


3) Searching for the identity of the branches' MRCAs

The MRCA of all three branches (A, B and C) can be estimated to have been born in the mid-14th century. The "van der Elst" surname dates back to the 13th century (both in Antwerp and in the Land of Waas), so it would appear that the three investigated branches separated from each other near the very root of this family. The results clearly show that their Y-chromosome has been linked to their surname since at least the early 14th century, and that they likely are true biological descendants of a man who first adopted this hereditary surname in the 13th century.

Five medieval "van der Elst" families who lived in our ancestral region can be considered as the potential stem from which the three investigated branches have sprouted:

* The first family lived in Antwerp (in the duchy of Brabant), and it descended from a knight named Paulus de Alneto (ca. 1215 - after 1253), who was one of the owners of the shipping toll on the river Schelde, and who acted as toll master and city counsellor. He adopted the surname from his large estate Ter Elst, which was situated immediately to the south of the city walls. Paulus was somehow related - either through blood or marriage - to the Villicus family (the hereditary bailiffs of the city), and his crest was identical to that of a few other, very influential families from that period. His male line was in later generations represented by several legitimate branches, as well as by numerous bastard lines.

* The second family originally used the surname "van Swiverle", and their earliest known member was Gerardus de Suiverla (cit. 1272). Around 1370 Henric van Swiverle, who had an estate in Voorschoten (Viersel) near Zandhoven, married a daughter of a knight and city counsellor (Jan van der Elst) who belonged to a prominent family in the city of Antwerp (descendants of Paulus de Alneto, see above). By 1400 their two sons (Jan and Wouter) started calling themselves "van Swiverle alias van der Elst", and eventually "van der Elst". They evidently chose to use their mother's surname to have a better chance at a career in the city, and this turned out very well for them. They both became "steenweerder" (chief jailor of the city prison), which was a very lucrative position in those days. They were also involved in wool trading (e.g. with England), and the medieval “van Swiverle” family had probably owned flocks of sheep in the region of Zandhoven and Viersel. Their descendants lived in and nearby Antwerp, and they invariably called themselves "van der Elst" and later "Verelst".

* The third family was originally named "van der Espt", but this surname was apparently altered to "van der Est" or "van der Elst", depending on the clerks who wrote it down during the 15th century. It appears that this family originally lived in or around Malderen / Londerzeel (in the 14th century), and that its members were mostly millers. Possibly a descendant of this family (Wouter van der Espt) lived in Schelle or Niel around 1400, and this man may have been the founding father of a local Van der Elst / Verelst family.

* The fourth family lived in the Land of Waas (on the opposite bank of the river Schelde, in the county of Flanders), and may have descended from one of four men who were mentioned there at the end of the 13th century, and who may have been closely related to each other. They were Willem van der Elst (garrison commander or "castellanus" of castle Altena in Kruibeke in 1283, and vassal of the lord of Gavere and Liedekerke-Denderleeuw), Pieter and Wouter de l'Aunoit (sons of Jordain de l'Aunoit and vassals of the count of Flanders in 1291) and Raoul de l'Aunoit (also vassal of the count of Flanders in 1291). The names Willem, Rolinus (= Raoul) and Jordanus still appear in this family (in Beveren, Melsele, Haasdonk) in the 14th century, which strongly suggests that at least one of these three men had had male descendants.

Willem van der Elst may originally have been from the region of Ghent (perhaps from the domains of Gavere, which were also owned by his liege lord, Raas VII van Gavere?), because his descendants would own property in Ghent, and would have citizenship of that city. However, it is also possible that Willem came from another domain owned by his lord, namely Liedekerke. In Teralfene (very close to Liedekerke and Denderleeuw) there was a domain with a castle named Ter Elst, and the lords of that domain styled themselves "van der Elst". This castle - which disappeared in the 14th century - was held as a fief from the count of Flanders, and it was strategically very important, as it guarded the old border between Flanders and Brabant, after the count of Flanders had appropriated the region in 1056. In later centuries this family was influential in Erembodegem and Ninove (and perhaps also in Lebbeke and Dendermonde), with e.g. a Jan van der Elst holding the fief of Erembodegem from the Flemish count in 1341. It is therefore also possible that Willem van der Elst belonged to this family, especially because his family was already very familiar with guarding a border castle, and castle Altena in Kruibeke was exactly that. In fact, a document from 1307 mentions a knight named Willem van der Elst in Essene (immediately adjacent to Teralfene), who certainly belonged to that family.

Jordain and Raoul may have been from Hainaut, which would mean that they (or their father) sided with the Flemish count during the war of succession in their county. A family with this surname had been very prominent near Ronquières since the 12th century, with a Gilles de Alneto being "summus pincerna" (chief butler) to the count of Hainaut, a Gautier d'Aulnoit who accompanied Jacques d'Avesnes on the Third Crusade around 1190, and a Raoul and Symon del Aunoit, two brothers who were mentioned as aldermen in Ronquières in 1277. Perhaps Willem van der Elst f. Rolinus from Kruibeke was a son of this Raoul del Aunoit?

* The fifth family lived around Heist-op-den-Berg, and named itself "Verelst alias Luens". A man named Wouter Verelst alias Luens lived in Booischot in the early 16th century, and he may have been a cousin of Willem Verelst Woutersz, the founding father of branch A who lived in the nearby city of Lier. Wouter had two sons: Wouter and Henric (a blacksmith). Another member of this family, Willem Verelst alias Luens, was miller in Bruggeneinde and later in Hallaar. Presumably this family descended from Lodewijk van der Elst, a man who had most likely moved from Heffen (near Mechelen) to Heist-op-den-Berg around 1440.

4) Outlook:

To continue improving and further completing this research, it would be very interesting to do the following:

a) Identify and test male descendants of other early side-branches of this Verelst / van der Elst family, which may shed a new light on the medieval identity of this family.

b) Identify and test distant relatives that share at least one of the 13 SNPs that have occurred in the Verelst Y-chromosome between ca. 450 and ca. 1350. These early side-branches of our male line may provide further information on the whereabouts of our male ancestors during that period, and on the exact route they have taken to arrive in Flanders / Brabant.

It now also becomes possible to place new Verelst samples - whose genealogy does not (yet) connect to either of the 3 investigated branches - in the context of this family, based on their SNP profile.


5) Especially interesting families to be tested:

To obtain more information about the medieval connections of this family, it would be great if a male-line descendant of the old "van der Elst" family from Teralfene / Erembodegem could be tested in this project, as well as a male-line descendant of the medieval "van der Elst" family from Antwerp. I am currently trying to identify living male descendants from those families. Another interesting lineage to be researched would be the descendants of the de l'Aunoit (Delaunay) family from Hainaut.

I am also very interested in testing descendants from other medieval Van der Elst families, e.g. "van der Elst alias Lymberch", "van der Elst alias van Wemmele" and "van der Elst alias van Maldere", all from the region between Mechelen and Brussels.