# General > Genealogy >  Cornelius Class

## daphne.van

Has anyone heard how the above Dutchman came to be living in Caithness? Probably before 1800 I think. Also would love to know what part of Holland he came from. It is a big ask I know........My husband is Dutch so I have a particular interest. Cornelius was my grandmother's grandfather I understand. She was Lillias J Class and married Alexander Clyne 22.9.1899. Any information gratefully received. My mother Lillias Clyne also, came out from Scotland to NZ  :Grin:  around 1925. Daphne.van

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## spittalhill

Have you seen janeytgee's recent post on this forum? There is reference to Lilias Class there.

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## Skifter

I think there is some information about Cornelius Class in the "Book of Lybster" by Donald Young

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## spittalhill

There is also an earlier post on Cornelius C on 27 Mar 2005.

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## domino

Had a quick look through the Latheron OPR's and came up with the following
6 Dec 1820 Catharine  Cornelius Class 
27 Feb 1824 Janet  C Class
 8 Jan 1841 Cornelius C Class & Christian/ Chirsty Nicoll
23 Sep 1842 Peter C class & Chirsty nicoll
3 Jan 1845 Janet C Class & Chirsty Nicoll  
All Lybster
21 Nov 1845 Humphrey Thomson married Cath Class Lybster

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## spittalhill

According to Donald Young's Book, Class Cornelius as he was known at that time, arrived in Lybster c 1810. In 1809, there was a scheme to attract Dutch fishermen to Lybster where the herring fishing was booming, to make use, particularly of their fish curing expertise. In 1815 Cornelius Class, as he now became known, married Janet Sutherland of Clyth.Their great-grandson, also Cornelius Class lived in the community until his death in 1950. There is also information in the book on locations where Class family members lived from the 19thC. 
I think therefore it is safe to assume that Cornelius came from a fishing community in Holland.

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## spittalhill

There is a family tree on RootsWeb which has this family, including Class Cornelius, b Voorne, Holland c1781 - just enter Class Cornelius under Advanced Search and it will come up.

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## daphne.van

Hi there, Thanks very much for the information.   Great to have his birth date and I have looked for Voorne on the map, but can't find it.  Names could have easily changed over the years, so I will check a bit more about that possibility.   Delighted to hear from you.  Daphne.van

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## spittalhill

The name also appears in a number of trees on Genes Reunited, but you need a subscription and permission to view these. I think the birth date also varies slightly on some of these.

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## spittalhill

Voorne-Putten is a North Sea Island off South Holland. There is also a Voorne Canal. You should be able to find them on Google Earth.

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## daphne.van

I had looked for Voorne in our atlas, but later tried Google and found it.  Thanks for info once again!  I was interested to see the island off South Holland (hadn't found that in my search).  Would like to find Dutch ancestors now.  Daphne

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## robbain

> I had looked for Voorne in our atlas, but later tried Google and found it.  Thanks for info once again!  I was interested to see the island off South Holland (hadn't found that in my search).  Would like to find Dutch ancestors now.  Daphne


Hi
Lillias Glass daughter of Sutherland Gow Class & Margaret Sinclair is my 2nd Cousin 3times removed, I am connected via Margaret Sinclair - Margaret is a daughter of Frances Ann Sinclair, daughter of Francis Sinclair & Margaret Horn my 4th Great Grandparents drop me an email at robert@eilrobcatz2.freeserve.co.uk 
I can fill in some info regarding Sinclair lineage, and info on the Class family.

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## Peterd500

Frances Ann SINCLAIR was also known as Francisina. She married George SINCLAIR 4 Feb 1830 Latheron parish. 

George SINCLAIR was the son of Elizabeth SUTHERLAND (aka Betty MCRYRIE) & Alexander SINCLAIR, son of James SINCLAIR the chamberlain & his first wife Anna ROBERTSON, son of Donald SINCLAIR the sailor, son of David SINCLAIR of Broynach and his second wife Janet EWING.

I descend from James SINCLAIR the chamberlain and his second wife Elspet SINCLAIR.

There are quite a few people interested in Class CORNELIUS / Cornelius CLASS. My always speculative database lists these issue:- 

Son Cornelius married Christina NICOL and had at least four issue..

Daughter Catherine married Umphray THOMSON and had at least 10 issue.

Daughter Janet married James WATERS and had at least 4 issue.

Son Sutherland Gow married Margaret SINCLAIR the daughter of George SINCLAIR & Francisina SINCLAIR as above and had 8 issue.

Daughter Esther - I have her age 42 unmarried in the 1861 census with her widowed mother Janet and brother Sutherland and sister-in-law Margaret. Someone else's database gives her death date as 05 May 1875.

peterd500

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## jimtilly

Does anyone know when and where the dutchman Cornelius Class died?
Does anyone know when and where his son Sutherland Gow Class was born or christened?
(certificates and censuses give a range of 1828-1833)

Does anyone know of any dutch descendents?
Two people from the Netherlands visited Lybster on the 19th September 2009 and asked about Cornelius Class.
My wife and I visited Lybster on the 20th September 2009 and missed them by one day!

My great grandmother was Sutherland's daughter, Annie Sinclair Class (sister of Lillias)
Annie and her sisters Francisina, Janet/Jessie and Margaret were married in Central Scotland in the 1890s.
Margaret moved later to NZ.
Annie died on the 17th of June 1947, aged 78
She is buried in Tillicoultry Cemetery, Clackmannanshire, Scotland

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## Peterd500

Hi Jim

I have a feeling that we may have connected at some ateg but I can't remember.  

We must be related via SINCLAIR.  From a CLASS-descended correspondent I have Ann Sinclair CLASS married to David HUNTER in 1891 with a son Malcolm married to Margaret HUNTER and another son Sutherland Gow Class HUNTER married to Margaret MARSHALL.  Is one of these sons your ancestor?  I have no info regarding further descendants.

Annie resided with David & Jessie HOWIESON at Tillicoultry in the1891 census.  Appears that Jessie was Janet CLASS who married David 1890 and was another daughter ot Sutherland Gow CLASS and Margaret SINCLAIR, i.e. she and Annie were sisters.

Please contact me at
peterd500@yahoo.co.nz
for details of your SINCLAIR ancestry.

Margaret SINCLAIR was the daughter of Francisina SINCLAIR & George SINCLAIR, son of Alexander SINCLAIR & Elizabeth SUTHERLAND (aka Betty MCRYRIE probably due to a prior marriage), son of James SINCLAIR the chamberlain and his first wife Anna ROBERTSON.  I descend from the chamberlain and his first marriage to Elspeth SINCLAIR.  The chamberlain was the son of Donald SINCLAIR the sailor & Catherine SINCLAIR, Donald being the son of David SINCLAIR of Broynach who was well connected and whose descendants became embroiled in controversy regarding the succession of the earldom of Caithness and that's where the fun starts genealogy-wise.

There are plenty of researchers doing Francisina SINCLAIR's side.

peterd500@yahoo.co.nz

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## kander333

Cornelius Class was the brother in law of my 3rd great-grandfather, Jeffrey Sinclair, and they both died at sea in Lybster on Nov. 22, 1847. There is a story about the disaster in the John O'Groats Journal, which describes the incident and lists the men who were lost.

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