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In 1917 Bartholomeus Wttewaal van Wickenburgh donated a large collection of books, printed pamphlets and records about his family to Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Library. This collection included 80 charters of which an inventory has now been made for the first time.

For over a century the charters, written on parchment and often with a seal, were kept folded in wooden cases. They were never opened so nothing was known about their contents. To make these charters accessible they were first flattened, mounted on boards and numbered. Then each of them was described by Otto Vervaart and now the inventory is published via the Digitaal Repertorium ('Digital Repository')  in the  (‘Wttewaal Collection’) and the  (‘Charters Collection’)  (in Dutch only).

Connections

Founder of this collection of charters was Hendrik Assuerus Wttewaall (1699-1774), mayor of Utrecht and lord of Stoetwegen and Wickenburgh. Stoetwegen is located in Zeist and Wickenburgh in ‘t Goy (Houten) and is still in possession of the (in Dutch only).

The charters show the connections between the prominent families of Hamel, Van Hattingh, Riccen (Rixen), Van der Straten en Wttewaall. They often contain legal transactions and agreements related to land ownership. The oldest charter dates back to 1452. Several charters have wax seals, for instance of several stadtholders of the House of Orange.

In the future, the inventories of other charter collections will also be made online available via the