Introduction

In December 2003 I started this website with the publication of the familyrecords of my ancestors from Woudenberg in the province Utrecht (Netherlands).
My tree: Familytree.

At first the data only comes from two databases.
Nowedays I use many sites with databases in the Netherlands (see: the page about genealogy links) and amoung others in America: Family Search.

The most far back I could find then was a family from the year 1686:
Jan Jansz de Bree (1686) and Hendrijn Fransz van Dam (~ 30-09-1688 Amerongen), married 08-11-1711 in Woudenberg.
At that time I thought that he was the eldest De Bree I could find.

In the catalogue of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (Utah USA) I found a book called:
Genealogie De Bree/Van Linschoten by Pieter Blink (in Dutch).
Pieter Blink starts that genealogy with the same ancestors from Woudenberg!

With the records from mr. Pieter Blink, I was able to update some of my data.
The De Bree Family starts now with another ancestor: Jan [Gerritz] de Bree (1650). Nore his birth, nore his marriage has known.
As you can see in my Familytree ("Stamboom") there are more familymembers De Bree before 1650. The only thing is, I can't proove it without documents!
Recently I found a book mentioning a Gerardus de Bree in the year 1505 in the former university of Orléans (France)! That can't be the minister (also named Gerardus de Bree or Gerardus a Bree) I found earlier; he died in the year 1624 in Nederhorst den Berg. And that one was minister in Woudenberg before he came to Nederhorst den Berg

In Woudenberg is a foundation called "Stichting Oud Woudenberg" (Postbus 2, 3920 EA  Woudenberg). They collect anything about the history of the small village of Woudenberg. The foundation publishes a magazine called "Oud-Woudenberg".
In the first number of the year 2003 one of the members of the foundation wrote the first article about the eldest families of Woudenberg.
In this case about the familyname De Bree. A summary.

If one of your familymembers has "de Bree" as surname, please contact and tell me where they come from. Maybe we even can share our records.