Geography: Holland

Utrecht Province in 1815

Provided by: Bas de Groot, IJsselstein, the Netherlands

In the summer of 1815 the Low Countries were buzzing with activity. Napoleon had returned from Elba and the newly formed country of the United Netherlands was preparing for war. Recruits for the regular army were enlisted, clothed and drilled, old officers were called back from retirement or French service, and Royal regulations were issued on almost any military matter. To be able to sustain the war effort, the Department of War had to know what the limits of its resources were that it could bring to bear. For this purpose the Department in July 1815 sent out a questionnaire to the mayors all communities in the Netherlands. Although some of the questions asked may seem superfluous (“does not a central government know what roads it has built over the years?”), one must keep in mind that the Dutch government in 1815 was partially filled up with exiles, who hadn’t been in the country for several years, partially with people whom the King favoured, but who may not have been very good administrators, and only partially with people who had been in French service and knew the country and their trade.

On the other hand, central government was not a well-known concept in the Netherlands in 1815. Up to 1795, the Netherlands had been a true confederation, every province minding its own business, with only defence and foreign policy being arranged centrally by the “Staten-Generaal” (parliament). The 20 years the country had spent as a centrally led entity had not led to a significant increase of knowledge of internal matters of the provinces in the central government. The returns of these questionnaires were therefor vital for the central government and especially the Department of War in their strategic planning.

Another point of interest is that many questions deal with water levels, sluices and other peculiarities regarding open waters. In this case, it is important to remember that most of the western part of the Netherlands was situated below the level of the sea. Water had been the country’s most valuable ally and fearsome enemy for hundreds of years. Most trade and transport was conducted by water instead of by roads, and until 1795, the country’s rivers had protected her from foreign invasion. On the other hand, investments in drainage and dikes were a constant necessity and these limited the country’s budget. In this regard, the province of Utrecht was on the boundary between the western provinces that lay below sea level and the eastern ones above sea level. Nowadays, Utrecht is considered the central province of the country, and land-bound with a lake as its northern border. However, as the Zuiderzee formed a direct link with the North Sea, Utrecht was a coastal province in 1815, and shared many problems in regard to water management with its western neighbour provinces.

In 1972 the Provincial Press of the Province of Utrecht collected the returns of the 1815 questionnaires from all its provincial communities. This article gives a short summary of these returns, giving the reader an impression of what Dutch rural society was like in 1815.

I have provided a map to assist our readers. It is of a somewhat later date, since the thick black and white lines that run across it are railways, which the Netherlands didn't have until the late 1830's. Otherwise, it is an accurate map, my guess is from an early 20th century schoolbook. Some comments on the legend:

klei = clay grounds
zand = sandy grounds
laagveen = wet moorlands
hoogveen = dry moorlands

Source:

P. Boon and P. van Zanten. De Utrechtse Gemeenten in 1815 Woerden; 1972. 186 pages.

Placed on the Napoleon Series: May 2002

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