Letter of Hendrik Augustijn De Badts to Guido Gezelle
Hendrik De Badts is the vicar in the little village Heule. He describes to Guido Gezelle how fine Camille Lateur and his wife Louise Gezelle, are after having moved to Leiaarde, just outside Heule. He wishes that Guido’s father, having stopped working, would move to Heule too, which would be better for him than staying in Bruges. He also says that the former parish priest Jacobus Vandenberghe is stingy and that but little help is to be expected from him.
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Camille Lateur
Camille Lateur became a tailor in Roubaix, where he married Louise Gezelle (1834-1909), the sister of Guido Gezelle, on June 5th, 1865. He became an independent tailor in Heule. The family had four children: Karel, Elisa, Maria and Frank (the writer Stijn Streuvels).
Louise Gezelle
Guido Gezelle’s eldest sister was known by her third name Louise. At first she was teaching in Ingelmunster (July 1858). In October 1858 she returned home and later on went to live with her aunts in Heule. Eventually she was employed in Menen and Roubaix, where she met Camille Lateur, who was seven years her junior. They married on June 5th, 1865 and returned to Belgium in the winter of 1870-1871 because of the outbreak of the Franco-German war. They had four children, among them Frank Lateur, who would become a renowned author as Stijn Streuvels. Louise suddenly passed away on February 12th, 1909.
"Large Pavé"
The French "pavé" means paving stone. The é"Large Pavé" refers to the "Kortrijksestraat" where the Lateur family lived. In this photo you can see this street with the tower of the St. Eutropius Church in the background.
(Photo, Geneanet)
De Plaatse
The Lateur family lived for a while in the corner house No. 9 on “De Plaatse” in Heule. The writer Stijn Streuvels, Gezelle’s nephew, also lived there from 1879 to 1887.
(Photo, City Archives Kortrijk)
Leiaarde
The Lateur family moved into a large mansion along the Kortrijksestraat in the “Leiaarde” district in Heule. The current house number is 132. This is also the house where the writer Stijn Streuvels, Gezelle’s nephew, was born.
(Photo, Geneanet)
Maria Gezelle
Maria Constance Gezelle was the youngest sister of Pieter-Jan Gezelle and consequently Guido's aunt. She was married to Charles Louis De Deurwaerder, a boarding school keeper, a teacher and later a municipal employee. He was a distant cousin and friend of the writer Frank Lateur. Maria Constance Gezelle was a teacher in her husband's boarding school. His boarding school was taken over by the Sisters of Charity. Gezelle’s sister Florence joined this congregation on October 15th, 1873 and began to teach as Sister Colomba.
Photo: Philomena De Smet (standing right), Maria Gezelle (standing left) and Hortense Gezelle (sitting).
