Van der Lee from Betuwe to Kromme Rijn

About the name

The family Van der Lee described in these pages is in cours of time moved from "de Betuwe" (Beusichem and Zoelmond) to the "Kromme Rijn" area (Wijk bij Duurstede, Langbroek, Doorn, Driebergen and Zeist, all near Utrecht).
The name "van der Lee" was used first in 1765, before that it is Verlee or Verlehe But on Febuary 21 1765 the baptism of Geertruij van der Lee is registrated, a daughter of Cornelis van der Lee (previously Verlee) and Cornelia van Donselaar. After 1768 all following children are registrated as "van der Lee"
As far as I can see now there is no connection with the other Van der Lee's from Zuid Holland. The origin of that family is often placed near Delft and Vlaardingen where you find places named Lee or Ley. In our case there is a clear line to Beusichem and Zoeldmond, and one could think of a place called "Huis ter Lede" near Kesteren. Most people I "met" thusfar were farm-hands, may be farmers, so rather poor. This in contradiction to the Zuid Holland Van der Lee's who often have a higher social status.