Johannes Franciscus van Pelt (*1813;†1895), Breda.

Around 1815 the coppersmith Franciscus Dingeman van Pelt (*1778; †1834) moved from the village of Dongen and set up shop at Veemarkt A-547 (16A) in Breda. His son Johannes Franciscus van Pelt (*1813;†1895) was apprenticed to the brothers Adrianus and Pieter Bayens, instrument makers in Delft [15]. After his father's death in 1834, Johannes took over the business. He was only 21 years old at the time, but in the early years he was supported by his maternal uncle Petrus Otten (*1795;†1875). His name first appears in the patent register of the city of Breda in 1838, where he is listed as an instrument maker and shopkeeper of home-made products. In 1838 Van Pelt moved to Lange Brugstraat C-7, where he remained until at least 1850. Between 1850 and 1870 Van Pelt moved again to the Boschstraat, but the exact date is unknown. The earliest available Adresboek voor de Stad Breda from 1870 has Van Pelt at Boschstraat A-585, where he remained until his death in 1895.

 

The shop received new impetus when sons of the founder Johannes Josephus (Jos) and Charles Aloisius join company with their father, the new company is then named J. van Pelt & Zonen. It was established sometime before 1865 (see ill. at left), the exact year of its establishment and how long the company existed is unknown. Johannes Josephus van Pelt established his own shop at Havermarkt C-133 in 1872, and Charles van Pelt at Veemarktstraat D-146 in 1878. Charles moved to Veemarkt 16 in 1886, the house where his grandfather Franciscus Dingeman van Pelt first began. 

 

Not many instruments by Van Pelt have survived. Breda's Museum have 2 instruments by Van Pelt in their collection; a pantometer and a fire hose nozzle. In the Hollandse Cirkel's national database of historical geodetic instruments is a surveyor's cross by Van Pelt. The Kadaster Museum in Arnhem have ruling pens and a transformateur by Van Pelt.

Drawing set by van Pelt 

Drawing set with ball-head dividers, in their original patina. The label in the lid indicates that Van Pelt is commissioned by the Koninklijke Militaire Academie (Royal Military Academy) in Breda. Case 222x124x26mm.

Brass transformateur, ruling pens and dividers by van Pelt 

A brass transformateur, a simple device for calculating surface areas on a plan by the graphical method of transforming a polygon into a triangle with an equal area. The inventor of the transformateur is Charles Frédéric Gelinsky (*1771-†1837) ingénieur vérificateur du cadastre in Angers who published a manual explaining its use in 1815. 204x25x2mm. See notes [3] to [13] and [18] below.

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NOTES / REFERENCES

[1] Johannes Franciscus van Pelt, Breda *1813;†1895, fl. 1834-1895.

Carolus (Charles) Aloijsius Maria van Pelt, Breda *1848;†1917, fl. 1878-1917.

Johannes (Jos) Josephus Maria van Pelt, Breda *1846;†1912, fl. 1872-1912.

[2] Sprangers, Hans; Van Pelt & Zonen Instrumentenmakers, Breda's Museum Post, vol. 6 (1997) nr. 3, p.6-7.

[3] Stehouwer, Jan; De Transformateur, De Hollandse Cirkel, Jaargang 11 nr. 3, September 2009.

[4] The Calculateur Gélinski ou graphite is described in Foucard en Place; Livre de l'arpenteur-géomètre, Paris 1838,  p. 97 and illustration 54 and 55 on plate at end of book. The Calculateur Gelinski was improved by Dasnoy and described in his 1856 booklet Instruction sur l'usage de Calculateur-Rapporteur de Gelinsky, perfectionne par Dasnoy, Geometre du Cadastre... 

[5] Charles-Frederic Gelinski appointed Ingénieur-Vérificateur du Cadastre by Royal decree no. 386, 1814.

[6] Lecoy, François; Méthode simple et facile pour lever les plans, Paris 1846. (excellent illustration plate 14!), e-rara ETH Bibliothek

[7] Description du Calculateur de M. Gelinsky, et manière de s'en servir. Par M. S****, Ingénieur-Vérificateur du Cadastre Impr. de Vve Bizette, 1815.

[8] An interesting bio is given of Gelinski in Annales de Haute Provence 1983, Issues 295-298, p. 106: 

Frédéric Charles Gelinski, noble polonais originaire de Wilna, fait prisonnier en 1792 avec son régiment autrichien. Il demeura en France et fut admis aux Ponts et Chaussées a Troyes, puis, en 1812, en Hollande, alors contrôlée par la France. Naturalisé en 1814 il devint chef du Cadastre à Angers et fut envoyé en disgrâce à Digne aprés la révolution de juillet [1830]. Il y mourut le 18 octobre 1837. 

[9] Bulletin des lois de la République française 5e Série, 1815, p. 104; 

(N.° 691.) Ordonnance du Roi qui accorde des Lettres de déclaration de natur alité... Au S.r Charles-Frédéric Gelinsky ingénieur- vérificateur du cadastre, né à Wilna en Pologne, le 10 août 1771...

[10] A short bio of Dasnoy is given in Annales de l'Institut archéologique du Luxembourg, 1900, Volumes 35-36, p. 173: DASNOY (Jean - Baptiste), contrôleur du cadastre à Arlon, ne à Massul, commune de Longlier, Je 10 juin 1818, mort à Namur, le 9 novembre 1886. 

[11] Zeitschrift für Vermessungswesen 1874. Doll, M.: Instrument zur Verwandlung von Vielecken in Dreiecke durch Parallelabschieben. Band 3, S. 83. [MDZ]. Carl Sickler (*1827;†1897) Mechaniker und Optiker in Karlsruhe.

[12] Galle, Prof. Dr. A. : Geodäsie, Göschensche Verlagshandlung, Leipzig 1907, p. 7-9.

[13] De Calculateur Gelinski of Graphite: Nieuw Nederlandsch Magazijn, Volume 46, 1850, page 404-405. Google Books. 

[14] Digitale Stamboom, Adresboeken; Stadsarchief Gemeente Breda 

[15] Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum

[16] Brückman, - H.W.L. ; Instrumentenmakersindustrie te Delft; Bijdragen voor Vaderlandsche Geschiedenis en Oudheidkunde, 1918, p. 97-112. resources.huygens.knaw.nl

[17] Rijksdienst Erfgoed Kadasterkaarten. Kadastrale kaart 1811-1832: minuutplan Breda, Noord Brabant, sectie B, blad 02 (MIN10027B02) 

[18] Detlef Zerfowski and John Vossepoel; A Contribution to the History of the Planimeter - lesser known instruments and variants, The Slide Rule Gazette, Issue 23, Autumn 2023. https://uksrc.org.uk/