A few references exist showing Jews lived in the Netherlands as early as the 14th century. Many more Jews arrived in the late 16th century, refugees from persecutions of the Inquisitions in Spain and Portugal. The Alhambra decree of 1492 sent many Spanish Jews to Portugal. The Portuguese Inquisition began in 1536, causing many Jews to migrate elsewhere. In Amsterdam, an impressive Portuguese Synagogue was built in Amsterdam during the years 1671-1675, about 75 years after the first Jews arrived from Portugal.
Leman Benjamin Boeles, the oldest known ancestor from the Netherlands, was born about 1764 in Amsterdam. Research reveals that he was listed in the Netherlands Act of Assumed Names while living in Breda on July 1, 1812, showing his occupation as a teacher. Leman Benjamin Boeles's daughter, Catherine Boeles, was born on October 18, 1812, in Breda. There was no organized Jewish community in Breda prior to the Introduction of full civic equality in the Netherlands in 1796. It was noted, however, that a small Jewish community arose in Breda in the early 19th century. The Jewish population of Breda was 75 in 1809, 226 in 1840, and 168 in 1869.
Another daughter, Hester, was born on August 19, 1815, in Bergen-Op-Zoom. Research reveals that Jews settled in Bergen-Op-Zoom during the early years of the 18th century, after obtaining a parcel of land on the outskirts of the city in 1815 to be used as a cemetery. This was also the year they began construction on a synagogue. The Jewish population of Bergen-Op-Zoom went from 106 in 1806 to 206 in 1840, falling to 86 in 1869.
In 1817, Leman Benjamin Boeles appears in an archival document from Rotterdam, a city with a large Jewish population equal to that of Amsterdam. Rotterdam history reveals the first merchant licenses to Jews were granted in 1610 to Portuguese Jewish merchants. The population of Rotterdam grew from 50 in 1674 to 2,500 in 1796 to 2,113 in 1809 to 2,823 in 1840 and to 5,297 in 1869.
Leman Benjamin Boeles's wife, Rachel Moyse Cerf, was born in Buding, France, about 1773. They were about ages 48 and 39 when their daughter, Catherine, was born. There may have been other children besides Catherine and Hester. I found an on-line reference to another daughter, Belia Boeles, born January 12, 1818, in a Dutch Jewish Genealogical Database. Although the children were born in the Netherlands, the family eventually moved to the region where the mother was born. Their daughters were married in Metzervisse, France, and the parents died in Metzervisse. [Please note this Cerf line is not the same as the Phalsbourg Cerf line.]
References:
Archives of the Dutch Israelite Main Synagogue, http://stadsarchief.amsterdam.nl/archieven/archiefbank/inventaris/714.nl.html#A31775000002.
Dutch Jewish Genealogical Database, http://akevoth.org/genealogy/denbosch/1920.htm.
Jewish Historical Museum, http://www.jhm.nl/culture-and-history.
Map of Migrations and Settlements of the Spanish Jews, http://sephardicseminary.org/eshel_womans_sephardic_seminary_mission/eshel_womans_sephardic_seminary_sephardic_history/.
