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Henri Baels

1878–1951

Born
18 Jan 1878, Ostend
Country of birth
Belgium
Died
15 Jun 1951, Ostend
facts
8
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

  • Birth18 Jan 1878, OstendProbable1 source
  • Death15 Jun 1951, OstendProbableDisputed1 competing claim1 source
  • Titlemember of the Chamber of Representatives of BelgiumConfirmed1 source
  • UnionAnne Marie de VisscherConfirmed1 source

A life in time

  1. Born · Ostend

    Birth, Ostend

  2. Child born: Lilian, Princess of Réthy

    Birth, London

  3. Died · Ostend

    Death, Ostend

What was it like?

The world around Ostend, 1878: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Henri was born around the same time as Guillaume Apollinaire, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, and Pau Casals.

Known for

Titles held

  • member of the Chamber of Representatives of Belgium
Born around the same time

  • Guillaume Apollinaire

    1880 · French poet (1880–1918)

  • Filippo Tommaso Marinetti

    1876 · Italian poet and editor, founder of the Futurist movement (1876-1944)

  • Pau Casals

    1876 · Spanish cellist, conductor and composer (1876–1973)

  • Hermann Friese

    1880 · German-Brazilian athlete (1882-1945)

  • Helen Keller

    1880 · American deafblind author, political activist, lecturer, scholar (1880-1968)

  • Konrad Adenauer

    1876 · German politician, Chancellor of West Germany (1949–1963), Zentrum and CDU

Fashion

Black became the standard rural color

During the second half of the 19th century, black became the dominant color for everyday clothing in the Flemish countryside, replacing the colorful styles of previous eras. Typical daily attire for rural men included trousers, vests, smocks, and hats, while women wore skirts, aprons, blouses, and shawls.

Festive Sunday attire for rural Belgians

Rural residents typically owned one set of festive Sunday clothes used for both church services and mourning. Men often wore a shiny blue smock on Sundays, while women wore a traditional regional cap.

Music
Around 1885–1885

Bruges belfry played automatic hourly melodies

In 1885, the belfry of Bruges played automatic hourly melodies, including the polka "l'Enclume" and a motif from "Don Juan," which were changed by replacing pins in a rotating drum.

Children sang carols on Christmas Eve

In some towns, poor children sang Flemish carols like "Blyden nacht" on Christmas Eve, hoping to be rewarded with bread, fruit, or nuts.

Getting around

The traditional horse-drawn barge

Known as the barge, a horse-drawn tow canal boat was a common and punctual way to travel between towns like Bruges and Ostend until the late 19th century.

Around 1850–1874

A Long Journey to the Coast

To travel from Brussels to Ostend, one had to take a stagecoach to Ghent in the middle of the night, ride a canal boat to Bruges, and transfer to another canal boat to reach Ostend by evening.

Daily life

Lighting and Heating in Belgian Homes

Homes were lit by candles, oil lamps, or gas lamps, as electricity was not generally available until the early 20th century. People relied on coal stoves for both cooking and warmth, often gathering around the fire for family life.

Schooling and First Communion Expectations

While school attendance was not mandatory by law during this period, most children eventually received some education, often leaving school by age 11 or 12 to begin working. Preparation for the First Communion, involving new clothes and memorizing the Catechism, was considered the most significant life event for a child.

Food

Cheap mussels for the poor

In working-class neighborhoods, mussels were a cheap staple, costing only 2.5 cents for one hundred at the time.

Dietary shifts for urban families

After the 1870s, diets for ordinary urban families in Belgium improved, moving toward a modern pattern with increased consumption of meat, fat, dairy, and sugar.

Prices and wages
Around 1873–1877

Housing rent costs for workers

A textile worker family's annual rent for their dwelling rose to 109.50 francs by 1873, with some reports noting further increases to 2 francs per week around 1877.

Around 1873–1873

Daily food costs for a family

In 1873, a Ghent textile worker's family spent approximately 45 centimes daily on lunch, consisting of soup with bacon and potatoes with vinegar sauce. Breakfast, afternoon tea, and supper for the family cost 1.20 francs daily, totaling 603.25 francs per year for all food.

Work

Harsh Conditions for Working Families

Many workers were paid partly in vouchers for company-owned shops, and families often relied on meager earnings of children who worked to help survive. Living conditions were harsh, with diets mainly consisting of black bread, potatoes, and weak coffee.

Long Working Hours in Belgian Industry

Working days typically lasted 12 to 14 hours, often starting between 6:00 and 7:00 in the morning and ending between 6:00 and 8:00 in the evening. Some specialized furnace workers labored in 24-hour cycles.

During their lifetime

  1. 1879

    Arrival of the telephone

    The telephone arrived in Belgium between 1879 and 1883, transforming communication in the Belle Epoque.

  2. 1894

    Universal male suffrage adopted

    Belgium adopted universal male suffrage in 1894, although with a plural voting system based on wealth or education.

  3. 1899

    Proportional representation law passed

    A law introducing proportional representation for elections was passed in Belgium in 1899.

  4. 1900

    First old-age pension law passed

    In 1900, the first law on old-age pensions was approved in Belgium.

  5. 1919

    Universal male suffrage introduced

    On April 10, 1919, Parliament approved a bill introducing universal male suffrage at age 21.

  6. 1919

    Vandervelde anti-alcohol law enacted

    On September 28, 1919, the Vandervelde Law came into effect, which banned the sale of spirits in bars to suppress alcoholism.

Family

Spouses

Children

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.