Foreword

I would like to thank Mrs Line MANOUVRIER, assistant to Mr Jean-Claude VAN CAUWENBERGHE, Minister President, for her efficiency in passing on the basic genealogical documents to Mr Yves Heraly, President of "Geniwal". This documentation enabled me to start the ancestry of the Van Cauwenberghe family. Many thanks to Mr André Vroye for his help with the research carried out at the Archives Générales du Royaume and the Archives Départementales de la Moselle in Metz (F), and to Mr Pierre Tichon for his technical support, without which this work would not have been possible. We would also like to thank our French friends Mr and Mrs Monique ALLOGNE, Messrs Jean Paul DENISE, Christian MADOULET and Henri DESCAMP for their indispensable and valuable research in the French départements. Genealogy is not an infused science. It is with experience and the precaution of rigour that step by step we go back in time. When in doubt, abstain! Certainty is always the best route to take. You should also be aware that a genealogy is never finished and that all justified corrections will be taken into account. In the Van Cauwenberghe family there are several road workers, customs officers and railway employees. I therefore invite you to hop on the steam train and travel through towns and villages such as Athis, Beaumont, Bernissart, Cerfontaine, Charleroi, Dadizele, Lodelinsart, Melden, Nukerke, in Belgium, not forgetting Northern France, Lille, Montaigu, Reims, Paris, .... and as in the song "en passant par la Lorraine" Hagondange, Terville ....

Gilberte ROUSSEAU Ϯ