Who owned it before him?
The March 1618 fire in the Delft Stadhuis destroyed most of the building as well as much of the municipal archives stored there. This loss included the real estate records that contained at least the names of the owners of the Gulden Hoofd before Leeuwenhoek.
At that point, Delft had avoided any disastrous fires for over 80 years. The image on the left sidebar shows what happened in 1536. Most of the houses, made of wood, burned to the ground. Left standing were the structures made of stone. The fire had destroyed the most valuable homes, along the Oude Delft and Nieuwe Delft grachts. The citizens of Delft decided to rebuild, this time of stone and brick. Within ten years, most of the lost housing had been replaced.
We don't know exactly when the Gulden Hoofd was built, but it was probably around 1540. Even then, it was known by that name, though some alternate spellings include Ghulden, Vergulden, Gouden, and Hooft. According to the Delft archival records, the house had half a dozen owners before Leeuwenhoek and several residents who may or may not have been paying rent.
Jacob Andriesz, a baker, lived there from ~ 1560 to ~ 1593
Aelbrecht Heijndricksz, potter, ~?? to ~1593
Huijch Gijsbrechtsz, peddler, ~ 1593 to 1629
Stoffel Huijchenz van der Schie, 1629 to 1634
Pouwels van Crombrugge, serge dealer, 1634 to 1643
Frans Leendersz van Helden, furrier, 1644 to 1649
Grietge Jans, Van Helden's widow, 1649 to 1655
The table below has all of the references I could find in the Delft archives, though very few of the actual documents have survived. When Delft recovered after the fire, the clerks assembled the salvagable records in the order that they found them, not by date. Thus the inventory and bundle numbers don't follow a strict chronology.
| date | what happened | source |
|---|---|---|
| 1559-1562 | Jacob Dries, Hippolytusbuurt, Gulden Hoofd, guarantor, see: Joestgen Cornelisdr. | WKD inv. 420, fol. 142, bundel 22 Registers van inschrijving van wezen en halfwezen |
| 1559-1562 | Jacob Dries, bakker, Hippolytusbuurt, Gulden Hoofd, guarantor, see: Adriaen Jansz. | WKD inv. 422, fol. 293v, bundel 22 |
| 1566-1569, 1575-1576 | Jacob Dries, bakker, guardian, see: Jacob | WKD inv. 424, fol. 31, bundel 23 |
| 1562-01-01 | Jacob Dries paid the gravenhuur on the Ghulden Hooft to Cornelis Franchoys van Bodeghem (tax farmer?) | OAD 1 inv. 678.2 fol. 034v Rekeningen van de thesaurier |
| 1562-1568 | Jacob Dries, bakker, Hippolytusbuurt, Gulden Hooft, guardian, loaner, see: Jacob Jansz. | WKD inv. 404, fol. 213v, bundel 19 |
| 1564-11-21 | ?? | ORA 13 inv. 164 Kamerboek 1564 - 1571 mei |
| 1570-1572 | Jacob Andriesz., bakker, Hippolytusbuurt, Gulden Hoofd, wife may be Aeltgen Jansdr.; 3 children Claesgen, Lijntgen, Lijsbeth | WKD inv. 417 fol. 389-390, 395, 398, bundel 21 |
| 1571-07-24 ?? | Aelbrecht Heijndricksz. bought the Gulden Hoofd from Jacob Andriesz | WKD inv. 417 fol. 398v, bundel 21 |
| 1574-10-31 | Hendrick Aelbrechtszn. potter bij de Vest, registered as member of the church | HGD 445 inv. 463-465 Register met namen van lidmaten |
| 1576-02-01 | ?? | HGD 445 inv. 463-465 Register met namen van lidmaten |
| 1581-09-25 | Jacob Dries, baker, guardian, see: Coenraat van Doorne | WKD inv. 401 fol. 144, bundel 18 |
| 1593-09-15 | Huijch Kremer, in 't Vergulden Hooft, child buried | DTB inv. 35 fol. 1v Begraafboeken Oude en Nieuwe Kerk |
| 1593-10-10 | Maritghen Arijens, living Hippolitusbuerte in 't Gouden Hooft, married Anthonis Anthonissen, kleermaker from Antwerp | DTB inv. 2 fol. 9 Ondertrouwboeken, met vermelding van trouwdatum |
| 1597-01-27 | Child of Aelbrecht Henrixss, living int Gulde Hooft, buried in Oude Kerk |
DTB inv. 35 fol. 24 |
| 1597-10-20 | Wife of Aelbrecht Henrixss, living int Gulden Hooft, buried in Oude Kerk | DTB inv. 35 fol. 28v |
| 1601-1603 | Huijch Gijsbrechtsz., kramer, living Gulden Hooft, guarantor, see: Jacob Jacobsz. | WKD inv. 339 bundel 1 fol. 308v |
| 1602-05-04 | Huijch de Cramer, living in 't Vergulden Hooft, wife buried | DTB inv. 35 fol. 64v |
| 1604-04-11 | Willem Egbertsen, tinsmith, living Hippolytusbuurt, in het Gouden Hooft, married Magdalena Hendrixdr from Amsterdam | DTB inv. 2 fol. 1v |
| 1604-10-30 | Huijch de Cramer, living Voorstraat, child buried | DTB inv. ?? |
| 1629-01-01 | Stoffel Huijchenz van der Schie, Hippolijtusbuijrt, 8/9 house and property Gulden Hooft, 3911 guilders, 2 stuivers, 4 pennies | KCD 447 inv. 367 56e fol. 15r1 Rekeningen van de heffing op het transport van onroerende zaken |
| 1630-02-18 | ? Huijgens van Schie in't Gulde Hooft Hypoliyusbuijrt | DTB inv. 38, fol. 14v Begraafboeken Oude en Nieuwe Kerk |
| 1634-01-01 | sold to Pouwels van Crombrugge, Hippolytusbuurt house and property Gouden Hooft, 3200 guilders | KCD 447 inv. 368 09e fol. 32r1 |
| 1643 | sold to Frans Leenders van Helden, after his death, his widow Grietge Jans | ORA 13 inv. 281-283 fol. 309r2 Huizenprotocol |
no dates in the ORA 13 inv. 281-283 fol. 309r2 Huizenprotocol, which lists four owners
Huigen Gijsberths or Gijsbrechts, peddler
Stoffel Huijchenz van der Schie
Pouwels van Crombrugge, serge dealer
Frans Leendersz van Helden, furrier, afterwards his widow Grietge Jans
undated
ORA 13 inv. 46 fol. 94v Crimineel boeck 1536 oktober - 1591 december
WKD inv. 367 fol. 167 bundel 9 1587, 1596, 1603-1606, 1609-1611, 1614
Huijch Gijsbrechtsz., peddler, Hippolytusbuurt wz, Gulden Hoofd
co-heir, loaner to Gijsbrecht Jansz.
WKD inv. ??? fol. 308v bundel 1
Huijch Gijsbrechtsz., peddler, in 't Gulden Hooft
guarantor for Jacob Jacobsz.
