Introduction
 The first indication of the family name "Dijst" in the Netherlands is found in the archives of the city The Hague. In the archives of two other cities in the Netherlands, an early indication of a synonym of the name Dijst is present in the province Zeeland (Dijst) and in Amsterdam (van der Dijst). At that time no relation can be found with the family in The Hague. This family tree only has a connection with the male part of the family.

In 1700 the name Dijst is written in different ways. Writing is done just phonetic. The most common orthography is Deijst. In 1777 Joseph Deijst's autograph is a witness in an official document. The lawyer writes the family name as Deijst. Joseph Dijst on the contrary signs the document with the family name Dijst. A conclusion can be made he can't read but only write, or better draw, his name. The way of signing is equal as the writing of a schoolboy of kinder garden. In the second half of the 19th century the name in the official documents is written like the earliest ancestor wrote: "Dijst".

Rudolphus Deijst
 At the beginning of the 18the century, the family Rudolphus Deijst and Maria Anna Leenders lives in the city of The Hague. In the register of foreigners living in the city of The Hague this family is registered with Saxen Eissennach (Germany) as the birthplace of Rudolphus Deijst. By the way, the name Deist is still a common name in Germany. Any detail of birth, marriage or death of Rudolphus Deijst and Maria Anna Leenders is not (yet) found. Maria Anna Leenders gave birth to seven children. The children found a family of there own, Jospeh, Hendricus, Rudolphus en Getrudis. The other children died at a young age or otherwise nothing is found in the archives. At the same time, in the archives of The Hague another family is found with the same name: David Deist. His name was also written in the register of foreigners with the place of birth: Saxen Eisennach. Any connection between the both families is not yet found.

For an impression of environment of Rudolphus Deijst in the 18 centuries, click here.

It seems the brothers Joseph and Hendricus Dijst know each other very well. They marry the sisters Alida and Flora van Noord. Hendricus Dijst has 4 children. None of them establish a family.

Joseph Dijst
Joseph Dijst and Alida Joanna van Noord have 9 children. A son named Gerardus Jacobus, later on in documents called Gerrit, and 2 daughters of Joseph Dijst and Alida van Noord establish a family.

At that time the life of Joseph Dijst is very curious. He became a shoemaker and in 1774 he became a member of the corporation of shoemakers. Only citizens of the city of The Hague are allowed as a member. Joseph Dijst can't prove he is born in The Hague. At his marriage he even can't prove he is born in The Hague. At his fourth marriage 5 friends make a declaration in front of the judge they know hem as Joseph Dijst, born on September 21, 1737 in The Hague. Surprisingly 250 year later his document of birth was found in the archive of The Hague.

Two months after the birth of his 9th child his wife, Alida van Noord died. In April 1783, three months after the death of his first wife, Joseph Dijst marries Agnita Kuijper (his second marriage). Agnita Kuijper was married before. The marriage of Joseph Dijst and Agnita Kuijper stayed childless. The marriage was not a successful one. Around 1787/1788 Joseph Dijst leaves his wife with his son Gerrit to Amsterdam for work. In 1801 at an age of 65 Joseph Dijst left the army of Amsterdam, "Compagnie van de Stad Amsterdam". In the army he was a "fusilier". During the time Jospeh Dijst lives in Amsterdam, he meets a woman, called Alida Hillebrink. While he is officially married with Agnita Kuijper in The Hague his girlfriend Alida Hillebrink gave birth to a daughter. At their marriage (his 3rd marriage) he official recognizes the child as his daughter. At that time Joseph Dijst has the age of 65 and Alida Hillebrink the age of 49. In The Hague Agnita Kuijper probably hears about the birth of her husband's child and she decides to get a divorce. In 1790 she asks the judge to end her marriage with Joseph Dijst, reason: adultery. In 1812 the 3rd wife of Joseph Dijst, Alida Hillebrink, dies. Joseph is still a shoemaker and widower again.

Five years later Joseph Dijst, age 79, marries for the 4th time with Maria Charlotte van Soest, age 39. This marriage stays childless too. In 1824 at the age of 86 Joseph Dijst dies. The document of his death shows he married (his 5th marriage) Catharine Rijnhout. Where and when he married Catharine Rijnhout was not found in the archives. The way of living in that time of the century was troublesome. Joseph Dijst became 86 years of age and was married 5 times.

Gerardus Jacobus (Gerrit) Dijst
So in 1787/1788 Gerardus Jacobus (Gerrit) Dijst left with his father The Hague. They lived in Amsterdam in the quarter named "Jordaan". At that time there was no family in Amsterdam with the name of Dijst. Gerrit Dijst is the ancestor of the generation Dijst in the city of Amsterdam. Many generations of the family Dijst live in the quarter "Jordaan". Still some of the offspring's of Gerrit Dijst lives in the quarter "Jordaan".

In 1798 Gerrit Dijst marries with Neeltje van Delft. Gerrit and Neeltje have 11 children, 3 daughters and 8 sons. They will become the basis of the growing family in the Netherlands. Gerrit Dijst dies in 1832. The youngest child has the age of 15 and the oldest has the age of 31. The two youngest children live in the orphan home, "Burgerweeshuis". The oldest children request the management of the "Diaconessen" orphan home to take care of the youngest children. The management concluded they fell short of money and they didn't want to have the inheritance because the debts were more then the value of the properties. At least the children get the permission to live in the "Diaconessen" orphan home.

When the mother Neeltje Delft dies her child Frederik Dijst, 19 years old, decides not to live in the orphan home, but to join the navy. On July 20, 1837 he departs with the ship "Koning der Nederlanden" to the Dutch colony East India. On November 18, 1842 he is discharged from the navy because of some degree of blindness. On March 11, 1843 he returns to the Netherlands with the ship "Maria". During the journey on June 25, 1843 he dies.

A grandson of Joseph Dijst adopts not only the occupation of his grandfather, shoemaker, but also his name: Joseph Dijst. Gradually he learns the principles of the occupation from his grandfather. The grandson Joseph Dijst is born in 1804. His grandfather dies in 1826. Four of the eight sons of Gerrit Dijst establish a family and they also get sons. So the house of Dijst grows. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century some members of the family leave the city of Amsterdam. Round 1950 some members of the family immigrate to Canada where the house of Dijst is still present (Dyst).

Postscript.
 With certainty is note that everyone with the name Dijst at home hear in the pedigree. Of the current generation the parents, grandparents or great-grandparents comes in the pedigree. Increasing privacy protection makes it not simple for recent (as from approximately 1910) information to collect. Each information is thus accepted gratefully. You for that the "e-mail" can use option in the menu. What also certain is, which it line Dijst from Saxen Eisennach comes. That also keeps in that the name in origin Deist would have be. By the phonetically spelling in the Netherlands has changed this in Deijst. It remains nevertheless remarkable that Joseph Dijst in 1777, are name wrote as current write wise: Dijst. Spelling is as from that moment by the offspring on certificates always written as Dijst, also already the bureaucracy in the certificates themselves wrote the name as Deijst.