Wilhelmus van Thiel (1789-1840) was the ancestor of the Brabant branch of the Van Thiel family, from which well-known industrialists and politicians have emerged.
He was married to Gijsberdina van Duijnhoven (1794-1871) and the family lived at Beek and Donk. Their children were Piet van Thiel (1816-1894), Martinus van Thiel (1835-1900) and Hendrik van Thiel (1833-1902). These brothers would develop into entrepreneurs in the textile and nail industry. From the last industry, the Nedschroef group has finally come.
Wilhelmus was a carpenter and gardener, and had a contractor company. Presumably he started trading in nails. He took these nails from Maastricht, where Peter Regout started a nail factory in 1834.
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