The G. van der Lee Rope Factory ("Touwfabriek G. van der Lee") in Oudewater was the oldest family business in the Netherlands until it became part of the Hendrik Veder Group in 2013. Royal Tichelaar Makkum is now the country’s oldest family firm. Established around 1545 by Jan Pietersz. van der Lee, G. van der Lee is still one of the oldest companies in the Netherlands. History Since its founding in 1545, it has always been located in Oudewater, and has always been owned and managed by direct descendants of rope maker Jan Pietersz. van der Lee. Jan Pietersz. van der Lee’s birth year, which is believed to be around 1545, serves as the factory’s founding year. 1545-1860 Jan Pietersz. van der Lee belonged to what you could call the upper class of Oudewater. He was the proprietor of most ropewalks of Oudewater as the Oudewater ledger of 1579 shows. Under the heading ‘Other income from ropewalk proprietors’ it reads: ‘Received from Jan Pietersz., 15 five-cent pieces for ropewalks previously rented from the city’. The son of Jan Pietersz. (1580–1625), a rope maker too, was the first one to inherit the property from his father. After Jan Pietersz’s death, the family business was handed down to Heijndrick (1620–1697) and Gijsbert Heijndricksz. van der Lee (1645–1694). According to records dating back to 1694, they owned a ‘coarse-thread ropery and ropery house with right of way and right to spin on Agterstraat in Oudewater’. Gijsbert Heijndricksz’s three sons Adrianus, Cornelis and Jan took over the company after his death. Jan Gijsbertsz’s oldest son was Gijsbert, but it was his brother Adrianus van der Lee (1721–1766) who continued the dynasty. Adrianus’ son Cornelis van der Lee (1753–1826) took charge of the business in 1787 with the purchase of ‘a ropewalk and farmland with shed and garden, located at the Bieze, with the garden wall leading to the Amsterdamse Veer in Oudewater’ from his uncle Gijsbert van der Lee. 1860-1919 From the 16th to the 19th century, the craft of rope making remained pretty much unchanged. There were many steps involved in rope making, and each of these steps was done by hand with the aid of simple tools. In the first half of the 19th century the Dutch shipbuilding industry was booming. Many businesses, including the roperies, benefited from this favourable environment. In the 1860s, a change occurred with the gradual arrival of