The documents are written in Dutch, hereafter follows an outline in English: Henri Dobbelaere (l822-l885) was a very well-talented painter of historical and religious scenes. He attended the Academy of Arts of Bruges and Antwerp, and participated in exhibitions in Brussels and Paris in his early twenties. He painted till about 1860; a lot of his paintings are already lost or damaged during the two world wars.

Jules continued the creation of gothic-style stained-glass windows and he even amplified the production of them. There were 15 to 20 persons working in the growing workshop at the beginning of the 20th century.

The windows were still appreciated although at that time in Europe; new styles became to be predominant. He began also to work for neighbor countries, like France and the Netherlands. It is likely that this made him known at the religious orders in Paris. In the beginning he was invited to create the windows for St Joseph's Institution and for the Chapel of the Convent.

As Father Nain was involved in the two worksites, it is not impossible that he met Jules before he left for South-east Asia.

Jules wasn't married and after his death on 1 November 1916, his workshop was taken over by Mr. de Lodder. His grandson, Mr. Guy de Lodder is now in charge of the workshop.

During our trip to Bruges, we have met Mr. de Lodder and he gave us useful additional information about the life and the work of Jules Dobbelaere.

The sketches, the patterns and the full-sized traceries are almost all destroyed by a fire in his workshop in 1923. Some little sketches of less significance of the windows of Singapore remain.

There is a register mentioning some of the windows made for the nuns in Singapore in 1902, but it isn't complete.

We learned from the register that in the same year, he made the windows of the southern aisle of the Cathedral of Bruges, which have many similarities in colouring and drawing with the windows of Singapore