Herfst is the Dutch term for autumn. Autumn was the time to bring in the remaining harvests, slaughter the animals, and prepare for the upcoming winter. Many fairs were held in the autumn to sell surplus crops and proceeds. … [Read more...]
About this website
Creating a website like this is a fun activity. There are so many options, so many choices. What do visitors want? What do I want? In this blog I will describe some of the things I encounter in developing and maintaining this website.
New presentation at National Archives – 15 million new scans!
14 September 2020 by 2 Comments
The National Archives of the Netherlands just rolled out a new presentation of their records. This new version of the website includes 15 million new scans. This presentation was already available in a beta version and is now the main presentation for all users of the National Archives website. … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Use Different Types of Death Records
9 September 2020 by Leave a Comment
In the period after 1811, the civil registration death records are the most reliable and informative records to use. In the period before 1811, there are different types of records that can act as substitutes for death records: Burial records kept by the churches Account books by the churches or deacons where fees are recorded for renting a pall, ringing the bells, or paying for the grave. Records of the death duties levied by civil authorities. Not all records exists in every … [Read more...]
Dutch Genealogy News for August 2020
4 September 2020 by Leave a Comment
Here are the new sources and websites that were announced last month. Sources The slave registers of Curacao (1839-1863) are now available via the Nationaal Archief website. Almost 20,000 old books were added to Delpher. This includes literary classics from the Netherlands and translations of foreign works. The town records of several places in Noord-Brabant have been scanned and are now available online. See the news announcement of the Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum for the … [Read more...]
Dutch Genealogy Newsletter
31 August 2020 by Leave a Comment
I just discovered there was a problem with the newsletter and it has not gone out for the past few weeks. These problems should now be fixed and newsletters should be sent again from Friday 4 September 2020 onward. My apologies for the inconvenience. The newsletter is sent every Friday and contains all the new articles that appeared on the website in the past week. It could be that the next newsletter contains all the missed articles, but if not, you can find all the articles in the blog … [Read more...]
Case study – Using Death Duties Files to Gain Insights into the Financial Situation
28 August 2020 by 1 Comment
While researching my third great-grandfather Teunis van Nijkerken, I discovered he owned quite a bit of capital when he died in Winterswijk on 1 June 1887. His death duties file indicated he and his wife Johanna Vonhof owned over 2,000 guilders in assets, including 500 guilders in a bank account, and about 700 guilders in money lent to others.1 By the time Johanna Vonhof died on 24 July 1889, the value of the estate had shrunk to 1,700 guilders, which included almost 600 in the bank account … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Van der Aa’s Biographical Dictionary
26 August 2020 by Leave a Comment
A biographical dictionary from the 1800s is available online: Van der Aa's Biografisch Woordenboek. The 21 volumes contain thousands of lemmas about more or less famous people in the Netherlands. The dictionary is in the public domain so you can use it for your own research. To find entries, select the first letter of the last name and then browse alphabetically. The names have links behind them that will show the corresponding imaged book in the right pane. You can click the 'transcription' … [Read more...]
Using Proof by Contradiction to Focus your Research
14 August 2020 by 6 Comments
Those who came to genealogy from a science background are likely familiar with “proof by contradiction”—a way to prove a theory by demonstrating that its opposite leads to an insupportable contradiction.[1] Many genealogists use this technique, often implicitly. Whatever the name, genealogists benefit from understanding how to apply the technique to improve research efficiency and focus. Using proof by contradiction, a three-step mathematical example proves the theory that there is no … [Read more...]
Quick Tip – Use Google Translate App to Translate Publications
12 August 2020 by 3 Comments
Did you know you can use the Google Translate app on your phone to translate publications? Just click the camera icon in the app and point it at a printed text. Google Translate will show the translation in place. I first saw this when one of my clients used it to translate a Dutch plaque next to a monument and a Dutch menu. You can also use it to translate Dutch books, newspapers, or magazines. As long as the text is printed, Google Translate should be able to handle it. … [Read more...]
Dutch Genealogy News for July 2020
7 August 2020 by Leave a Comment
Here is an overview of the new sources, websites, and projects that were announced last month. Sources Breda and the former municipalities now belonging to Breda have been added to HisGis, the historical geographic information system. The map viewer shows the plots and ownership in Breda in 1832. 1200 maps of Drenthe from the 1600s to 1900s can now be consulted at the Drents Archief website. The Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum added scans of the aldermen's court records of … [Read more...]
