Do you have questions about Dutch Genealogy that you've always wanted to ask? Or are you just curious about the strange person who has been writing all these blog posts? This Friday (January 18th), feel free to Ask Me Anything. I will be this month's guest for the Ask Me Anything session of the Virtual Genealogical Association. Past guests were Judy Russell, Nathan Goodwin, and Drew Smith. The session is open to all Virtual Genealogical Association members and will be held in a thread on … [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.
Immigrant example: Researching Hiram B. Ferverda (1854-1925)
11 January 2019 by Leave a Comment
My client and friend Roberta Estes blogged about her great-grandfather, Hiram Bauke Ferverda (1854-1925). Her blog post tells about the early years of Hiram, who grew up in Friesland before emigrating to the United States at the age of 14, based on research I did for her. The article highlights the results and features Roberta's own visits to the places where Hiram lived. I thought I would share how I discovered Hiram Ferverda in Dutch records, a key step when researching immigrants, as an … [Read more...]
Dutch Genealogy News for December 2018
4 January 2019 by Leave a Comment
Here is an overview of the new sources, projects, and news about archives that were announced last month. Online sources The Regional Archives in Tilburg published several abstracts of court and notarial records of Tilburg, Loon op Zand, Oisterwijk and Moergestel. See the blog post for details. A report on the field names of the former municipality of Princenhage is now available online. Go to Downloads > Erfgoedrapporten Overig > Veldnamen in Princenhage. The Bosch' Protocol, … [Read more...]
Dutch records that are public as of 1 January 2019
1 January 2019 by 4 Comments
Happy New Year everybody! Many record series have schedules that determine when they become public. Here are some of the civil registration records that have become public today: Birth records from 1918, which includes my maternal grandfather Johannes Marijnissen. Marriage records from 1943, which includes my maternal grandparents Johannes Marijnissen and Catharina Flooren. Death records from 1968. Not all archives immediately scan and index those records, so they may not be … [Read more...]
25 Years of Dutch Genealogy
28 December 2018 by 16 Comments
PARTY TIME!!! The Dutch Genealogy website is 25 years old! The website started out as Yvette's Dutch Genealogy Homepage. I don't know the exact date, but it toward the end of 1993, shortly after I started studying Computer Science. All the students got webspace to experiment with this new invention called The Internet. I had been an enthusiastic genealogist for several years so I chose to create a web page about genealogy. It was in English, since there were no Dutch genealogists online at … [Read more...]
Quick Tip – Crossed Out Does Not Mean Incorrect
26 December 2018 by 1 Comment
Just because a record or part of a record is crossed out, does not mean it is incorrect. Often, records were struck through when they were no longer valid or needed. For example, a court record about a debt was struck through after the debt was paid, sometimes with a note in the margin about the payment. In population registers, a line was struck through if the person died or moved away. So don't ignore evidence you can find in these records just because the words have been crossed out. … [Read more...]
Was Eleanor of Aquitaine my Ancestor? Generation 13 – Aleid Laureijs Colen
21 December 2018 by 5 Comments
This is the fourteenth post in a series about my possible line of descent from Eleanor of Aquitaine. In the first post, I explained how I discovered the possible line, and how I am going to verify it one generation at a time. In the last post, I proved that my ninth great-grandfather Laureijs Denis Peters was the son of Denis Peters, also known as Pulskens, and Aleid Laureijs Colen. Aleid Laureijs Colen, daughter of Laureijs Denijs Colen The research to prove that Laureijs Denis Peters was the … [Read more...]
Quick Tip – Van der Aa’s Gazetteer
12 December 2018 by 7 Comments
Van der Aa's Aardrijkskundig Woordenboek der Nederlanden or geographic dictionary of the Netherlands is a dictionary in 14 volumes that appeared between 1839 and 1854. It contains descriptions of all geographical names in the Netherlands. For cities, towns, and villages, it will give a description of its location, the population including the dominant religions, the main industry and occupations in a town, and any peculiarities Van der Aa found worth mentioning. This gazetteer can be helpful … [Read more...]
Dutch Genealogy News for November 2018
7 December 2018 by 1 Comment
Here is an overview of the new sources, projects, and news about archives that were announced last month. Online sources The Bosch' Protocol, the court records of 's-Hertogenbosch, has been indexed and is now searchable for the periodd 1501-1793 via the Erfgoed 's-Hertogenbosch website. Volunteers entered 350,000 records from 27,000 scans. Court records from West-Friesland, including the courts of Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Medemblik, Grootebroek and Sijbekarspel, have been digitized and are … [Read more...]
Free Alternatives for ZoekAkten
30 November 2018 by Leave a Comment
The website ZoekAkten used to provide convenient waypoints to online images of Dutch records, mainly at FamilySearch but also at other websites. Unfortunately, the creator of the website decided to pull the plug, so the website is now offline. There are several other websites that help you find online records: FamilySearch > Catalog and then search for a place name. FamilySearch > Netherlands Research Page. Digital Resources Netherlands and Belgium Geneal-IX … [Read more...]
