Your brick wall ancestor might be somebody who did not use a surname but went by patronymic only. He might be Leendert Pieters (son of Pieter), Jan Hendricks (son of Hendrick), or Claes Huijgens (son of Huijg or Hugo). The patronymic indicates the name of the father. It is a best practice in Dutch genealogy not to add another generation with just a first name. We only do that if we have found an independent record where the father appears in and if you've proven the connection to the son or … [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.
Dutch Genealogy News for October 2017
3 November 2017 by Leave a Comment
Here is an overview of the new sources, websites, and projects that were announced last month. Online records The Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum (the Noord-Brabant provincial archives) made 100 meter [about 350 feet] of notarial records available online, mostly from the 1800s. 250,000 records have been indexed, so you can search by name. View the Notarial records. Brabant prison records of more than 300,000 criminals have been added to the Brabant Historisch Informatie Centrum … [Read more...]
Quick tip – No Burial Information in Death Records
26 October 2017 by 1 Comment
Unlike in some other countries, Dutch death records do not name the place of burial. This can make it hard to find out where your ancestor was buried. There are online websites that list graves, but since graves are routinely cleared after a few decades, the grave may not survive. Sometimes, you can find an announcement of the burial in the paper. You can also use burial registers of the church they attended to see if your ancestor was buried there. … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Guest blog post on FamilySearch
18 October 2017 by 1 Comment
Yvette Hoitink wrote a guest blog post on FamilySearch about How to Use Dutch Records on FamilySearch. Read about the amazing records that can be found online. Millions more Dutch records will be added in the coming weeks. … [Read more...]
Dutch Genealogy News for September 2017
13 October 2017 by Leave a Comment
Here is an overview of the new sources, websites, and projects that were announced last month. Online Dutch records 30,000 scans of records about the Dutch West India Company (WIC) and Dutch East India Company (VOC) from the archives of the States General have been added to the gahetNA website of the National Archives. View the scans in the finding aid of the States General. These records are especially valuable since many of the early WIC records were sold for scrap paper, so the records … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Topotijdreis website
4 October 2017 by 1 Comment
The website Topotijdreis [Topo Time Travel] allows you to view old topographical maps from 1815 to 2015 of the area where your ancestors lived. Not quite the same as an actual time machine, but it will have to do! You can zoom in on the map or search for places in the top right corner. Different zoom levels have different maps, so be sure to zoom in and out. The slider on the left allows you to select the year that you want to see a map for. You can also hit the play button in the top left … [Read more...]
World War II Records about Putten Raid Found by Volunteers
2 October 2017 by 2 Comments
Volunteers who are indexing 1950s death records from Gelderland have come across several records relating to the deportation of a large part of the male population in Putten during World War II. The Gelders Archief published a blog post about the find. Here is an English translation of the article (with permission). Volunteers find death records of victims of Putten raid On 2 October 1944, the German occupiers arrested 659 men between the ages of eighteen and fifty in Putten in Gelderland. … [Read more...]
Checklist – Are you Ready To Start Research in the Country of Origin?
29 September 2017 by 1 Comment
When you find an immigrant ancestor, it is tempting to immediately start looking in the country of origin. But doing so too soon can cause you to misidentify your ancestor. Here is a checklist to make sure you're ready to start the research: Do you know who the immigrant ancestor was? I've had many people ask me for proposals just based on the rumor that their family was Dutch. You need more than that; you need to have actually gone back far enough to know who the immigrant ancestor was. … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Check what’s available online
20 September 2017 by Leave a Comment
There are HUGE digitization projects going on in the Netherlands. So if it's been a while since you've checked what's available online, check again. The record you need may be waiting for you. For an overview of online records, see Digital Resources Netherlands and Belgium. … [Read more...]
Dutch Genealogy News for August 2017
15 September 2017 by 1 Comment
Here is an overview of new records and projects that were announced in the past month. Online Dutch records The register recording the poor of Gorssel, Gelderland, that was discovered earlier this year, has been digitized and added to the website of the Zutphen Regional Archives. The West-Fries Archief published indexes of the old notarial records. See the Genealogische bronnen [genealogical sources] page for a complete overview of the sources. You can filter by "Notariële akten" … [Read more...]
