In response to an article about different types of archives, Larry Joosse wrote: Looking for birth records for Anthonie de Wijze born March 2, 1886 in Zand, and Catharina Johanna vanKeulen born on July 16, 1888. they are my mother’s parents. I thought I would respond in the form of a blog post and show you all the different steps that I take to find the answer. The methods I use to answer this question may also be helpful in finding your own ancestors. Step 1: assess the information Whenever … [Read more...]
How to order my own birth certificate from the Netherlands?
9 August 2013 by 97 Comments
Almost every week, I get a question by someone who needs help obtaining his birth certificate from the Netherlands. Often, these are people who were born in the Netherlands but moved away and now need a birth certificate to get married or apply for citizenship. Since this is not a service I provide, I thought I'd explain how you can order your birth certificate yourself. Birth records for people born less than 100 years ago are not public. Birth records younger than 100 years are kept by the … [Read more...]
Question: How to find my immigrant ancestor in the Netherlands?
19 July 2013 by 4 Comments
So you're researching your family, and found out that your ancestor is from the Netherlands. How do you go about finding that person in Dutch records? It's often not that hard to find somebody with a similar name, but how do you go about proving that the person in Dutch records is the same as your immigrant ancestor and not a random namesake? Here are my top tips for you. The examples assume it is a 19th male century immigrant to the US, but the methodology works just as well for other eras and … [Read more...]
Question: Finding a WWII soldier’s child?
12 July 2013 by 13 Comments
In response to an article about Post World War II emigration, Jane Carter asked: I am looking for a lady in Holland that was my father’s girlfriend. My father has passed now but I have been told that this lady had my father's child. I know little more then her first name and an old picture she sent my father many years ago. With such little information is it possible to get any information? Apparently, Jane's father was an allied soldier during World War II who had a relationship with a Dutch … [Read more...]
