How to find your ancestors from Reusel-De Mierden

15 May 2015 by 10 Comments

As I explained in a previous blog post, an error in genealogy software changed “Holland” to “Reusel-De Mierden, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands” in many trees. Still, many people, are convinced that their ancestors are really from Reusel-De Mierden. The only way to be sure is to go back to the sources.

The municipality of Reusel-De Mierden

Reusel-De Mierden is a municipality in the province of Noord-Brabant that has existed since 1997. The municipality includes the following villages:

  • Hooge Mierde
  • Hulsel
  • Lage Mierde
  • Reusel

These villages have existed for a long time. If your ancestor is from this area, they should be in the records of these villages.

Map

Reusel in 1867. Image credits: Wikimedia Commons.

Sources for Reusel-De Mierden

The records of these villages are kept at the Regionaal Historisch Centrum Eindhoven, the Regional Historical Center of Eindhoven. Church records (baptisms, marriages, burials) start in the 1630s and continue to 1811. Birth records, marriage and death records are available since 1811.

Indexes of these records can be found in the Eindhoven Digital Family Tree website, which has an English user interface. The RHC Eindhoven website also has scans of the church records available online, but that website is cumbersome to use if you don’t know Dutch.

photo of a church

Church in Reusel. Image credits: Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed

Cannot find your ancestors?

If you can’t find your ancestors in any of the sources of these villages, chances are that you are a victim of the software error and that your ancestor was from “Holland” instead. Try searching in the national genealogical database WieWasWie to find out where your ancestors are really from.

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About Yvette Hoitink

Yvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist, writer, and lecturer in the Netherlands. She has a Master of Letters in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee, and holds the Certification of Genealogist and Qualified Genealogist credentials. Yvette served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Professional Genealogists and won excellence awards for her articles in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly. Yvette has been doing genealogy for over 30 years. She helps people from across the world find their ancestors from the Netherlands and its former colonies, including New Netherland. Read about Yvette's professional genealogy services.

Comments

  1. Bob Green says
    9 April 2017 at 9:12 pm

    Thanks for the assistance. I did find reference to the name CLAESSEN but not VALENTYN CLAESSEN. The records only went bak to the early 1700’s.

    Reply
  2. Vicki Karl says
    20 July 2018 at 1:45 am

    I am trying to find Henry scudder. Died nov 5 1595 in reusel’de-mierden noord’bradant Netherlands. He is in my husband family tree 22th great grandfather and we are going to follow our ancestry and am visiting ireland, Scotland England Netherlands and Germany. Having problems with Netherlands and Germany. Thank you. We are leaving sep 1

    Reply
  3. Harley James karl says
    20 July 2018 at 1:49 am

    I am trying to find Henry scudder. Died nov 5 1595 in reusel’de-mierden noord’bradant Netherlands. He is in my husband family tree 22th great grandfather and we are going to follow our ancestry and am visiting ireland, Scotland England Netherlands and Germany. Having problems with Netherlands and Germany. Thank you. We are leaving sep 1

    Reply
    • Yvette Hoitink says
      20 July 2018 at 8:45 am

      As you can read in the article, Reussel-De Mierden in trees is a mistake since the municipality has only existed since the 1990s. All you probably know is that he was from Holland. What is your source for that information?

      Reply
  4. Walter Young says
    30 December 2018 at 8:22 pm

    I appreciate the information. I only know that my ancestors came arrived in New Sweden about 1660 in response to Swedish advertisement for colonists for their new colony in America. When I saw all the references to Reusel-DeMerden on the web I was glad because it got me closer to them, but I was suspicious. I know their names, approximate birth years and that they were farmers, but little else before they came to New Sweden. They were Harman Enochson (abt 1646-1688) and Garret Enochson (abt 1644-abt 1675). What are my chances of finding their real origin? Thank you for your help.

    Reply
  5. Talia Vanderheyden says
    10 March 2019 at 11:15 pm

    Hi, I know I have ancestors in Hulsel, as my grandfather (b. Nov. 24 1928, d. Oct. 18 2010) was from there, but I cannot seem to find any online records about his family. I was wondering if you know where I could go to find any further information, seeing as I only seem to hit dead ends, and he is no longer around to ask. Thanks.

    Reply

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