Wars often lead to the creation of maps. This week we are looking at a map of the siege of Breda in 1624-1625. The map shows how Breda had been surrounded by a line, just outside the reach of the city's canon. This allowed the attackers to cut supply lines while they besieged the city. This map is of personal interest to me since several of my ancestors lived in this area. One of them had his land confiscated during the siege to build the bank and ditch and fortlets around Breda. Read more … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Find Facebook Groups about the Town
7 March 2018 by Leave a Comment
Many towns in the Netherlands have their own Facebook groups dedicated to the history of that town. Many of these Facebook groups are called "Oud [town name]," such as Oud Winterswijk [Old Winterswijk] or Oud Breda [Old Breda]. You can use the Facebook search option to search for these groups. Discussions in these groups are usually in Dutch, but if you have a question about the town history, feel free to post in English. Most people in the Netherlands speak English, and otherwise people are … [Read more...]
News from the Netherlands – June 2014
4 July 2014 by 3 Comments
'News from the Netherlands' is a new monthly series on this blog to inform you about the best new websites, projects and books that help you find and understand your Dutch ancestors. New websites The Brabants Historical Information Center has a new website (Dutch only). The 'Stamboom' [Family Tree] page has several indexes, some with scans attached. They are considering making that page available in English. [Source: BHIC] The Historical Center of Leeuwarden has a new website (Dutch … [Read more...]
Case study: subtle clues in population registers
2 July 2013 by 13 Comments
On the very first day I started doing genealogy, I found a birth record saying that my grandfather’s grandmother was born as an illegitimate child, father unknown. Three years later, her mother married and the groom acknowledged the child as his. The three-year-gap made me dismiss him as her biological father. In the 23 years since then, I’ve collected all documents I could find about this family but never found any viable candidates. Inspired by Dr. Thomas Jones' and Elizabeth Shown Mills' … [Read more...]
