Dutch term – levenloos

Levenloos literally means "lifeless" and is used to refer to stillborn children. In death records, you will often read "levenloze dochter" [stillborn daughter], "levenloze zoon" [stillborn son] or "levenloos kind" [stillborn child]. Since 1811, death records were created for stillborn children (children born after a pregnancy of more than six months). They did not have birth records, as these were reserved for children that were born alive. If a child died before the birth record was created, … [Read more...]

How to find the cause of death

Several people have asked me how they can find out how their ancestors died. Unfortunately, records that list cause of death are routinely destroyed, so most often it will not be possible to find the cause of death. … [Read more...]

Quick tip: know the witnesses

Understanding who the witnesses in records were can help you find your ancestors. Baptism witnesses were usually chosen from the immediate family, often from siblings of the parents. Witnesses or informants for death records, on the other hand, were often neighbors. Knowing these customs can help you understand who these people were and how they fit into the picture you're creating about your ancestor. … [Read more...]

Quick tip: Use Genver to find Dutch records on Familysearch

UPDATE 11 June 2014: The website Genver.nl has been discontinued, the service to find records is now available at Geneal-IX.  Familysearch.org has a tremendous amount of digitized records from the Netherlands: Church records Civil registration records (births, marriages, deaths) Census records and population registers Not all records are available for all towns and finding out exactly what is available can be cumbersome if you just use the Familysearch website. … [Read more...]

Death record

Death records are a part of the civil registration. A death record lists the following data:Place, date and time of death Names of parents Names of spouses Name, profession and age of the one registering the birth Names, profession and age of the witnesses Often: address where the death took place … [Read more...]