In most families, sooner or later you will encounter a child born to an unwed mother. Finding the fathers of these 'illegitimate' children can be difficult, but not necessarily impossible. I've researched dozens of these cases, both in my own tree and for clients. In four cases, I have been able to prove who the father was. In two other cases, I have developed good theories which I hope to prove through DNA. In the majority of cases, I ended up with a list of possible fathers, but no … [Read more...]
Quick tip: Look in the margins of birth records
18 September 2013 by Leave a Comment
The margins of birth records sometimes contain interesting information. For example, if the child was born out of wedlock, and the mother later married and the husband recognized the child as his, this will be recorded in the margin of the birth record. So don't rely on an index, but always check the original document to see what information may be found there. … [Read more...]
Using birth records (geboorteaktes) to find your Dutch ancestors
25 April 2005 by 44 Comments
Birth records (Dutch: geboorteakte) are a part of the civil registration and were kept since 1811 (or slightly earlier for some parts of the Netherlands). A birth record lists the following data: Place, date and time of birth Names of parents Name, profession and age of the one registering the birth (often the father) Names, profession and age of the witnesses Often: address where the birth took place … [Read more...]
