Zeeland is a province in the south-west of the Netherlands. It borders on Noord-Brabant in the east, the country of Belgium in the south, the North Sea in the west and Zuid-Holland in the north.

The capital of Zeeland is Middelburg. Other larger towns are:

• Vlissingen
• Goes
• Terneuzen

Geography of Zeeland

Zeeland consists of several islands and a piece of mainland called Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. The names of the islands are:

• Tholen
• St. Philipsland
• Schouwen-Duiveland
• Noord-Beveland
• Zuid-Beveland
• Walcheren.

Zeeuws-Vlaanderen is the southern-most part. It is attached to Belgium and has always had many Flemmish influences.

Genealogy in Zeeland

Genealogy in Zeeland is complicated by the fact that many of the records were destroyed during the bombing of Middelburg in World War II. The main problem is with the church records of the 17th and 18th century. For the 19th century, the situation is better. Two copies were kept of the civil registration records so one copy still exists.

For genealogical research in Zeeland before 1800, many towns lack the usual church records. Other sources that can be consulted instead are judicial records and government records such as the registration of orphans.

Because many of the islands used to be somewhat isolated, naming traditions can vary from region to region. Most people in Zeeland had fixed last names long before the introduction of the civil registration. In other parts, people used patronymics.

Another important factor to take into account when researching your Zeeland ancestors is that Zeeland has over the centuries received many people from other regions. In the 17th and 18th century, many French protestants (Huguenots) settled in the region. Most of them settled in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen or Middelburg. From there, several moved on to cities like Leiden (Zuid-Holland) or Amsterdam (Noord-Holland).

The Zeeland islands also had a lot of influx from the Noord-Brabant mainland. People migrated from Bergen op Zoom in Noord-Brabant to the Zeeland islands. Bergen op Zoom was a garrizon town, and in turn had many people who were originally born elsewhere. 

In short, if your ancestors were emigrants from Zeeland, chances are that they had emigrant ancestors as well.

Many Zeeland records are kept by the Zeeuws Archief. Many of the records of the civil registration can be found in Genlias or in the Zeeuwen gezocht (Searching for Zeelanders) of the Zeeuws archief.

Emigration from Zeeland

Zeeland is probably the province from where the most people emigrated in the 19th century. Many members of the seceder churches emigrated in the 1840's. They followed rev. Cornelis van der Meulen to the newly founded colony of Holland, MI.

Even more people emigrated at the end of the 19th century. Thousands of people from Zeeland left to find a new home. Many people from Zeeuws-Vlaanderen settled in the areas around the Great Lakes like Michigan and Wisconsin. Other people settled in New York state.

Lists of emigrants can be found online in the Zeeuwen gezocht database of the Zeeuws Archief.

Online images

Images of Zeeland can be found in several online resources:

• Zeeland image database. Choose either Foto's (pictures), Affiches (posters) or Prentbriefkaarten (postcards) and then type in the name of the person of town you're looking for and press 'start'.
• Zeeland in the picture. This image database contains portraits, photographs, postcards, etc. Select 'Zoekscherm' (search form) and then type the name you're looking for in the 'Globaal' (global) or 'Trefwoord' (keyword) textbox.
• Zeelandboek. This database contains photographs of Zeeland in the 1908-1940 period. Type in the name you're looking for and press 'Zoek foto's' (search pictures).
• Zeeland provincial atlas 1865-1870. This atlas contains a map of the entire province as well as the maps of all the municipalities.

Map of Zeeland

Last week, my friend Mary Risseeuw from Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin and I gave a presentation at the International Congress for genealogical and heraldic Sciences in Maastricht. The title was "We're all fresh and healthy. Emigration from the Netherlands to the United States in the 19th century. The slides are now available online.

I've just added a Dutch genealogy store to the site. In this store, visitors can buy books, DVDs and prints about Dutch genealogy, history and culture. I've selected publications that I think would benefit somebody researching his Dutch roots. The store is powered by Amazon. This website receives a commission for all sales, enabling this website to remain free.

Different regions in the Netherlands have different customs. This applies to Dutch surnames as well as to many other traditions. Some areas use suffixes that are typical of that region.

Knowing about the suffixes in Dutch family names can help you in trying to find out in which province to look for your ancestors. More information about regional customs can also be found in the articles about the different provinces in the Geography section.

Marriage records are a part of the civil registration. Marriage records contain the following information:

• Name, age, profession and place of birth and residence of the bride and groom
• Names of their parents, and if they are still alive their professions and place of residence
• If any: names of previous spouses (either divorced or deceased)
• Name, age, profession and place of residence for 4 witnesses

Utrecht is a province in the middle of the Netherlands. It borders on Gelderland in the east, Gelderland and Zuid-Holland in the south, Zuid-Holland and Noord-Holland in the west and Noord-Holland and Flevoland in the north.

The capital city of Utrecht is called Utrecht as well. Other larger towns are:

• Amersfoort
• Zeist
• Soest
• Nieuwegein

Derk Willem Huinink and Catharina Jentink were part of the second emigration wave in the nineteenth century. They emigrated from their Aalten home in 1869 together with their extended family. They settled in Town of Holland, Sheboygan County, WI.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, conditions in Europe were poor. Crops were failling all over Europe and many people hardly made enough money to feed their families. For this reason, many people decided to emigrate to the United States, where farmland was plenty and people hoped they could begin a new life. In the Netherlands, some people also had religious reasons to emigrate. The had seceded from the Dutch Reformed Church and were being oppressed by the goverment. The United States offered to them not only better economic prospects, but also the chance to celebrate their religion as they saw fit.