Quick tip: Mind your immigrant ancestor’s neighbors

Log cabinWhen you’re trying to find the place of origin of your Dutch immigrant ancestor, be sure to check his neighbors too. Did any of them come from the Netherlands?

On websites that allow you to search census records, like Ancestry.com or Ancestry.co.uk, you can often search for all people born in the Netherlands who lived in a certain place, regardless of their names. This should tell you who the Dutch immigrants in that community were. Your ancestor may be hard to trace but his neighbor may not be. Since people often emigrated in groups, chances are they came from the same area.

Read more about finding your immigrant ancestor in the Netherlands.

About Yvette Hoitink

Yvette Hoitink, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist in the Netherlands. She holds the Certified Genealogist credential from the Board for Certification of Genealogists and has a post-graduate diploma in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee. She has been doing genealogy for over 30 years and helps people from across the world find their ancestors in the Netherlands. Read about Yvette's professional genealogy services.

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