Archives for April 2014

Quick tip – Languages that may come in handy

These languages will come in handy when researching your ancestors from the Netherlands. Dutch Not surprisingly, most records in the Netherlands have been written in Dutch. French During the French occupation (1795-1813), most government records were written in French, including early civil registration records. German During World War II (1940-1945), the Netherlands was occupied by Germany so some official records created at that time were in German. Also, in some parts of current-day … [Read more...]

Dutch term – Bode

A bode was a messenger, which can sound like an errant boy but it was a far more important function than that. The best approximation is probably a bailiff, someone charged with delivering important documents and news and making sure that the other party receives it. They had a wide array of tasks, ranging from taking messages to organizing public tenders and contracts. Bodes were usually employed by government bodies, like city councils, poor administrations and the States-General. … [Read more...]

Frisian Roots: Ferwerda emigrants

This week, I am in Friesland with one of my clients, Roberta Estes. Roberta is visiting Friesland together with her husband Jim Kvochick and first cousin once removed Cheryl Ferverda. Roberta and Cheryl are descendants of Harmen Baukes Ferwerda, a Frisian who emigrated to Indiana in 1868. Cheryl is his granddaughter, Roberta is his great-granddaughter. I have been researching Roberta's family for almost two years now and am showing them the places where their ancestors came from, in … [Read more...]

And the winner is…

In honor of King's Day, celebrated today for the first time ever, we organized a giveaway of the book 'Dutch Roots' for subscribers of the Dutch Genealogy Newsletter. Many new people subscribed (welcome!). A winner was randomly selected from all the subscribers. … [Read more...]

Ask Yvette: Resolving Conflicting Evidence in Early Civil Registration Records

Since the introduction of the civil registration (in 1811 in most part of the Netherlands), everybody was supposed to have a fixed name. Everybody who did not have a surname, was required to take a name and have that recorded. The reality was not always so neat. Especially in regions where many people did not have surnames before 1811, like Friesland, Groningen, Overijssel and Gelderland, the same person may appear in civil registration records under different names. Willem Lucas de Jonge and … [Read more...]

Quick tip: There is no village called ‘Burgerlijke Stand’

In some of the records at Familysearch, the place of birth is listed as 'Burgerlijke Stand' followed by the name of a municipality in the Netherlands. 'Burgerlijke Stand' means 'Civil Registration' and is not a location. The way it is included in the record sets on Familysearch makes it look like a village. When these records were imported by Ancestry.com, these errors were copied too. This particular mistake has now been fixed on Ancestry.com, but can still be found on Familysearch. Read … [Read more...]

Dutch term – wijlen

The term wijlen means 'the late,' or 'deceased.' You will often encounter the term in marriage records or death records, where one or both parents are deceased. The record might say "zoon van wijlen..." [son of the late...] or "dochter van wijlen..." [daughter of the late...]. Sometimes, the word is abbreviated to 'w' and you will see svw or zvw [soon/zoon van wijlen: son of the late] or dvw [dochter van wijlen: daughter of the late]. These abbreviations are most commonly found in church … [Read more...]

Sources for Dutch Genealogy – Pre 1811 Cheat Sheet

Looking for information about Dutch ancestors in the period from say 1650 until 1811 (before the introduction of the civil registration)? This cheat sheet will tell you which sources to consult. In some cases, not all types of records are available in each region. If a town did not have an orphan chamber, the administration of the estates of (half-)orphans was handled by the court. Not all regions had notaries, in which case voluntary legal actions were handled by the court as well.  … [Read more...]

King’s Day Giveaway: Dutch Roots

On 26 April, we will celebrate the first ever "King's Day" in honor of the birthday of King Willem-Alexander. Until last year, the national holiday to celebrate the monarch's birthday was "Queen's Day," a tradition started in 1891. King Willem-Alexander succeeded his mother, Queen Beatrix, on 30 April last year. This year, he will be visiting the towns of De Rijp and Amstelveen to celebrate his birthday. His actual birthday is 27 April, but the holiday is not celebrated on a Sunday so that is … [Read more...]

Dutch term – Brouwer

A brouwer is a brewer. Since most of the water was not safe to drink, most people drank beer. 'Small beer' only had a low alcohol percentage so it was safe to drink for children. In larger towns, brewers were organized in guilds. In smaller towns, they operated independently. In most places, brewers had to pay tax on the beer they produced. Some of these tax records can be found in local archives or city ledgers. Also, their measures and pints were sometimes calibrated by town officials to … [Read more...]