Van der Aa's Aardrijkskundig Woordenboek der Nederlanden or geographic dictionary of the Netherlands is a dictionary in 14 volumes that appeared between 1839 and 1854. It contains descriptions of all geographical names in the Netherlands. For cities, towns, and villages, it will give a description of its location, the population including the dominant religions, the main industry and occupations in a town, and any peculiarities Van der Aa found worth mentioning. This gazetteer can be helpful … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Selectielijst
10 December 2018 by Leave a Comment
A selectielijst literally means a selection list. Archives publish selectielijsten to announce their retention policies for records created by a specific government agency. For each series on the list, it will indicate whether it will be permantly preserved or after how many years it will be destroyed. The selectielijsten are put up for public review. After any objections have been evaluated, the minister of Education, Culture, and Science will need to formally approve it before it is … [Read more...]
Dutch Genealogy News for November 2018
7 December 2018 by 1 Comment
Here is an overview of the new sources, projects, and news about archives that were announced last month. Online sources The Bosch' Protocol, the court records of 's-Hertogenbosch, has been indexed and is now searchable for the periodd 1501-1793 via the Erfgoed 's-Hertogenbosch website. Volunteers entered 350,000 records from 27,000 scans. Court records from West-Friesland, including the courts of Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Medemblik, Grootebroek and Sijbekarspel, have been digitized and are … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Octrooi
3 December 2018 by Leave a Comment
An octrooi is a patent. Historically, octrooien were not just required to protect inventions, but also to enter into certain types of businesses, similar to what we'd call a permit today. An octrooi could also grant permission to publish a book in a certain area. Octrooien can often be found in the records of the landlords or the government. They typically describe the type of permission that is granted and name the patentee. … [Read more...]
Free Alternatives for ZoekAkten
30 November 2018 by Leave a Comment
The website ZoekAkten used to provide convenient waypoints to online images of Dutch records, mainly at FamilySearch but also at other websites. Unfortunately, the creator of the website decided to pull the plug, so the website is now offline. There are several other websites that help you find online records: FamilySearch > Catalog and then search for a place name. FamilySearch > Netherlands Research Page. Digital Resources Netherlands and Belgium Geneal-IX … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Are the Pages in the Right Order?
28 November 2018 by Leave a Comment
For an article I'm working on, I was studying a woman's neighbors to see if their records could help me identify her parents. I noticed that the neighbors in a transcription that I used were different from the neighbors on the scans on the archive's website. It turns out the transcription had transcribed the pages in a different order. The person of interest was at the bottom of the page, so the next-page neighbors in the transcription were different from the neighbors in the scans. Further … [Read more...]
Quick Tip – Check for Marriage Booklets in Your Family
21 November 2018 by Leave a Comment
If your family lived in the Netherlands after say 1850, check your family papers to see if there is a marriage booklet ("trouwboekje"). These booklets are given to the spouses during the marriage ceremony and record the information about the spouses. It is then updated when children are born or when the spouses die. See the article about my mother's descent from her father Jan Marijnissen for an example of using a marriage booklet. … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Prentbriefkaart
19 November 2018 by 2 Comments
A prentbriefkaart or ansichtkaart is a postcard. Postcards became popular in the early 1900s. Old postcards can give you a good idea of what the town looked like when your ancestors were living there. It's also worth asking family members if any of them have old postcards. Among the papers I inherited from my grandfather and grandmother were postcards they sent each other when they were engaged and he was serving in the military. Digitized postcards can often be found on websites of … [Read more...]
Was Eleanor of Aquitaine my Ancestor? Generation 12 – Laureijs Denijs Peter Pulskens
16 November 2018 by 2 Comments
This is the thirteenth post in a series about my possible line of descent from Eleanor of Aquitaine. In the first post, I explained how I discovered the possible line, and how I am going to verify it one generation at a time. In the last post, I proved that my eighth great-grandmother Jenneken Laureijs Denis Peeters was the daughter of Laureijs Denis Peters, also known as Pulskens, and Anna Cornelis Peters, also known as Coijen. Laureijs Denis Peter Pulskens, son of Aleid Laureijs Colen The … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Notulen
12 November 2018 by Leave a Comment
Notulen are minutes. They can be found in the records created by many different types of people and organizations, such as church councils or the municipal government. They can contain a variety of information. Archival descriptions in finding aids often don't index the minutes but simply label the boxes as notulen and their period. You will have to view the original records to learn what their contents are. … [Read more...]
