When recording Dutch place names in your genealogy program, use "Netherlands" rather than "Holland" or "NL." "Holland" is not the name of the country, but of a former province, now split into North-Holland and South-Holland. Some programs in the past tried to resolve Holland and ended up changing it to "Reusel-De Mierden, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands" since there is a street called Holland in that tiny village. It led to millions of corrupt trees. "NL" is sometimes used as an abbreviation … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Kenteken
18 June 2018 by Leave a Comment
A kenteken is a license plate. The first license plates for cars and motor bikes were issued in 1898, a national registration. From 1906 to 1951, the provinces issued license plates. Some provinces have published databases with the issued license plates, sometimes with photos of the cars. License plate databases National license plates, issued 1898-1905 (Excel named "overzicht van de Rijksnummerbewijzen") Drenthe database Friesland database Groningen database Noord-Brabant … [Read more...]
Was Eleanor of Aquitaine my Ancestor? Generation 7 – Laurens Smulders
15 June 2018 by 8 Comments
This is the eighth 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 third great-grandmother Dorothea Smulders was the daughter of Laurens Smulders. Laurens Smulders, son of Hendrik Smulders Dorothea's baptismal, marriage, and death records named her parents as Laurens Sm(e)ulders and Joanna Maria de Bont and … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Landmeter
11 June 2018 by 2 Comments
A landmeter is a surveyor. Landmeters were not only called in to record new borders, but also when there was a dispute about borders or property ownership. Their records can often be found in town records or in the court records. … [Read more...]
Illegal adoptions in Ireland
8 June 2018 by 1 Comment
Last week, news broke that at least 126 illegal adoptions took place in Ireland since 1952. Fellow genealogist Fiona Fitzsimons from Ireland has posted guidelines how genealogists can assist in tracing Irish children in these circumstances on the Facebook page of the Britain, Ireland & the Isles Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists. Some of these children were adopted overseas, perhaps in the Netherlands too. As a genealogist without a private investigator license, I am … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Woensdag
6 June 2018 by Leave a Comment
Woensdag is the Dutch term for Wednesday. … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Armenjager
4 June 2018 by 1 Comment
An armenjager is a poor hunter, an official charged with driving away beggars. By the end of the 1600s, poor economic conditions caused many people to turn to begging. Churches and towns provided for their own people, but strangers had no choice but to beg. To prevent these strangers from taking charity that could be used by the towns' own folks, some towns hired an armenjager to get rid of them. They were usually put across the border of the municipality or province to make them somebody … [Read more...]
Dutch Genealogy News for May 2018
1 June 2018 by Leave a Comment
Here is an overview of the new sources, projects, and news about archives that were announced last month. Offline records Normally, we start this monthly overview by listing all the records that went online. Last month, most of the news has been about records that have gone offline: Many archives took the population registers for the period 1910-1938 offline because of new privacy laws. Many archives took photographs of unknown photographers offline, after a judge ruled in favor of a … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Rijksmuseum Public Domain Images
28 May 2018 by Leave a Comment
If you're looking for images to illustrate your family tree or give you a sense of what life was like for your ancestors, check out the website of the Rijksmuseum. Many paintings, drawings, and etchings from their collection have been scanned and may be downloaded for free and reused for any purpose since they are in the public domain. Try searching for the name of a town where your ancestors lived, or of an occupation they had. Use the Dutch words, since the collection is described in Dutch. … [Read more...]
Column – Privacy
25 May 2018 by Leave a Comment
Today, a new privacy law went into effect: The General Data Protection Regulation, or its Dutch implementation, the "Algemene Verordening Gegevensbescherming." The new law requires a solid foundation for processing data of living people, especially when it concerns special personal data such as race or religion. The new law has larger fines, and requires better processes to prevent data leaks. Genealogists already know we have to be careful when sharing information about living people. We are … [Read more...]
