About this website

Creating a website like this is a fun activity. There are so many options, so many choices. What do visitors want? What do I want? In this blog I will describe some of the things I encounter in developing and maintaining this website.

Using Occam’s Razor in Genealogy

Occam's Razor is a philosphical tool that helps you zoom in on the most likely explanation. A lot has been written about Occam's Razor, but it boils down to "the simpler explanation is usually correct." We can use this in genealogy in different ways: We can use Occam's Razor to determine the most likely hypothesis. If we find a combination of unusual circumstances, Occam's Razor tells us that a single cause that explains all events is more likely to be correct. This can allow us to … [Read more...]

Map of the Week – Groningen, 1659

In 1659, the famous mapmaker Joan Blaeu published his world atlas Tooneel des Aardrycks [Display of the Realm of Earth]. The archives in Leiden have made their atlas available online. This week we are looking at Blaeu's map of  the province of Groningen. It shows its largest city as the same-named Groningen ("Gronningen" on the map), connected to the North Sea by the Reitdiep. The map shows the roads and rivers that connected the smaller towns. See the research guide for Groningen for more … [Read more...]

Quick tip – Look at laws and ordinances

Looking at laws and local ordinances can help us understand the information in records we find. These can typically be found in the series of town records in the local or regional archives. For example, when the hospital bill of my ancestor Cornelia Platschart was sent to the police, I initially thought she was incarcerated. It was not until I looked at the local ordinances that I realized that the police oversaw prostitutes and sent women who were ill to the hospital. See Using Hospital … [Read more...]

Dutch Genealogy News for January 2025

Here is an overview of all the new sources, projects, and other news annnounced this month. Sources The index to the Central Archives of Special Jurisdiction came online. See this blog post for more information. Birth records of Bathmen (1881-1902), Olst (1884-1891), and Raalte (1846-1855) in Overijssel are now available via Open Archives. The burial register of the Dutch Reformed Church of Welsum (1836-1907) is now available via Open Archives. The Zeeuws Archief finished … [Read more...]

Quick tip – Popular First Names Per Location

The Corpus of Given Names in the Netherlands is a website by the Meertens Institute for research and documentation of the Dutch language and culture. It has a database of almost half a million Dutch first names, taken from civil registration records. The website has Lists of Popular Names. For each municipality or province, you can see the most popular first names from 1880 to the present. I like using these lists to see whether my ancestors gave their children popular names or not. If not, … [Read more...]

Map of the Week – World War I map

This week's map dates from World War I and is part of a larger series showing military activity. This particular map shows the activity until 7 October 1914. The Netherlands was neutral during World War I, as shown by the green color on the map. The map shows how close the activity got, with a sunken U-boat off the coast of Scheveningen, and various battles just across the border in Belgium. Although the Netherlands did not participate in the war, it did affect the lives of Dutch … [Read more...]

Map of the Week – Nautical Chart of the Zeeland and Holland Coast

This week we are looking at a nautical chart made by Pieter Goos from an atlas published between 1666 and 1683. It shows the access routes to the South Holland and Zeeland rivers and cities. The chart was intended for sailors to set their course. It is oriented with the north on the left, as you can see in the compass. The different compass points allowed navigators to determine the headings to navigate the waters. The chart also showed the depths and channels to take to safely make it to … [Read more...]

Records that became public on 1 January 2025

Happy New Year everybody! Many government records become public after 20, 25, 50, 75, or 100 years. Here is an overview of some of the records that became public as of 1 January 2025. Exceptions may exist for records that involve people that could still be alive. Just because records are public does not mean they are immediately available online. Some archives digitize the birth, marriage, and death records immediately, others do not. Some records will be online, some may be ordered via … [Read more...]

Map of the Week – Factories and Businesses in Enschede, 1930

This week we're looking at a map of factories and businesses in Enschede in 1930. Before 1839, the textile industry of the Netherlands was mostly concentrated in the southern Netherlands. When Belgium split off in 1839, this offered new opportunities for textile manufacturers in the (northern) Netherlands since import tarriffs made Belgian goods more expensive for Dutch consumers. Enschede was one of the places where a flourishing textile industry developed after 1839. This map marks … [Read more...]

Dutch Genealogy News for December 2024

Here is an overview of the new sources, websites, and other news announced this month. Sources The resolutions of the States-General 1576-1796 are now full-text searchable via Goetgevonden (direct link to search form). The States-General was the central government of the Dutch Republic, combinining legislative and executive powers. An English version of the website will follow. A book of prayers from around 1470 has been digitized and can now be views online at the Drents Archief … [Read more...]