Three months ago, I added a donation option to my free newsletter. The newsletter has continued to grow over the past years and outgrew the free service I was using. To my surprise and delight, more than a dozen people used the opportunity to donate. Thank you very much. I will use the donations for the mailing list provider and the hosting of the website. If you want to support the free information on this website and newsletter, here are some options to contribute: Donate via … [Read more...]
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.
Quick tip – Snap shot or Video?
27 July 2022 by 1 Comment
When you are looking at a record, ask yourself: was this record created all in one sitting? Or was this amended and updated over time? There are different types of records that were changed and updated over a longer period of time. In population registers, people who moved out or died were crossed out, and people who moved in or were born were added. In some types of tax or tithe records, owners of real estate would be updated if the property changed hands. In cadastral ledgers, plots that … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Did he serve after all?
20 July 2022 by 1 Comment
Sometimes, the marriage supplements will include a National Militia certificate that says the groom fulfilled his military service because he did not have to serve. It could be that his lot number was too high, or that he was exempted because a brother had served, for example. It is always a good idea to check the local enlistment records anyway, because sometimes they did not have to serve, but did so anyway. I recently had a case like this for a client. I saw the ancestor did not have to … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Witnesses are often not indexed
13 July 2022 by Leave a Comment
If you are using indexes of genealogical records, please keep in mind that the witnesses were often not indexed; only the main parties were. You can consult the original record to find the rest of the information. Knowing the witnesses is helpful since they may hold the vital clue to solving your brick walls. … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Groot verlof
11 July 2022 by Leave a Comment
Groot verlof means "grand leave." It is a term you may see in military records. Conscripts spent part of their military service in training and the rest on grand leave. Men on grand leave were still formally in the army though, and if they emigrated before they were discharged, they would be considered deserters. … [Read more...]
Dutch Genealogy News for June 2022
8 July 2022 by Leave a Comment
Here is an overview of all the sources, projects, and websites that were announced last month. Sources Almost 28,000 books have been digitized and added to Delpher. Most of the books are in the public domain and can be accessed online. More recent books can be consulted in the Royal Library reading room. Medieval manuscripts have been added to the online collections of the Athenaeum library of Deventer. Several civil registration records of Loon op Zand from the 1900s have been added … [Read more...]
Ask Yvette – Where to Find Dutch Church Records After 1811?
1 July 2022 by Leave a Comment
TL read the tip that you should check church records after 1811 and wants to know where these records are kept, particularly for the province of Groningen. When the civil registration was introduced in 1811 (or slightly earlier in some parts of the Netherlands), churches were required to turn over their registers of baptisms, marriages, and burial to the government. There is no such requirement for later church records. Although churches are free to determine where to keep their records, … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Old does not mean original
22 June 2022 by 2 Comments
When you are working with old manuscripts, it is tempting to think they are original records—the first recorded version of the document. However, even old manuscripts may be derivative records—copies, transcriptions, or abstract of older versions. Sometimes, the original record does not survive and the derivative is all we have to work with. But we have to keep in mind that it may have copy or interpretation errors. In the past, when people created a copy, they may not necessarily have tried … [Read more...]
Quick tip – List of Historical Disasters in the Netherlands
8 June 2022 by 4 Comments
Philip van Diemen de Jel and Irene Walstra have a list on their website with Historical Disasters in the Netherlands (in Dutch and English). This list is useful if you see an unexpected cluster of deaths in your family. Since Dutch death records do not list a cause of death, it can be hard to find out how an ancestor died. Knowing there was a epidemic, bombing, or flood in the area can help you find out what may have happened. See also other tips for how to find a cause of death. … [Read more...]
Dutch Genealogy News for May 2022
3 June 2022 by Leave a Comment
This is an overview of the new sources, websites, and projects that were announced last month. Sources Death Duties files for Zeeland 1818-1927 have been added to the Zeeuws Archief website. The records of the village of Schijndel 1312-1811 have been digitized and are available via the Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum website. Many building permits in the east of Noord-Brabant have been scanned and are now available via the Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum website. Where … [Read more...]
