This article gives an overview of the new sources, websites, and other archives news that was announced last month. Sources The National Archives of the Netherlands published 1.9 million scans relating to slavery. The image collection of the municipality of Haaren is now available at the website of the Regionaal Archief Tilburg. The West-Fries Archief now made the family cards 1919-1939 available online again. You can search via the Personen [persons] page. These scans were taken … [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.
Was Eleanor of Aquitaine my Ancestor? Generation 26 – Margaret countess of Flanders
27 April 2021 by 3 Comments
This is the twenty-seventh 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 twenty-second great-grandfather Guy of Dampierre, Count of Flanders, was the son of Margaret, countess of Flanders, and William of Dampierre. Biography Margaret of Flanders was born in June 1202 as the second child of Baldwin IX, … [Read more...]
Sources about Slavery – 1.9 Million Records Online
24 April 2021 by Leave a Comment
Important archives about slavery, including the role of the Dutch in the slave trade and enslaved people in Dutch colonies, have been digitized over the past years. 1.9 million scans have now become available from institutions in the Netherlands, England, Guyana, and Suriname. The sources can be accessed from a new page at the website of the National Archives of the Netherlands. The National Archives has digitized the following record groups relating to slavery: Dutch Series … [Read more...]
The Genealogy Show 2021 Line-up
21 April 2021 by Leave a Comment
Exciting news! I will be speaking at The Genealogy Show, a wonderful genealogy event in the UK that will be virtual this year. My presentation is Dear Me! Writing Research Reports to Yourself. I will be using an example of a Dutch family who emigrated to the United States to show you how you can take your research to a higher level by writing a report for yourself. The presentation will be on the 25th of June at 7.20 PM (GMT, UK time) John Boeren will be giving a presentation on Where … [Read more...]
DNA Painter adds Level-Up Challenge as Dimension!
17 April 2021 by Leave a Comment
DNA Painter, the website with all sorts of cool tools for people interested in genetic genealogy, added the level-up challenge I wrote about in January as a dimension to their family trees. You can import your tree or build it from scratch, and then add a dimension to your tree to manually indicate the research level for each ancestor. See Jonny Perl's blog post about the new dimensions feature for detailed instructions and examples of other dimensions you can now add to your … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Are you Searching for the Right Name?
14 April 2021 by 3 Comments
There can be different reasons why you can't find the person you're looking for. Perhaps they were from a different town, or the record you need doesn't survive. But they could be hiding under a different name. Before the introduction of the civil registration (1811 in most parts of the Netherlands), there was no requirement for a hereditary surname. People could be using different surnames in different records: They could use a patronymic, named after their father's first name. The … [Read more...]
Symposium Sources of Slavery and Slave Trade
13 April 2021 by Leave a Comment
Do you want to learn more about researching enslaved ancestors or the slave trade? A free symposium on 23 April 2021 with various lectures will discuss the research possibilities in archives and practices for museums. A panel will reflect on increased accessibility and possible uses of sources relating to slavery. The symposium is organized by the Rijksmuseum, National Archives, and Royal Library of the Netherlands and will be in English. Where: Online (link provided an hour before the … [Read more...]
Quick tip – What Other Sources Are There?
7 April 2021 by 1 Comment
When you get stuck, ask yourself what other records were created in the time and place your ancestors lived, for example: Did the town or village create records? Often, you can find townsfolk in town minutes, tax records, records about the town's defense, etc. Was there a landlord or manor that created records? Were there tax records, either at the town or provincial level? Were there charities or orphanages that left records? For my article “Griete Smith’s Parentage: Proof in … [Read more...]
Dutch Genealogy News for March 2021
2 April 2021 by 1 Comment
This is an overview of the new sources, websites, and projects that were announced last month. Sources Automatically generated transcriptions of Amsterdam notarial records from the 1600s and 1700s can now be searched via a website. These transcriptions were created using handwritten text recognition. The artificial intelligence used for this project was trained using data created by volunteers. Notarial records of several notaries and surveyors in Limburg between 1544 and 1842 have been … [Read more...]
Level 3 Checklist – Occupations, residence, children, spouses
26 March 2021 by Leave a Comment
Two months ago, I issued my Level-Up Challenge, challenging you to assess how complete your research is. By level 2, we know the names of our ancestors and where and when they were born, married and died. To reach level 3, we also have to know their occupations, places of residence, and their children and spouses. In this blog post, I will explain which sources I feel I need to have found or searched for in order to say I have reached level 3. Occupation I want to find at least one source … [Read more...]
