In the 1600s, poor relief was a local affair. There was no national social security system. Larger cities had poor masters who administered a fund to support the poor residents of the city. In the countryside and smaller cities, the deacons of the protestant church had the responsibility to aid people in need. Even people who did not belong to the church were supported. People who were unable to work because of illness, age, or disability received charity. The income of the poor relief … [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.
Dutch Genealogy News for October 2019
8 November 2019 by Leave a Comment
Here is an overview of the new sources, projects, and news about archives that were announced last month. Online sources The Historisch Centrum Overijssel published indexes of birth records of several Overijssel towns: Oldemarkt, Kuinre, Hellendoorn, Oldenzaal, and Hengelo. The indexes can be found on Open Archieven. The slave registers of Suriname for 1830-1863 are online via the website of the National Archives. The period 1851-1863 was already online, but the early registers for … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Don’t rely on automatic translators
6 November 2019 by Leave a Comment
Automatic translators like Google Translate can be a big help if you don't speak Dutch. However, many older records use terms that no longer exist in modern Dutch, or that have shifted meaning. Automatic translators are also notoriously bad at translating words that may have multiple meanings. An example is the sentence: "Zijn neef was zijn getuige" which Google translates as "His cousin was his witness." However, the Dutch word "neef" can mean both cousin and nephew, which can make a big … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Use Past and Next Places in Population Registers
30 October 2019 by Leave a Comment
Population registers are a wonderful way to trace where our ancestors were living between 1850 and 1920. The registers give an overview of the people in the household. If someone moved into the household, the register should indicate the previous place of residence. If they moved within the municipality, the previous place will be indicated as their former address or the book and page number. If the person came from elsewhere, it will list the name of the municipality or … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Dutch Emigrants to Australia database
16 October 2019 by Leave a Comment
The National Archives has a database of Dutch emigrants to Australia between 1946 and 1991. The database may only be used for historical research. The database is compiled based on the card catalogs that were created by the Dutch consulates in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane between 1946 and 1991. The cards were organized by heads of household and contain information about the whole family. Only the head of household is indexed. Contents of the database The database provides basic data … [Read more...]
Five places to find out-of-copyright books from the Netherlands
11 October 2019 by 2 Comments
In the Netherlands, copyright expires 70 years after the author's death in most cases. Many books published in the early 1900s and earlier are in the public domain. Here are five places where you can find these publications. Delpher Delpher is a website by the Royal Library of the Netherlands where you can find books, newspapers, and magazines. Digitale Bibliotheek Nederlandse Letteren The Digitale Bibliotheek Nederlandse Letteren (Digital Library Dutch Written Works) contains many … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Use DNA to find Dutch cousins
9 October 2019 by Leave a Comment
DNA testing is becoming more popular in the Netherlands. Many Dutch people test at MyHeritage, though some also test with other companies such as Ancestry, FamilyTreeDNA, or 23andMe. To find Dutch cousins, you can take a DNA test. You will then get a list of people who tested at the same company who share DNA with you. The more DNA you share, the closer the relationship. See the article Dutch DNA testing strategy for more information to maximize your chance of finding cousins. … [Read more...]
Dutch Genealogy News for September 2019
4 October 2019 by 1 Comment
Here is an overview of the new sources, projects, and news about archives that were announced last month. Online sources The Memories van Successie (death duties files) of Noord-Brabant are being scanned and added to the Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum website. The first batch of scans has been uploaded. Death duties files give you an overview of the property owned by people at the time of their death, tells you if they had a will, and who the heirs were. The records were already … [Read more...]
Quick tip – Don’t assume that coat of arms is yours
25 September 2019 by Leave a Comment
Many people mistakenly believe that finding a coat of arms with your surname means it's "your" coat of arms and that you're entitled to use it. That's not how it works. The coat of arms may have been used by a different family with the same name. You will have to trace your line back to find out if one of your ancestors ever used it. Even that doesn't mean that it's yours to use. For more information, see Ask Yvette - Does my Family have a Coat of Arms? … [Read more...]
Was Eleanor of Aquitaine my Ancestor? Generation 21 – Lijsbeth van Mieren
20 September 2019 by 6 Comments
This is the twenty-second 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 seventeenth great-grandfather Johan van Wijfliet was the son of Lijsbeth van Mieren. Lijsbeth van Mieren, daughter of Jan van Wijfliet Research into Jan van Wijfliet turned up two records that mentioned his father's wife: A 1349 … [Read more...]
