A pandemie is a pandemic. The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic hit the Netherlands pretty hard. About 38,000 people died. The province of Drenthe had the most cases. Here is an image of children going to school outdoors, in the dead of winter in 1918. … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Mannelijke en Vrouwelijke Lijn
13 July 2020 by Leave a Comment
In Dutch, the mannelijke lijn is the male line, and the vrouwelijke lijn is the female line. Traditionally, many Dutch publications have focused on the male line only. Over the past few decades, it has become common to focus on both male and female lines, both in terms of descendants and ancestors. Most Dutch genealogists I know are researching their kwartierstaat, their ancestors in all the lines. People interested in the female line can join Mamamito, a Belgian research project that … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Gevangene
15 June 2020 by Leave a Comment
A gevangene is a prisoner. Imprisonment as punishment became popular in the 1800s, after corporal punishment was largely abolished. For information about prisoners, see Source - Prison records. … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Inwoner and bewoner
8 June 2020 by Leave a Comment
An inwoner is a resident of a location. For example, someone could be an inwoner of Amsterdam, or of the Netherlands. The word does not imply citizenship, just residence. A bewoner is a resident of a building. For example, someone could be a bewoner of a house or nursing home. … [Read more...]
Quick Tip – West-Friesland is not in Friesland
3 June 2020 by Leave a Comment
In the early Middle Ages, the whole area between the Zwin and Weser rivers was called Frisia/Friesland. The current province of Friesland in the Netherlands is in the middle of that region, but the former area of Frisia was much larger. To this day, part of the province of Noord-Holland is known as "West-Friesland" [West Frisia] and part of northern Germany is known as "Ostfriesland" [East Frisia]. So West-Friesland is in the province of Noord-Holland, not in the province of Friesland. … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Gemeenteverslag
25 May 2020 by Leave a Comment
A gemeenteverslag is a municipal report. Since 1851, municipalities were required to write an annual report about the state of the municipality. These can be a great source of background information about your ancestors. See source: municipal report for more explanation about this source and how to use them. … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Onecht kind
11 May 2020 by 1 Comment
An onecht kind is a child born out of wedlock. You may encounter the term in baptismal records or court records. Here are tips for finding the father of an illegitimate child. … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Slachtoffer
4 May 2020 by Leave a Comment
The word slachtoffer means "victim" or "casualty." On 4 May, the Dutch commemorate the casualties since World War II. The 4 May date was chosen because 5 May is Liberation Day, the anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands on 5 May 1945. We commemorate before we celebrate. Two years ago, I was at the National Genealogical Society conference in Grand Rapids on 4 May. You can read the speech I gave at the banquet to jointly commemorate the victims. … [Read more...]
Dutch term – “Ut Supra”
27 April 2020 by Leave a Comment
The term ut supra means "as above." It's actually not Dutch at all but Latin. It's used in records sometimes as a shorthand when the writer doesn't want to keep repeating the same information. When you see the term, you have to look at the previous entries to see what information it replaces. Example This question came up in the Dutch Genealogy Facebook Group, where David P. Slager jr. asked about the meaning of "ut supra" in the following marriage record: It's a marriage record for … [Read more...]
Dutch term – Fout
20 April 2020 by Leave a Comment
Fout means "wrong" or "error." Dutch records are pretty reliable in general but we should always look for multiple independently created original records to prevent one error from leading us astray. In World War II, the word fout got a special meaning. It was used to indicate people who collaborated with the Germans. Many of them were prosecuted for collaboration after World War II. Their court records can be found in the Central Archives for Special Jurisdiction at the National Archives in … [Read more...]
