Sources for Dutch genealogy – post 1811 cheat sheet

Looking for information about Dutch ancestors in the 19th or 20th century (after the introduction of the civil registration)? This cheat sheet will tell you which sources to consult.

If you’re looking for… …first look at… …then look at… …and if that fails…
Birth information
  • newspaper announcements
Marriage information
Death information
  • newspaper announcements
  • graves
Divorce information
Emigration/immigration
  • passenger lists
  • emigrant lists
  • police registers of aliens
Parents
  • newspaper announcements
Children
Property
  • property registration
  • newspaper articles
Address
  • newspaper articles
Neighbors
  • tax records
  • address books
  • voting records
  • property registration
Occupation
Religion
  • church membership records
  • baptismal records
  • newspaper articles
Military service
  • enlistment records
  • muster rolls
  • military records
Poor ancestors
  • pauper colony records
  • church poor administration (“diaconie”)
  • city poor administration
Criminal ancestors
  • criminal court records
  • police records
  • correspondence of the municipality
Graves
  • newspaper announcements

Keep in mind that for persons born less than 100 years ago, most of these records aren’t public so you’ll need their consent or proof of death in order to consult these records.

About Yvette Hoitink

Yvette Hoitink, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist in the Netherlands. She holds the Certified Genealogist credential from the Board for Certification of Genealogists and has a post-graduate diploma in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee. She has been doing genealogy for over 30 years and helps people from across the world find their ancestors in the Netherlands. Read about Yvette's professional genealogy services.

Comments

  1. anita maijer-schrot says

    Hello Yvette, are there records when children have been placed in pleeggezinnen? bvbd. van Assen naar Valburg 1890/Jeltje Kommer (child of our overgrootmoeder Elisabeth Kommer). Do you think children have been registered in the town? thank you! Anita

  2. And be sure to look for all the siblings. The parents may be living when one child is married and dead by the next. Or, the birth record of one child may identify one of the witnesses as uncle or something. Lots of clues to more connections.

  3. K.J. van Veen says

    Als iemand trouwt, terwijl zijn ouders reeds zijn overleden, dan behoren er extracten van de overlijdensakten in de huwelijkse bijlagen te zitten.

    Van het echtpaar zitten er eveneens extracten van hun geboorteakten in de huwelijkse bijlagen. Al zijn die minder relevant omdat de geboorteplaats en leeftijd over het algemeen al wordt vermeld in de huwelijksakte, zodat het opzoeken van de geboorteakten over het algemeen niet al te moeilijk is.

    Met beide gegevens heb ik regelmatig mijn voordeel gedaan. Het bevolkingsregister kwam pas omstreeks 1850 en de indexen op internet zijn niet altijd volledig,

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