Quick tip – Find Facebook Groups about the Town

Many towns in the Netherlands have their own Facebook groups dedicated to the history of that town. Many of these Facebook groups are called "Oud [town name]," such as Oud Winterswijk [Old Winterswijk] or Oud Breda [Old Breda]. You can use the Facebook search option to search for these groups. Discussions in these groups are usually in Dutch, but if you have a question about the town history, feel free to post in English. Most people in the Netherlands speak English, and otherwise people are … [Read more...]

News from the Netherlands – June 2014

'News from the Netherlands' is a new monthly series on this blog to inform you about the best new websites, projects and books that help you find and understand your Dutch ancestors. New websites The Brabants Historical Information Center has a new website (Dutch only). The 'Stamboom' [Family Tree] page has several indexes, some with scans attached. They are considering making that page available in English. [Source: BHIC] The Historical Center of Leeuwarden has a new website (Dutch … [Read more...]

Case study: subtle clues in population registers

On the very first day I started doing genealogy, I found a birth record saying that my grandfather’s grandmother was born as an illegitimate child, father unknown. Three years later, her mother married and the groom acknowledged the child as his. The three-year-gap made me dismiss him as her biological father. In the 23 years since then, I’ve collected all documents I could find about this family but never found any viable candidates. Inspired by Dr. Thomas Jones' and Elizabeth Shown Mills' … [Read more...]