The Dutch word transport can simply mean transport, but in legal records it means the transfer of property. Deeds of sale are sometimes called transportakten [transport deeds] or are recorded in transportregisters [transport registers].
Transport deeds will mention the previous and new owners, any rights or encumbrances attached to the property (like tithes, right of way), and a description of its location.
Coolen transport record
About Yvette HoitinkYvette 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.
Yvette Hoitink, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist in the Netherlands who helps people find their Dutch ancestors. She is certified by the Board for Certification of Genealogists and has a post-graduate diploma in Family and Local History from the University of Dundee.
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To this could be added that any sale of real estate (and ships) in the Netherlands only becomes legal when the transport deed is officially registered, both historically and currently. So one can find a contract of purchase / sale in the notarial records or voluntary civil legal records as a private transaction. This deed makes the sale / purchase binding between the parties, but does not regulate the transfer of the good in legal terms. The transfer only becomes legal when a deed of transport is passed *and* officially registered. Note that before the nineteenth century there could be a considerable period between contract of sale and registration of transport. With regularisations from the nineteenth century onwards the period between contract of sale and registration of transport deed was limited to few days.
In Amsterdam the transport deeds were historically called deeds of quittance (‘kwijtscheldingen’), referring to the (legal) finalisation of the transaction.