The Basics: A Guide
Chapter 26
Much genealogical research possible at home with computer and Internet
It has been a long while since my last column was published (all previous installments can be accessed on the Windmill Herald's Dutch Heritage website, at www.godutch.com/genealogy, editor) dealing with genealogy. Since that time there have been many changes in the world of genealogy in the Netherlands. Many cities, province and regional archives have come on-line with searchable databases. I am not going to try to list them all but I will list what I think are the most important ones. For most of these addresses (either e-mail or internet) I will make some comments.
- geneaknowhow.net
This site is a jewel. At this site you can find out anything you want about genealogy research in the Netherlands. For each province it tells you what is available on the Internet and on CD. At this site you will find (in Dutch only) information about regulations in the Netherlands (regelgeving in Nederland) legal documents dealing with land transactions, etc. There are also pages of pictures available at this site. This site is maintained by Herman de Wit. - www.sre.nl
This is the site of the regional archives of Eindhoven. An excellent site if your forebears came from the area around Eindhoven. Some records go back to the fifteen hundreds. You can search here by last name or by patron-ymic. - www.regionaalarchieftilburg.nl/
This is the website for Tilburg and surrounding area. Once again you can search by last name or by patron-ymic. - www.stadsarchief.nl/
This is the site for 's-Hertogenbosch and area. They are still building the data base at this site. - isis.brabantarchieven.nl
If your ancestors came from Noord-Brabant, this is a site you want to visit. It is far from complete as new information is being added monthly. There are still many towns and areas that have not yet been documented. When using this site try using not only a last name but also a key word (contains word). - www.archief.delft.nl
Delft, Pijnacker, Hof van Delft, 't Woud-Harnisch, Abtsregt, Groeneveld, Vrijenban, Ackersdijk en Vrou-wenregt, Biesland and Ruiven are all covered in this database (1811 onwards). Delft and Pijnacker records from before 1811 are also found in this database. There is one problem that I have encountered. When searching for a birth using patronymics you need to know both parts of the father's name. For example if I were looking for the birth of Maartje Bastiaans, I would need to know that Maartje's father's name was Bastiaan Jacobs. If I search for a Maartje Bastiaans I would not find her but looking for a Maartje daughter of Bastiaan Jacobs would be successful. - www.hetutrechtsarchief.nl
When you arrive at the front page of this wonderful website click on "Archieven en collecties". This will take you to the archive and collection page. At this page click on "Archieven overzicht". This will take you to page where you can enter a name (surname, patronymic, full name, etc) and show you what legal documents are available for that name. At the moment documents date back to 1660 and foreward to about 1770, but the plan is to go back as far as 1575. Documents include land transactions, wills, marriages, etc. A great site if you have ancestors in the province of Utrecht or even in Zuid-Holland. - www.zeeuwsarchief.nl
A searchable database for Zeeland. Not all towns have been entered. At the front page of the archive site click on the ISIS link. This will take you to the next page where you have to click on ISIS-startpagina. - www.archboz.nl
The website of the city of Bergen-op-Zoom. This is just a new site and they have not yet made available a searchable database. - www.ryksargyf.org
This is the website of the Friesian archives. At their main page click on "Onderzoek". At this page click on "Stamboom onderzoek" and select what you would like, births, marriages or deaths and also the region (for the period 1811-1902 for births, 1811-1922 for marriages and 1811-1942 for deaths). Also available are marriages records for Friesland from before 1811. Name acceptance records (naamsaannemingen) can also be accessed here.You can also leave messages (queries) at the message board (Prikbord). Also available is the tax record of 1749 (quotisatie).