Online records: Noordhollandse Huwelijken

The website

So far, we have only looked at the websites of archives and museums in the Online records series. Today we will look at a private initiative: The website Noordhollandse Huwelijken (Marriages of Noord-Holland), maintained by Gertie van Lienen-Visser and Ineke Smit.

What do they have?

Reconstructions of families from several towns in the province Noord-Holland, originally based on marriage records that were entered in Genlias, later supplemented with other records found in the Noord-Holland archives (and occasionally records found elsewhere).

The towns you will find on Noordhollandse Huwelijken are Barsingerhorn, Beemster, Beverwijk, Broek op Langedijk, Harenkarspel, Hensbroek, Huizen, Katwoude, Muiden, Muiderberg, Nieuwe Niedorp, Oterleek, Oude Niedorp, Oudkarspel, Petten, De Rijp, Schagen, Sint Maarten, Sint Pancras, Twisk, Ursem, Veenhuizen, Velsen, Venhuizen, Warmenhuizen, Wieringen, Wieringerwaard, Wimmenum, Winkel, Zandvoort, Zeevang, and Zijpe.

Family reconstructions is the main focus of this website, but there is also a list of emigrants to North America, mostly from Sint Maarten, Schoorl, Zijpe and Warmenhuizen, and from the province Friesland.

Is there an English interface?

No. There is an English summary (click the British flag in the top left), but it's rather outdated. At the bottom of the English page is a small list of Dutch words (with translations) that you may need to understand the data on the website.

How do I use it?

Click on the name of the town you are interested in. On the next page, you have to click a letter to get a list of surnames starting with the selected letter. Click on a name to go to the family reconstruction.

For a few towns the site works differently. The link for Venhuizen, for instance, opens an index to the church books of Venhuizen.

If you want to consult the list of emigrants, click Emigranten on the homepage, or go directly to this page. Choose an initial at the bottom of the page to get a list of names, and click on a name.

How much does it cost?

Use of the website is free.

Future plans

New data is added regularly.

Conclusion

A useful website if your ancestors are from one of the featured towns. You will often find complete families on this site, and you can usually click through to the siblings' families, or to the parents' families. Note, though, that unmarried children are often missing, as the main source for this website is marriage acts.

An update of the English summary is long overdue. It would also be nice if the webmasters could do something about the popup ads.