Reader's question: From Holland to Australia in the 1960s

Please note: This article refers to the Genlias project. This project was discontinued at the end of 2012. Its successor is WieWasWie.nl. You can read more here.

Scott asked me:

Could you suggest other on-line sources that can aid me in searching for my Partners grandparents whom migrated to Australia in the 1960's, as Genlias doesn't have them listed I just need their parents and I could go from there.

Marriage acts become public after 75 years, so you won't find any marriage acts from after 1934 on Genlias (or elsewhere on the internet). I expect your partner's grandparents married later than that? Most post-war archives are not accessible (and not published on the internet) due to privacy regulations. The usual way to reconstruct a family tree over this period is from memory or with family papers from the family's archive.

There are a few things you can try:

• Do you know when and where they married? You should be able to order a copy of their marriage act from the town hall in the municipality they married (for a fee). If you know the town, you can find the municipality on the regional genealogy section of this website. You may have to prove you are related and that your grandparents passed away - contact the town hall for details. If you know when and where they were born you may also try to obtain a copy of their birth act in the same way. Both the birth and the marriage act will list the parents.
• If your partner's grandparents migrated back to The Netherlands and died here, you should order their persoonskaarten from the Central Bureau for Genealogy (CBG).
• Search the collections of the CBG, in particular their collection of birth, marriage and death announcements (partly available online).
• A final tip: Don't forget to ask relatives. Someone is bound to have some document that provides a clue. Does your partner (or their family) still know relatives here in Holland? If so, write (or call) them!

If you have any further question, contact me or leave a comment below.

Related articles:

• What should you do if your ancestors are not in Genlias?, in the January edition of the Trace your Dutch roots newsletter.
• Destination Australia
• Post-war emigration
• Persoonskaarten
• Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie (a review of their online resources)

Photo: Farewell of emigrants to Australia, 1953. Spaarnestad Photo/SFA001009985, on flickr The Commons.

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