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.

Do you also have a question about Dutch genealogy that you want me to discuss? Leave your question in the comments below this post, or use the contact form.

Passenger lists: Where do I find them?

There are passenger lists scattered around the internet. Here are some of my favorite sites. They are all free (but registration is required for some of them), and they all have passenger lists of ships from Holland to the new world.

• Ellis Island. Registration is required to view scanned passenger lists.
• Castle Garden, America's first official immigration centre and Ellis Island's predecessor.
• National Archives of Australia record search. Their database includes passenger lists and immigration papers (only for arrivals in Australia, of course). If there is no scan of the record you want, you can order to have it scanned (for a small fee). Once the scan is available, it is freely accessible for everyone.
• Passenger lists before 1736 and passenger lists after 1736, an index to passenger lists on Digital Resources Netherlands and Belgium. Here, you will find links to many more passenger lists for ships carrying Dutch emigrants.
• Ships Passenger Lists to New Netherland, New York 1624 to 1664, on The Olive Tree Genealogy. While you're there, also check out the Dutch Immigration to USA & Canada section.
• The website of the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild (ISTG), an organisation of volunteers transcribing passenger lists. They were founded in September 1998, so their tenth birthday is this month!
• Ships' Passenger Lists on On the Trail of Our Ancestors. The Dutch Research Corner on the same website seems to be somewhat outdated.
• The many passenger lists in the USGenWeb Archives.
• Immigrant Ships, on Macatawa Bay Area History & Heritage - a website about the history of West Michigan. From browsing this site I get the impression that everyone in this area has Dutch roots!
• There are several passenger lists on the website of Herman de Wit.

Online records: Nationaal Archief

The website

Next in our series of online records is the website of het Nationaal Archief, the Dutch National Archive in The Hague.

What do they have?

The website has everything you can expect from a national archive: Practical information about the archive, summaries of their collections, research guides, etc. They also publish several databases, including:

• Emigrants to Australia 1946-1991
• Freed slaves in Curaçao and Surinam
• Surinam Dutch Reformed church books 1688-1792
• VOC employees leaving for the East Indies 1700-1794
• Image database, with a million photos

Is there an English interface?

Parts of the website are available in English, German, French and Spanish. The Emigrants to Australia database has an English interface, all other databases we look at today are only available in Dutch. Click English at the top of the page for an English interface (where available).

How do I use it?

That depends on the database.

Emigrants to Australia 1946-1991

The easiest way is to enter a surname in the Quick Search field at the top, followed by the Enter key on your keyboard. There is also an advanced search option. When you have a list of search results, click on the name you are interested in. You will need to agree to a disclaimer, stating you will only use the data for historical research.

You can order copies of the original cards, but only if you can prove the person on the card is deceased, or if you have permission from that person.

An example: I searched for Pardoen and found three results, including:

Pardoen, B., born on 01 april 1917, made the journey on ship Skaubryn, arrival in Australia on februari 1952, emigration card in card-tray Brisbane

Freed slaves in Curaçao

Curaçao is one of the Netherlands Antilles, once a Dutch colony and still part of the Kingdom of The Netherlands. Click on Raadplegen van database (Consult database). Fill in your search terms in the box on the left, choose your search options on the right (Alle Woorden, all words, Eén Van De Woorden, any word, or Exacte Zin, exact phrase) and click Zoek. An example of what you may find:

Negerin Anna op 23 augustus 1782 door Joseph Obediente jr voor 200 peso, betaald door de neger Mattheeuw de Vries. Met kwitantie in termijnen, waarvan laatste datum 16 september 1785.

Search results are in Dutch. A translation of the example: Negress Anna on 23 August 1782 by Joseph Obediente Jr for 200 pesos, paid by the negro Mattheeuw de Vries, with quittance in instalments, the last on 16 September 1785.

Freed slaves in Surinam

Freed slaves in former Dutch colony Surinam really consists of two databases. First you have to choose between Surinaamse manumissies 1832-1863, the database of slaves that became free between 1832 and 1863, and Emancipatie 1863, slaves that were freed when slavery was abolished by The Netherlands in 1863. Click Raadplegen database on the top of the page. Searching works the same as in the Curaçao database, but you have extra options: You can search for Naam Vrijgelatene (name of the freed slave), Naam Eigenaar (name of the owner), Naam Borgen (name of the sureties), or Aanmerkingen (remarks) for the first database, Slaven en eigenaren (slaves and owners), Slaven (slaves only), Eigenaren (owners only) or Opmerkingen (remarks) for the second.

Surinam Dutch Reformed church books 1688-1792

Fill in a search term, check if you want to search Memotekst (memo text) and Datum (date) fields, choose between Geboorten/dopen (births and baptisms), Lidmaten (church membership lists), Kerkgerechtigheden (church taxes) or (Onder)trouw (marriage and marriage registration), and press Zoek. In the list of search results, click detail.

An example: A baptism on 20 January 1704. The text is in Dutch again.

gedoopt het kint waar van vader was Pieter de Jonge en moeder een indiaaninne genaamt Catharina. Getuijge M: de Jonge d' oude. [transl. baptized the child of which the father was Pieter de Jonge and mother an indian named Catharina. Witness M. de Jonge the elder]

VOC employees leaving for the East Indies 1700-1794

The database of the VOC (Dutch East Indies company) is a large, ongoing project. It lists employees of the VOC sailing to the East. They are taken from the scheepssoldijboeken (ship payrolls), part of the VOC's salary administration. These payrolls are amazingly complete and consistent.

The easiest way to search is to enter a surname in the Snel zoeken (quick search) field at the top, and press the enter key. There is also an advanced search option (Uitgebreid zoeken, in the navigation menu on the left). Fields in the advanced search include Achternaam (surname), Voornaam (first name), Herkomstplaats (place of origin), and Schip (Ship). Fill in the fields and press Zoek.

When you get the list of search results, click on a name for details. On the detail page you will find gegevens (data) about the person you selected, and about his journey. Data include Datum indiensttreding (date of start of employment), Datum uit dienst (date of end of employment), Reden uit dienst (reason for ending the employment, often overleden, deceased), Schip (name of ship), Vertrek (departure), and Aankomst (arrival).

Image database

Enter your search phrase in the zoek (search) field on the left and press enter. There is also an advanced search option (Uitgebreid zoeken), with fields like Beschrijving (description), Dag/Maand/Jaar (day/month/year), Periode vanaf/tot en met (year from/to), Trefwoord (keyword), and Fotograaf (photographer).

Search all databases at once

There is also a single search interface for all databases. Fill in a search phrase (most likely, a surname) at Zoekwoorden (search terms), make sure Alles (everything) is checked, and click Zoek. The result page is in Dutch, search for (and click) Toon resultaten in de thema databases (show search results in the themed databases), next click on a database name, and then click on a search result.

How much does it cost?

Use of the databases is free. There are (often hefty) fees for ordering copies.

You may make prints of the images in the image database for personal use, for any other use there will be charges (source: Auteursrechten). Please contact the national archive for details.

Future plans

Some of the databases are finished projects, others are far from complete. The VOC database, for instance, will probably be complete in 2012 (data entry started in 2000). I expect that new projects will be added from time to time.

Conclusion

The databases featured above are only the tip of the iceberg. The website of the Dutch National Archive hosts many exciting projects and databases. Navigating the website can be a challenge, though. It is a pity that so few databases are available in English.

12,000 visitors to emigration fair

On Dutch teletext this morning:

"The Emigratiebeurs (emigration fair) in Nieuwegein attracted by a record 12,000 visitors. Among the visitors were many young families. Still popular are countries like Canada, Sweden and Australia."¹⁾

The emigratiebeurs is an annual two-day event, with exhibitions and presentations aimed at prospective emigrants. The post-war emigration peak is long past, but emigration remains popular, and, like 60 years ago, the popular emigration countries are Canada and Australia.

The emigratiebeurs website is also available in English.

¹⁾Translation by me. Original Dutch text of the news item: "De Emigratiebeurs in Nieuwegein heeft een recordaantal van 12.000 bezoekers getrokken. Onder het publiek waren veel jonge gezinnen. In trek zijn nog steeds landen als Canada, Zweden en Australië."

Destination Australia

Emigration to Australia

After the second world war, Australia became a popular destination for Dutch emigrants. Triggered by the ruins of the war, the housing shortage, and the bleak economic prospects in the agrarian sector, many people emigrated in the late 1940s and 1950s. Australia was the second-most popular destination (after Canada).

Dutch consulates in Australia kept detailed records of the Dutch immigrants. Some of this data has been made available through the website of the National Archive in The Hague.

The Australian government also kept track of their immigrants, and some of the information they collected is now available on the website of the National Archives of Australia.

Links

• From The Netherlands to Australia (article about Dutch emigration to Australia by the Dutch National Archive)
• Searching for emigrants (search the Dutch National Archive's online database of Dutch emigrants to Australia)
• National Archives of Australia recordsearch (search the Archives of Australia's online database of immigrants in Australia)
• Dutch Australian Cultural Centre

Related posts

• Post-war emigration
• Getting help finding your Dutch ancestors
• Find your Dutch ancestors on the internet

Post-war emigration

Emigration from The Netherlands peaked in the fifteen years after the second world war, triggered mostly by the rampant housing shortage. Emigration was actively encouraged by the Dutch government. The most popular destinations were Canada and Australia, and to a lesser extend the U.S., South Africa and New Zealand.

Tracing your roots into The Netherlands is relatively easy if you descend from these emigrants. Many of the emigrants are still alive, and even when they're not it is usually easy to find someone who has known them. You have probably some addresses of relatives in The Netherlands. On the other hand, most post-war archives are not accessible due to privacy regulations, so it may be harder to set the next step.

Once you have traced your ancestry to the 1930s or earlier, you can continue your quest online, or use traditional sources.

To fill the gap between the 1930s and your ancestor's emigration you should:

1. Ask all your relatives for information. Someone will have information dating even further back.
2. Check out family papers that you, or your relatives, still may have. There's probably a copy of your ancestor's birth certificate somewhere in your family, or maybe some letters from their relatives in the old country giving the clues you need.
3. Write (or phone, or e-mail) your relatives in The Netherlands. Even if they don't have the information you need, they will know someone who has. Be persistent (but not annoyingly persistent).
4. The Central Bureau for Genealogy (CBG) has information on almost anyone who lived and died in The Netherlands between 1939 and two to three years before now. They provide extracts for a fee. Contact them for details (ask for persoonskaarten).
5. If all else fails, ask for help on the appropriate message board or forum.