Church books at FamilySearch

FamilySearch, the genealogy website of the Mormons, had scans of the civil register for a while now. Recently they also started adding scans of pre-1811 church books: Baptisms, marriages, burials, membership lists and more. Currently available are the provinces Groningen, Drenthe, Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht, Noord-Brabant, and Zeeland (seven out of twelve provinces).

The scans are made from microfilms that the church had in their collection. They are not indexed and have to be browsed image by image, similar to browsing the films themselves.

To find them on the FamilySearch website, click Continental Europe and browse to Netherlands. While you are there, have a look at the many other resources on their website - there's bound to be a few that are useful for your research.

Dutch archive news April-May 2010

• Genlias added birth and death records from the Netherlands Antilles (birth records from Aruba, death records from Saba), marriage records from Drenthe (Anloo), birth records from Flevoland (Urk), and death records from Noord-Brabant (a major update).

• The National Library of the Netherlands is digitizing Dutch newspapers from 1618 to the late 20th century (as I announced before). The first batch of one million pages is available now, the other seven million pages will be added over the next 18 months. The newspapers are in Dutch, of course, and so is the search page.
• The National Library, together with the National Archive of Suriname, will digitize newspapers from Suriname from 1774-1995. This includes papers from the collections of the National Archive of Suriname and papers from the collections of the National Library of the Netherlands.
• More newspapers: Tresoar announced several digitized regional newspapers from the northern part of the country (Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe) are now available on a new website. In the future they will add more (northern) newspapers.
• The Zeeland archive has a new website. There is no English interface, only an English summary.
• The Overijssel archive opened a flickr account. Currently there is only an album about football (soccer) in Zwolle, hopefully other albums will follow soon.
• The Utrecht archive opened a new website section about Utrecht in WWII, but only in Dutch.
• The Dutch National Archive, which is also the provincial archive of Zuid-Holland, has copies of the church books of the province Zuid-Holland (the originals are scattered throughout the province). Over the next few months these copies will be digitized and from November they should be available on the website of the National Archive. In the meantime these copies cannot be consulted by archive visitors. (link)

Postcard from Groningen

Postcard from Holland is a regular feature on this blog. On Wednesdays I post a card from my collection of vintage postcards. Today: A postcard from Groningen.

A postcard from the Rabenhaupt kazerne (barracks) at the Hereweg in Groningen. The barracks were destroyed by fire in 1945. It was named after Carel Rabenhaupt, a 17th century army commander who played an important role at the defense of Groningen city.

The postcard was probably sent in the 1920s.

Dutch archive news November 2009

• Many archives announced limited opening hours and service around the holidays.
• Genlias added new birth records from Utrecht, new marriage records from Friesland, and new death records from Friesland and Utrecht.
• The National Archive opened an e-depot. Nowadays many government records are only created electronically. These records need to be remain accessible for interested parties and have to be archived and kept for future generations, just like the paper records of the past. Though currently a pilot with just a few records, the e-depot of the national archive will eventually electronically store and archive these records.
• The first selection of audiovisual material for Open Images is now available online. The subjects of the 469 items that can now be found on Open Images are very diverse, such as an item about a caravan that can also be used as a boat, a video about the Tour de France in the Netherlands and about the first residents of Almere city.
• Drenlias is adding tax registers from the 17th and 18th century. The Groningen archive is publishing estate inventories online. So if your ancestors lived in Groningen or Drenthe you can soon find out if they prospered.
• The Amsterdam city archive published pre-1811 burial registers on their website, available here.

Online genealogy in Groningen

• The most important genealogical database for Groningen is AlleGroningers. The database has indexes and scans of BMD records of the civil register and church books. It's not complete yet, but expects to be so in a few years.
• Ledematen provincie Groningen (Church members province Groningen) has transcrips and (links to) scans of (pre-1811) membership books of many Dutch Reformed churches in Groningen.
• Genealogie Groningen is a portal site for Groningen genealogy. Unfortunately it is only available in Dutch.
• Find images of the past in Beeldbank Groningen (Image database Groningen).
• There are also many local image sites, e.g. for Groningen City or Roodeschool.
• For indexes of cemeteries and photos of tombstones visit Graftombe (Tomb).
• You can discuss your Groningen roots at the Ancestry message board Groningen or the Yahoo mailing list Groningen-genealogy.

For more information see Genealogy in Groningen.

Dutch archive news: July 2009

It's summer, and that means holiday season here in Holland. Archives have fewer visitors (visitors are on holiday), limited service and limited opening hours (staff are also on holiday). Summer also means there is hardly any news to report.

• Genlias added birth acts from Groningen, Utrecht and Curaçao, marriage acts from Utrecht, and death acts from Utrecht.
• The regional archive of Achterhoek (Gelderland) placed scans of church books of several towns on Flickr.

Reader's question: Roelfsema

Karin asked me:

How is it possible to find a Roelf Roelfsema who became the father of Gritje Cornelia born 8/3 1889?

Gritje Cornelia Roelfsema was born 8/3 1889 in Gravenhage as the daughter of Roelf Roelfsema and Christina Mathis. According to the family legend they were of Frisian descent.

Only a few acts from Den Haag (also known as 's-Gravenhage, or in English The Hague) are in Genlias, but The Hague does have its own database. I found the birth act of Grietje Cornelia Roelfsema in this database: Act 1080, 9 March 1889. Summary: Grietje Cornelia was born on 8 March at 3:30 pm. Parents are Roelf Roelfsema, 36, carpenter, and his wife Christina Frederika Matthijs, without occupation, both living in The Hague.

Note that 8/3 1889 means 8 March, not 3 August, 1889!

Roelf and Christina Frederika married in The Hague (marriage act 474, 1 June 1887): Roelf Roelfsema, 34, carpenter, born in Norg, living in The Hague, son of Kornelis Roelfsema (deceased) and Grietje Jans (without occupation, living in The Hague), married Christina Frederika Matthijs, 21, without occupation, born and living in The Hague, daughter of Johannes Frederik Matthijs (bookbinder, living in The Hague, present at the wedding) and Frederika Kaemmerer (deceased).

Note that Christina Frederika's father had to give permission for the wedding (as she was not yet 30), so the marriage act states he was present and consented. Roelf did not need parental permission (he was over 30), so whether his mother was present at the wedding is not listed in the marriage act.

In 1902 an interesting note was written in the margin of the wedding act: The marriage ended by divorce. The court declared the divorce on 17 December 1901, and it was registered in the margin of the marriage act on 17 February 1902.

You can continue the Roelfsema line on Genlias. As far as I can see, the Roelfsema's lived in Delfzijl (province Groningen) in the early 19th century. I don't see a connection with Friesland (yet).

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.

Dutch archive news May 2009

• The Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Royal Dutch Library, our national library) announced the project Dutch Prints Online. In cooperation with several Dutch university libraries, they will scan and publish 1.3 million pages from rare 18th century Dutch books. The scans should be available online in 2010.
• Genlias added birth and death records from Groningen, and updated death records from Overijssel.
• The Zeeland archive announced several events to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Hudson voyage, including the website Zeeland herontdekt Amerika (Zeeland rediscovers America, in Dutch).
• The Amsterdam City Archive highlights a few documents related to New York from their collection, like the 1639 testament of Peter Stuyvesant, a 1794 city map, or a sales contract between the Holland Land Company and Seneca representatives.

Photo: Royal Dutch Library The Hague / Foto: Koninklijke Bibliotheek Den Haag

Dutch archive news roundup: April 2009

• Genlias added birth and marriage acts from Friesland, and birth, marriage and death acts from Utrecht.
• The Dutch National Archive published new images on flickr The Commons, including a set of images related to New York.
• The archives in Groningen opened a new image database: Beeldbank Groningen.
• Drenlias, the database of BMD acts from Drenthe, added scans of death acts of the period 1943-1952. This includes the death act of the concentration camp in Westerbork, but also many death acts of Jews who died in e.g. Auschwitz or Sobibor. Death acts for these people were usually made up after the war in their last place of residence. These death acts often have supplements, scans of these documents are also online.
• Last year, I wrote about the Archiefbank (Archives Database) of the Amsterdam City Archive. The Archiefbank recently became available in English. The Archiefbank was one of the winners of Best Archives Website, awarded by ArchivesNext.

Photo: Queen Wilhelmina visits New York and is welcomed by Mayor La Guardia. Dutch National Archive, on flickr The Commons.

Dutch archive news roundup: News and announcements from Dutch archives, September 2008

News from the Dutch archives:

• The annual Landelijke Archievendag (national archives day) will take place on 11 October. Most archives have some activities that day, like lectures and guided tours.
• The new three-volume Geschiedenis van Groningen (history of Groningen) will be available on 9 October. On 13 October, several authors and editors of the book will visit the Groningen archive for an evening of presentations and discussions about the book and about Groningen history.
• The Historic Centre of Overijssel organizes a one-day seminar on Familiegeschiedenis als literair genre (family history as literary genre), on 11 October.
• The Gelderland archive celebrated the tenth anniversary of its participation in Genlias last month. Volunteers indexed almost 1.6 million acts in those ten years.

Dutch archive news roundup: March 2008

News from the Dutch archives:

• Genlias added and updated records from Groningen.
• All pre-1811 funeral church books from Drenthe are now available in Drenlias. Drenlias now contains 27,000 funeral records, listing 36,000 names.
• The Utrecht Archive opened their new website. The English interface seems unfinished.
• The National Archive published its library catalogue online.

Online records: Alle Groningers

The website

Alle Groningers is a database maintained by the archives of the province Groningen.

What do they have?

Church books and BMD acts of the province Groningen. In a few cases, there are also scans (currently, about 800,000 acts and only 8,000 scans).

Is there an English interface?

No.

How do I use it?

The easiest way is to fill in achternaam, and maybe tussenvoegsel (infix) or voornaam (given name), and press Start zoeken (start searching), on the left of the page.

You can click Toon uitgebreide zoekopties (show advanced search options) for options like searching on two people, plaats (place), voor (before) or na (after) 1811, or periode (year to/from). If you use periode, you also need to select voor or na 1811, and at least one of geboorte (birth), huwelijk (marriage), overlijden, doop (baptism), or trouw (marriage) - otherwise you will not find anything.

In the list of search results, click on the name to see the details of the act. If the text Akte inzien (view act) is not gray, you can click it to view a scan.

How much does it cost?

The site is currently free, and I expect that will remain so, at least for searching in acts. There is no public statement about future charges for downloading scans.

Future plans

A Groninger is someone from Groningen, so alle Groningers means everyone from Groningen. The website aims to show data about alle Groningers, from the 17th to the mid-20th century.

Data entry of church books and DTB records will be finished in 2009, scanning of these records in 2010. After that, Alle Groningers wants to add portraits, film and sound fragments, notarial acts, and much more.

Conclusion

Alle Groningers is still a new site, and does not have a lot of info yet that is not also available on Genlias. But that should change soon, as more and more scans will be made available. If the site lives up to its promises, Alle Groningers will be an exciting project for everyone with Groningen roots.

An English interface would be a very welcome addition to this site.

Dutch archive news roundup: February 2008

News from the Dutch archives:

• Genlias added birth records from Groningen and Zuid-Holland, marriage records from Groningen, Utrecht and Zuid-Holland, and death records from Groningen, Utrecht and Zuid-Holland.
• The Central Bureau for Genealogy announced that publication of part of their collection online is currently in testing phase, and will finally be available to the public some time in March.
• The Friesland Archive published its 1811 register of surnames online on Tresoar. (Surnames became compulsory in 1811. Until then, many families in Friesland did not have a surname. Many families chose a surname in 1811 and registered it, and these registrations are now available online.)
• The Utrecht Archive announced a new website that will replace their current website. The new website will be launched in March.

Online records: Muster rolls from the Northern Maritime Museum

The website

Today we will have a look at a brand new database: The muster rolls of the Northern Maritime Museum in Groningen, a database launched on the 8th of this month.

The Northern Maritime Museum shows the history of shipbuilding and shipping in the northern parts of the Netherlands from the Middle Ages until the present day. The museum has an informative website, and since last week a database with online Dutch records.

What do they have?

Muster rolls (monsterrollen in Dutch) of the northern provinces, from the period 1806-1937, listing almost 20,000 sailors. The data is collected by dr. Jurjen Richard Leinenga from several archives in the northern provinces. You can find information on wages (in guilders per month), rank, and ships. Johannes Fransens (or Franssens) from Appingedam, for example, was listed as lichtmatroos (ordinary seaman) on the Celeritas in 1869, with a wage of 14 guilders. In 1873, he was matroos (sailor) on the Geessien Schreuder and earned 30 guilders, and in 1874, he was matroos on the Sincerite and earned 40 guilders. There are several other records on him.

Is there an English interface?

Yes, but it's a bit quirky. The link to the database is only available on the Dutch homepage, not on the English homepage, and not in the (Dutch or English) navigation menu. I expect that will change soon. If you click on the English flag on the left hand side, the right hand side is still in Dutch and v.v., you have to change the language on both the left and the right hand side.

How do I use it?

On the Dutch home page, click on the text Zoek in de database (Search the database), in the middle of the page. Or follow this direct link and click on both English flags. Use the links in the navigation menu on the left for background information. To search by name, click Search by family name in the navigation menu on the left, enter a name, and click Search!. If your search is successful, you will get basic information on the sailors found: Name, hometown, age, rank, salary. Click on the number in the first column to find the entire crew. Click on Search in the last column to find out more about the ship.

The search interface and the information pages are available in English, but the data in the database is partly in Dutch. This is mainly an issue for the rank. The most important words to know are kapitein (captain), stuurman (steersman), matroos (sailor), lichtmatroos (ordinary seaman), scheepsjongen (cabin-boy) and kok (cook).

How much does it cost?

Use of the database is free.

Future plans

I could not find any statement about future plans, but I assume the database is a completed project.

Conclusion

If your ancestors are listed on these muster rolls, you can find some interesting tidbits about them that are not easily available elsewhere, like their monthly wage, or the names of their colleagues. I missed only one thing: Images of the muster rolls would be a great addition to this website.

Dutch archive news roundup: January 2008

News from the Dutch archives.

• The provinces Zeeland and Zuid-Holland have added records to Genlias. This includes for the first time records of The Hague.
• The National Archive announced several documents from its collection will be on display in New York next year, in an exhibition celebrating the 400th birthday of Henry Hudson's voyage on what is now the Hudson river. One of the documents on display will be the famous 1626 letter describing the purchase of Manhattan for 60 guilders (24 dollars). This letter is also on permanent display on the website of the National Archive
• The Groningen archive announced a new website with records from the province Groningen: Alle Groningers. We will soon have a look at this website in the series Online records.

Dutch archives news roundup - May 2007

News from the Dutch archives.

• The National Archives opened the archives of Ordedienst and Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten, Dutch resistance movements sponsored by the Dutch government in exile during the second world war. These can be consulted on site in The Hague.
• The National Archives have a vacancy for a new Director, as their current Director will retire at the end of this year.
• Over half of the car license plate registrations for Friesland from the period 1906-1950 are now available online. The rest will follow this year.
• The Amsterdam Archive opened a new and improved image bank.
• All birth acts from Rotterdam (1811-1902) are now available in their online database. Death acts will be next.
• The provinces Groningen, Noord-Brabant, Noord-Holland, Limburg and Zeeland have added new acts to Genlias.