Belgium Population and Military Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Belgium

What is in the Collection?
This is a collection of population and military records collected from various local archives in Belgium. The records appear in French and Dutch. Images will appear online as they are captured.

Collection Contents
Census and Population registers may include the following information:


 * Name of head of household
 * Names of family members
 * Date of birth
 * Birth place
 * Age
 * Gender
 * Occupation

Military records may include any of the following;


 * Soldier's or mercenary's name
 * Ages
 * Birthplace
 * Rank
 * Date and place of muster
 * Religion
 * Language spoken
 * Birth registers and lists of males 17-21 years of age
 * Parents' names
 * Residence
 * Physical descriptions
 * Death date and place or country of death
 * Date and places of discharge
 * Handicaps

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:


 * First and last name of your ancestor
 * Other identifying information such as their birth date or age and residence

To search the collection by image: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the "Province" ⇒ Select the "Municipality" ⇒ Select the "Record Type and Years" which takes you to the images.

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

Reading the Records
The records may be in recorded in Dutch or French. For help with the language see the following articles and tutorial:


 * Learning Center Search Skills


 * Dutch Genealogical Word List
 * French Wordlist
 * French Handwriting
 * Netherlands Language and Languages

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Save a copy of the image or transcribe the information. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors. For example, use the birth date, place and parent's names to search civil registration for a birth record and marriage records of the parents.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For, Now What?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities. Be aware that boundary changes could have occurred and the record of your ancestor is now in a neighboring locality.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Image Citation: