West Flanders (West-Vlaanderen), Belgium Genealogy

Guide to West Vlaanderen (West Flanders) Province ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

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History
West Flanders (Dutch: West-Vlaanderen) is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the North Sea to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemish province of East Flanders to the east, the Walloon province of Hainaut in the southeast and the French department of Nord to the west. Its capital is Bruges (Brugge).

Research Methods
'''Most of your genealogical research for West Vlaanderen will be in two main record types: civil registration and church records. This article will teach you methods for locating and searching these two record groups.'''

Civil Registration

 * Civil registration records are government records of births, marriages, and deaths.


 * Dates: Civil registration began around 1795-1796 while under French rule.


 * Contents:
 * Births: Child’s name, birth date and place; parents’ names, residence, and occupation, witnesses’ ages, relationships, residences; yearly indexes.
 * Marriages: Bride and groom names, ages, residences, occupations; sometimes ages and/or birth dates and places, parents' names, marriage date and place, residences, occupations, witnesses and officer who performed ceremony, former spouses, yearly indexes.
 * Marriage proclamations: Names of prospective marriage partners, intentions, residences, parents, etc.
 * Marriage supplements: Names of marriage partners, documents showing proofs of births, parents, deaths, prior marriages or divorces, proclamations, consents, contracts, etc.
 * Death registers: Deceased's name, age, death date and place, occupation, name of surviving spouse, informant’s name and residence, cause of death, sometimes birth dates and places, parents’ names, children’s names, yearly indexes.
 * Divorces: Listed on the back of the marriage registers in the municipality where the marriage took place. Includes names, ages, dates and places, occupations, residences.
 * Multi-Year-Indexes: Additional two, three, five and ten year indexes to births, marriages, divorces and deaths. Some are alphabetical, others chronological, by first letter of the surname, all letters, and given names.


 * Language: The major languages of records in Belgium are Flemish (Dutch) in the North, and Walloon (French) in the South, and German in the East. To understand the records, you only need to know a few typical words such as those for mother, father, born, name, bride, groom, married, etc. Translation of these words are found under Online Digital Records for Civil Registration below and also on word lists for: Dutch, French and German.


 * Accessing the records: Digitized, online civil registration records until 1912-3 are available through FamilySearch Historical Records and the National Archives. For more recent certificates, you need to write to the state, provincial, or municipal archives.


 * To learn more about Belgian Civil Registration, read Belgium Civil Registration.

1. Online Digital Records for Civil Registration
For some localities, digital copies of civil registration can be searched online:
 * 1582-1910 - at FamilySearch —free, index, incomplete.
 * 1582-1910 - at FamilySearch —free, browsable images, incomplete.


 * Dutch titles for recorded events: "Geboorten" means births. "Huwelijken" means marriages. "Overlijden" means deaths. "Huwelijksafkondigingen" means marriage proclamations. "Huwelijksbijlagen" means marriage supplements. "Tienjarige tafels" means 10-year indexes.


 * French titles for recorded events: "Naissances" means births. "Mariages" means marriages. "Décès " means deaths. "Publications de mariage" means marriage proclamations. "Pièces de mariage " means marriage supplements.  "Tables décennales" means ten-year indexes.


 * German titles for recorded events: "Geburten" means births. "Heiraten" means marriages.  "Toten" means deaths.

2. Online Digital Records at the State Archives
Civil registration digital images are also online from the State (National) Archives (Rijksarchief in België), for records at least 100 years old. You will need to complete a free registration here: Register. This address leads to the Zoekrobotten--Search Robot (or Search Engine) which leads to several search options:
 * Zoeken naar personen searches by individual name. English instructions are provided.
 * Zoeken naar archieven searches by location. English instructions are provided.

3. Microfilm Copies of Civil Registration Records in the FamilySearch Catalog

 * a. Click on this link to see a list of records for Belgium, West Vlaanderen.
 * b. Click on "Places within Belgium, West Vlaanderen" and a list of towns and cities will open.
 * c. Click on the town or city you wish to search.
 * d. Click on "Civil Registration" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Choose the correct event and time period for your ancestor.
 * f. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the microfilm is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the microfilm.

4. Writing for Civil Registration Certificates
For the more recent records (since 1913), the locality keeps one copy and the other copies are turned over to the State Archives (Algemeen Rijksarchief/Archives Générales du Royaume in Brussels, or Rijksarchief in de Provinciën/Archives de l'État in the provinces). Researchers can access them by contacting:

The National Archives
Algemeen Rijksarchief Ruisbroekstraat 2 Brussels 1000 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 2 513 76 80 Fax: 32 2 513 76 81

or

The province archives
Rijksarchief te Brugge Predikherenrei 4A 8000 Brugge Belgium

Telephone: +32 (0)50 33 72 88 Fax: +32 (0)50 61 09 18 E-mail: rijksarchief.brugge@arch.be

or

The archives of the municipality
Gemeentebestuur De Ambtenaar van de BURGERLIJKE STAND Gemeentehuis BE - (postal code) (name of municipality) Belgium


 * This list of municipalities will give you the postal codes.

What to send:
Send the following:


 * A request for them to tell you the fees and how they should be paid.
 * Full name and the sex of the person sought.
 * Names of the parents, if known.
 * Approximate date and place of the event.
 * Your exact relationship to the person.
 * Reason for the request (family history or medical).
 * Request for a complete extract of the record

Writing the letter
This Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy will help you with composing your letter.

Church Records

 * Church records are vital records kept by priests and are often called parish registers or church books. They include records of christenings (baptisms), marriages, and deaths (burials).
 * Church records are crucial for research before the civil government started keeping vital records, which began about 1796.
 * Roman Catholicism has been the pre-dominant religion in Belgium.
 * To learn more about church records, see Belgium Church Records.

1. Online Digital Records for Church Records
For most localities, digital copies of church records are included in the civil registration online collection. Church records prior to 1796 were considered to be the country's civil registration:
 * 1582-1910 - at FamilySearch —free, index, incomplete.
 * 1582-1910 - at FamilySearch —free, browsable images, incomplete.

2. Microfilm Copies of Church Records in the FamilySearch Catalog

 * a. Click on this link to see a list of records for Belgium, West Vlaanderen.
 * b. Click on "Places within Belgium, West Vlaanderen" and a list of towns and cities will open.
 * c. Click on the town or city you wish to search.
 * d. Click on "Church Records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Choose the correct event and time period for your ancestor.
 * f. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. FHL icons.png. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the microfilm.

3. Writing to a Catholic Priest for Church Records
When you cannot locate the records online or in a microfilm, baptism, marriage, and death records may be found by contacting or visiting local parish priests.

Write a brief request to the proper church using this address as guide replacing the information in parentheses:
 * Reverend Pastor
 * (Street address, if known: see The Catholic Directory)
 * (Postal code) (City) West Vlaanderen
 * BELGIUM


 * Find the Belgian postal code here.

Send the following:
 * Cashier’s check or international money order (in local currency) for the search fee. Usually $10.00.
 * Full name and the sex of the person sought.
 * Names of the parents, if known.
 * Approximate date and place of the event.
 * Your relationship to the person.
 * Reason for the request (family history or medical).
 * Request for a complete extract of the record

Reading the Records

 * Records are most commonly written in Dutch, but may also be in German or French. You do not have to be fluent these languages to read your documents! Genealogical records usually contain a limited vocabulary. Use this Dutch Genealogical Word List to translate the important points in the document. If you find that the records are written in German, or French, click on that language link in this sentence.


 * Also, the handwriting can be slightly different, so you will want to watch these lessons, as needed, depending on the pre-dominant language in the region your ancestors lived:




 * German Script Tutorial

Tips for Finding Your Ancestor in the Records

 * Effective use of civil registration and church records includes the following strategies:
 * 1) Identify your ancestor by finding his birth or christening record.
 * 2) When you find an ancestor’s birth or baptismal record, search for the births of siblings.
 * 3) Search for the parents’ marriage record. Typically, the marriage took place one or two years before the oldest child was born.
 * 4) Search for the parents' birth records. On the average, people married in their early 20s, so subtact 25 or so years from the marriage date for a starting year to search for the parents' birth records.
 * 5) Search the death registers for all family members.
 * 6) If you do not find earlier generations in the parish registers, search neighboring parishes.


 * Marriages were usually performed and recorded where the bride lived.
 * Do not overlook the importance of death records. Death records are especially helpful because they may provide important information about a person’s birth, spouse, and parents. Civil death records often exist for individuals for whom there are no birth or marriage records.