Netherlands Passenger Lists Holland-America Line - FamilySearch Historical Records

Image Visibility
Whenever possible, FamilySearch makes images available for all users. However, ultimate rights to view images on our website are granted by the record custodians. The Netherlands, Passenger Lists of the Holland-America Steamship Line collection is a limited collection and is available only to members of the supporting organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This image is viewable to signed-in members of supporting organizations. All others, please go to Rotterdam City Archives.

Title in the Language of the Records
Nederland, passagierslijsten van de Holland-Amerika Lijn Steamship

Record Description
These records are in Dutch and Flemish. The collection includes records from 1900 to 1974.

This collection consists of passenger lists for the Holland-America Line (Holland Amerika Lijn), which transported numerous refugees from war-torn Europe to the United States prior to 1941. The passenger lists show the name of the ship, its destination, and the date it left port. The passenger's name is included, along with various details of passage arrangements, fees, etc. Passenger lists are available from 3 May 1900 through 14 October 1974.

Original records are available through the Rotterdam City Archive (Gemeentearchief te Rotterdam), Netherlands. This collection is being published as images become available. The text is handwritten in Dutch in a ledger type register. Passengers are listed by passage contract number.

It was necessary to keep a record of all the passengers boarding on to the company’s different steamships traveling from the Netherlands to North America. These passenger lists are from the voyages of the Holland-America Line, a Dutch steamship company that covered transatlantic routes, mainly between the ports of Rotterdam and New York, and occasionally calling on the ports of Boulogne-sur-mer, Plymouth, Southampton, Boston and Halifax. The names of the vessels were: Potsdam, Rotterdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Statendam, Ryndam, Veendam, and Volendam.

The data in these records is only as reliable as the person who gave the information; the spelling depended on the recorder.

For a list of records by localities and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

Record Content
Passenger Records usually contain the following information:


 * Passage contract number
 * Name of passenger
 * Number of persons traveling together
 * Departure and destination places
 * Date of departure
 * Price of passage
 * Ship name
 * Passenger’s cabin class

How to Use the Records
This section contains tips and information on how to use the records available in the collection.

Searching the Collection
To search the collection by image: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select "Origin Continent-Destination Continent" ⇒Select the "Departure Year" ⇒Select the "Month and Day of Departure" ⇒Select the "Ship's name" which takes you to the images.

Search the collection images one by one, comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination.

As you are searching, it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details and lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family.

For example, you can use passenger lists to:


 * Learn an immigrant’s place of origin
 * Confirm their date of arrival
 * Learn foreign and “Americanized” names
 * Find records in his or her country of origin such as emigrations, port records, or ship’s manifests.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?
You may also find these tips helpful:


 * If your ancestor had a common name, be sure to look at all the entries for a name before you decide which is correct.
 * Continue to search the passenger lists to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who may have immigrated at the same time.
 * If your ancestor has an uncommon surname, you may want to obtain the passenger list of every person who shares your ancestor’s surname if they lived in the same county or nearby. You may not know how or if they are related, but the information could lead you to more information about your own ancestors.

If you still do not find the name you are looking for, try the following:


 * Check for variant spellings. Realize that the indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings and misinterpretations.
 * Try a different index if there is one for the years needed. You may also need to search the passenger lists year by year.
 * Search the indexes of other port cities.

Related Websites

 * Gjenvick-Gjonvik Archives
 * Dutch Genealogy

Related Wiki Articles

 * Netherlands Emigration and Immigration
 * The Netherlands

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information (often called citing your sources). This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

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