Netherlands Passenger Lists Holland-America Line - FamilySearch Historical Records

Netherlands

What is in This Collection?
This 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 (Stadsarchief 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.

Image Visibility
However, the Stadsarchief Rotterdam, the record custodian of the passenger lists, has made the records available for free and without restriction on the Archieven.nl website. A project to index them is also underway. It is unclear why on FamilySearch the records are restricted to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
These 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

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the :


 * 1) Select Origin Continent-Destination Continent
 * 2) Select Departure Year
 * 3) Select Month and Day of Departure
 * 4) Select Ship's name to view the images.

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the age in the citizen to find an approximate birth year to begin your search in church or civil records
 * Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have moved, been recruited or lived nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify. Compile the entries for every person who has the same surname; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual. This compiled list can help you identify possible relations that can be further verified by researching vital records indexes in the country
 * 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 such as a title, an occupation, or land ownership. Add this new information to your records of each family. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900

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

 * Switch to a different record collection. Depending on the time period, either Civil Registration records or Church Records may be more useful
 * While searching, it is helpful to know such information as the 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 an ancestor and that the ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times
 * Keep in mind that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images. Pay special attention to how the name should have been pronounced and try variations on the pronunciatio
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names
 * Search the indexes and records of local genealogical societies
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one record to another

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in Netherlands.


 * Netherlands Guided Research
 * Netherlands Record Finder
 * Research Tips and Strategies

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.