Netherlands Research Tips and Strategies

This page gives an overview for beginners of how to do Netherlands genealogical research.

Identify what you know
Since genealogical records since about 1932 or so are closed to the public, you'll need to ask your family members about more recent events. Ask older members about where they were born, their family, parents and even grandparents. See if anyone else in the family has an interest in genealogy. If your family is in possession of old documents like passports, marriage booklets (trouwboekje) or birth certificates, use these as a further starting point.

Find previous research
Chances are that someone has already done research on parts of your family tree. If so, this is a potential chance to meet a relative and to get a head start on your research. To find online trees with your ancestors, simply search up their names on a search engine like Google. Also search the FamilySearch Family Tree, which is not on Google (FamilySearch account required). While this information can be helpful, don't just blindly copy the information. Not only could this be impolite to the tree creator, but there is so much inaccurate information on online trees caused by this sort of copying. Use these trees as a starting point, but always verify the information yourself.

1811- c.1932
This time period is the easiest for doing Netherlands genealogy. Many different detailed, reliable and easily accessible records exist. The main records are: Other records useful in this period include: Research in this time period is relatively straightforward and can be done almost entirely online. Civil Registration will usually prove to be the basis of research, with other record types providing additional details beyond births, deaths and marriages. The main barrier will be to understand the Dutch language. The linked articles provide assistance for this, as well as the articles Dutch Genealogical Word List and Netherlands Language and Languages
 * Civil Registration. Starts 1811(or 1796 in some southern areas of the Netherlands), and is public up to at least 1912 for births, 1932 for marriages and 1960 for deaths. Can be public as late as 1916 for births, 1941 for marriages and 1966 for deaths.
 * Population Registers. Start no later than 1850, and are public to as late as 1939.
 * Cemeteries
 * Newspapers
 * Cadrastal Registers(1832)
 * Wills and Notarial Records
 * Military Records

c.1600-1811
Before 1811/1796 there was generally no state registration of individuals in the Netherlands. Also, surnames were not universal, especially in rural areas where patroynmics were used instead [son/daughter of X]. This makes genealogical research more difficult. Church Records of baptisms, marriages and burials become the main record type use. The further back you go, the less records there are. To trace a line back to 1600 is fairly rare, and anything further back is probably possible only if the records have survived or your ancestors were wealthy.

The Main records for this period are: Other records that may be used are: In practice, research will be usually confined to Church Records, and will use other sources where they exist and are relevant for the family. The site GeneaknowHow is especially recommended for this period
 * Church Records.
 * Censuses
 * Tax Lists
 * Notarial and Court Records
 * Military Records
 * Citizens Lists

"Bridging the Gap" between the two periods
Several records are especially useful for individuals who lived across the year 1811
 * Marriage Supplements (Huwelijksbijlagen) for those married after 1811 but born before 1811 will have a copy of their baptism record
 * Name Adoption Records list the old name and new name of individuals when forced by the French to adopt surnames. Members of the household and their ages are often recorded.

Accessing Records
The articles on this wiki for each record type will list where to find the records. Nearly all of the more commonly used ones are online. Sometimes you will be able to search by name, sometimes you need to look up the name in an alphabetical index, and other times manually browse either the originals or a typed-up transcript.

The following sites are commonly used:
 * WieWasWie- search by name for many civil registration records and some others
 * Zoekakten, used to access records on FamilySearch- all civil registration, church records and many others
 * OpenArch- search by name in data taken from provincial and local archives.
 * GeneaKnowHow- links to hundreds of records. They aim to have virtually all relevant records online listed in a logical way.
 * The sites of provincial and local archives- see the Netherlands Regional Websites article
 * see also the article Netherlands Websites and Netherlands Online Genealogy Records