Steenwijkerland, Overijssel

Steenwijkerland is a municipality in north west Overijssel, the region traditionally known as "Kop van Overijssel".

The municipality contains the following places: Belt-Schutsloot, Blankenham, Beulake, Blokzijl, Eesveen, Giethoorn, Kallenkote, Kuinre, Oldemarkt, Ossenzijl, Scheerwolde, Sint Jansklooster, Steenwijkerwold, Steenwijk, Vollenhove, Wanneperveen and Willemsoord

The municipality was created in 2003 and includes the following former municipalities: Steenwijk, Brederwiede, IJsselham, Blankenham, Blokzijl, Giethoorn, Kuinre, Oldemarkt, Steenwijkerwold, Vollenhove and Wanneperveen.

Church Records
Images of Church Records are accessible from the HCO inventory 0124 and VPND. Transcriptions and indexes can be found at  GeneaKnowHow and VPND. Some of the records have been transcribed or indexed, and these are detailed in the text below.

All couples, regardless of their religion, were required before 1794/5 to have their marriage registered in the Dutch Reformed church. From 1795-1811 all couples were required to marry before the secular authorities (gerecht).Burials of non-Dutch Reformed persons may also have taken place in the Dutch Reformed church.

According to the 1840 Census, the present day Steenwijkerland was 89% Protestant, 9% Catholic and 2% Jewish

Dutch Reformed
In Blankenham records exist from 1717. They are transcribed at VPND

In Blokzijl baptism records exist from 1644 and marriages from 1631. Marriages from 1659-1685 are only available from VPND. Transcriptions for all records are at VPND

In Giethoorn records start in 1626, with partial gaps between 1658 and 1668 for baptisms and 1680-1686 for marriages. Transcriptions are available from VPND

In Kuinre baptism records start in 1688 and marriages in 1670. Transcriptions are on VPND

In Oldemarkt baptisms start from 1644, and marriages from 1674 with a gap between 1682 and 1722. Transcriptions are on VPND

In Steenwijk baptisms start from 1666 and marriages from 1655, with transcriptions on VPND

In Steenwijkerwold baptisms start from 1645 and marriages from 1648. Transcriptions are on VPND

In Beulake baptisms start from 1666, and marriages from 1687-1759 and 1776-1779. Transcriptions are on VPND

In Vollenhove baptism records exist from 1619-1621 and 1635-1811. Marriage records exist for 1600-1685 and 1791-1795.

In Wanneperveen records start in 1740 and are transcribed at VPND

Other Religions
There were several Mennonite (doopsgezinde) churches in this area. In Blokzijl the records start from 1742-1754, and some are transcribed on VPND. In Giethoorn there were two (Noordzijde and Zuidzijde), were records beginning from the mid-18th century and mostly being transcribed on VPND. At Zuidveen in Steenwijkerwold records start in 1765.

There were just two Catholic churches in the municipality. One at Steenwijkerwold has baptisms only from 1721 (at VPND), and another at Vollenhove has records from 1682/3.

A synagogue in Oldemarkt kept records of circumcisions from 1786, these are transcribed specially by the HCO.

Civil Registration
In 1811 the Napoelonic Regime began the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths. This has been continued by the Dutch government ever since. Civil registration is organized around municipalities of the time of the events.

For Steenwijkerland and its former municipalities, births from 1811-1912, marriages from 1811-1932 and deaths from 1811-1960 are on WieWasWie and OpenArch. The exception is births from Zwartsluis, and births from Hasselt from 1903-1912.

The original images are not linked to this index. The FamilySearch Catalog may have images for births 1913-1916, marriages 1933-1941 and deaths 1961-1966. Births older than 100 years, marriages older than 75 years and deaths older than 50 years are able to be publicly released but archives can be behind putting them online. Current policy is to release records in ten year blocs, so that in 2018 marriages to 1942 will be released and in 2023 births to 1922 and deaths to 1972 will be released