Trace your Dutch roots online

If you have Dutch ancestors and want to find out more about them, you will be pleasantly surprised about the wealth of information that is freely available on the internet. In this lens, I will guide you to the best places to find your Dutch ancestors online.

Genlias

National database of BMD records

If you want to research your Dutch ancestors via the internet, your starting point should be the Genlias website.

Genlias is a joint product of the regional history centres and state archives in the Netherlands. Genlias contains records from the civil register (birth, marriage and death records maintained by local governments), and sometimes the church books. It is a work in progress, and currently far from complete, but already contains over 9 million records.

Genlias has an English interface (click "English" in the top right), but all information it contains is in Dutch. To search, click "Searching in Genlias", then "Searching in Genlias database" (or go directly to the search page). It may be a good idea to read the Search instructions and Explanation of the results first.

Read my Genlias article for more information.

Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague

Local BMD databases

Not all places have data in Genlias. Notable omissions are the three largest Dutch cities, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. Rotterdam and The Hague do not participate in Genlias, but Amsterdam is expected to be included in the near future. All three cities have their own online database.

Some Amsterdam records can be found on the website of the Amsterdam city archive. The most important are the baptisms (1564-1811). Their website is only available in Dutch.

Rotterdam has the excellent Rotterdam Municipal Archives' Digital Family Tree. A large part of the website is also available in English. The website contains most of the church books (covering the period 1573-1811) and a large part of the civil register (1811-1950).

The Hague has created a virtual study center, that should eventually have the same information available as their study center in the The Hague city archive. It currently has scans of most of their civil registry records. The website is hard to navigate, there is no searchable index, and it does not have an English interface.

Zuid-Holland

Trace your roots online in Zuid-Holland

Genlias records are usually added by the provincial archives. Zuid-Holland, however, does not have a provincial archive (provincial records are maintained by the National Archives in The Hague). It is up to the local and regional archives to decide wether to take part in Genlias or not.

Places that are not represented in Genlias include major cities like Rotterdam, The Hague, Leiden, and Delft. Places that do not take part in Genlias and do not have their own online database will eventually be added to Genlias by the National Archives. For the latest information on Zuid-Holland records in Genlias, check out Archives in Zuid-Holland and Genlias and Actual content (both on the Genlias website).

Genealogy in Zuid-Holland contains a list of all municipalities in Zuid-Holland, and in which online database (if any) their records are kept.

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Your Dutch roots

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familyhistorysearcher

Great international family history search lens!

Posted June 21, 2008

Henk

Genlias lists the marriage of Johannes Molenaar and Adriaantje Marijtje de Haan (1870 in Pernis) and the birth of two children: Jan (1870) and Cornelis (1871). Genlias also has the marriages of three children: Willem Kornelis Molenaar and Jacoba Groenendijk (1887), Jan Molenaar and Napoline Verginia Kassels (1893), and Cornelis Molenaar and Niesje Hendrika Samsom (1894).

There may have been more children.

Posted March 17, 2008

Molenaar,Cornelis

I am looking for family of Cornelis,Molenaar, born in1871, in Poortugal,Netherlands, Moved to Pernis, Zuid Holland and sailed on the Ryndam, in 1907. Fathers name was Johannes Molenaar and mother names was Adriane Marutje. I am wondering if there were more children in the family of Johannes Molenaar.

Posted March 16, 2008

Henk

Hi Jessica,
There are four Tieltjes in Dinxperlo in the Dutch phone book, and probably some more in the surrounding area. Maybe you should write them to find out if they are related. The Dutch phone book is online at http://www.detelefoongids.nl/

Posted September 03, 2007

Jessica Tildes

My ancestors were known as Tieltjes and lived in Dinxperlo. I can find some info from the early 1900's but I really would like to know if I have any living relatives in the Netherlands now. Do you have any suggestions on how to find them?

Posted September 02, 2007

Henk

Thanks for the compliment, Historyman.

Posted September 01, 2007

historyman

A valuable lens for anyone needing to explore their Dutch ancestry

Posted August 28, 2007

Henk

Hi Katy,
Did you try the Genlias database? They have hundreds of Jimminks.

Posted August 17, 2007

katy jimmink

please can you trace the jimmink family they lived in bergen

Posted August 10, 2007

Wanham

Posted August 02, 2007

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