Netherlands Emigration and Immigration: Difference between revisions

Emigration and immigration sources list the names of people leaving (emigrating) or arriving (immigrating) in the Netherlands. These sources may be passenger lists, permissions to emigrate, or records of passports issued. The information in these records may include the emigrants’ names, ages, occupations, destinations, and places of origin or birthplaces. Sometimes they also show family groups.  

If you cannot find your ancestor, you may be able to find emigration information on your ancestor’s neighbors. People who lived near each other in the Netherlands often settled together in the country they emigrated to.  

Records were created when individuals emigrated from the Netherlands. Other records document their arrival in the destination country. This section discusses the following subjects:  

*Finding the emigrant’s town of origin.  

*Emigration from the Netherlands, including the historical background of Dutch emigration.  

*Records of Dutch emigrants in their destination countries.

The FamilySearch Wiki article [[Tracing Immigrant Origins|Tracing Immigrant Origins]] gives more suggestions for finding your ancestor’s place of origin.  

Emigrants from the Netherlands left records documenting their migration in the country they left as well as in the country they moved to.  

=== Emigrant Lists ===

The Dutch government compiled lists of emigrants leaving the country from 1845 to 1877. These give each emigrant’s name, age, occupation, religion, municipality of last residence, reason for leaving, and destination. They also list the number of women, children, and servants accompanying the emigrant. The lists are indexed. Only statistics were kept from 1831 to 1844.  

These records are described in the Family History Library Catalog as follows:  

Nederland. Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken. ''Emigranten naar Amerika en Andere Landen, 1831–1877'' ''(Emigrants to America and Other Countries, 1831–1877).'' (FHL film 1393230–1393231.)  

There are also lists of emigrants who left after 1877 for the provinces of Friesland, Groningen, Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland, and Zuid–Holland. The records are found in the state archives. Some of these have been acquired by the Family History Library.  

For these and other emigration records, check the Family History Library Catalog Place search under:  

NETHERLANDS – EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION  

NETHERLANDS, [PROVINCE] – EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION  

NETHERLANDS, [PROVINCE], [TOWN] – EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION  

=== Passenger Lists ===

Records of departures are called passenger lists. The information in these lists usually includes each emigrant’s name, age, occupation, destination, relationship to traveling companions, and last residence. His or her birthplace may be given.  

The Family History Library has microfiche copies of the Holland–America Line passenger lists from the port of Rotterdam for 1900 to 1940. The fiche numbers of these records are listed in the Place search of the Family History Library Catalog under:  

NETHERLANDS, ZUID–HOLLAND, ROTTERDAM – EMIGRATION AND IMMIGRATION  

<br>Some web-sites to consider are:  

=== Some Dutch Emigration web-sites ===

 

*[http://www.stamboomgids.nl/specialisaties/emigratie/ Stamboomgids emigratie]  

*[http://geneaknowhow.net/digi/resources.html Passenger lists]  

*[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~texel/emigration.html Emigrants from Texel, Noord-Holland]  

*[http://www.limburgemigrant.nl/ Limburgse Landverhuizers (Limburgs Emigrants)  

*[http://www.zeeuwengezocht.nl/bronnen.htm Emigrants from Zeeland (1826) 1839-1920 (1950)]

 

Here a web-site of women who came from western Germany:  

 

*[http://www.berghapedia.nl/index.php/Wandergesellen_uit_het_Rijnland_en_Westfalen#Vrouwen_uit_Rijnland_en_Westfalen Female immigrants from Rheinland and Westfalen, Prussia]

Most of these immigrated in the early 1700's  

=== Other Records ===

For the period before 1812, look at notarial records of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and other harbor towns such as Dordrecht. There are comprehensive indexes for most of these places. Immigrants often obtained notarized documents before leaving the country. For more information, see the "[[Netherlands Notarial Records|Notarial Records]]" section.  

The collection ''Noord-Amerika Chronologie (North America Chronology)'' contains 5,000 cards abstracted from Amsterdam notarial records. It covers 1598 to 1750 and gives places of origin of immigrants to New Netherland (modern day New York, New Jersey, and Delaware). The collection is available on microfilm at The New York State Library. The address is:  

The New York State Library <br>Cultural Education Center <br>Empire State Plaza <br>Albany, NY 12230 <br>Telephone: 1-518-474-5355 <br>E-mail: [mailto:circ@mail.nysed.gov circ@mail.nysed.gov]&nbsp;<br>Internet: [http://www.nysl.nysed.gov www.nysl.nysed.gov]