Netherlands Emigration and Immigration

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The FamilySearch moderator for The Netherlands is Daniel Jones.

Netherlands

Emigration and Immigration

Online Records

• 1600-2000 Netherlands, Archival Indexes, Miscellaneous Records at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1633-1795 Netherlands, Dutch East India Company Crew Index, 1633-1795 at Ancestry; index only ($)
• 1839-1920 Emigrants from Zeeland (1826) 1839-1920 (1950)
• 1846-1856 Dutch and German passenger lists, 1846-1856 at FamilySearch Catalog; images only
• 1860-1913 Netherlands, Limburg Province, Certificates of Nationality, 1860-1913 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images only
• 1890-1960 Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960 at FindMyPast; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Netherlands
• 1900-1974 Netherlands Passenger Lists Holland-America Line, 1900-1974 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images only
• 1904-1914 Germany, Bremen Passenger Departure Lists, 1904-1914 at MyHeritage; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of Netherlands
• 1914-1919 Netherlands, Tilburg Emigration Records, 1914 - 1919 at MyHeritge; index & images ($)
• Bridging the gap in Dutch-Indonesian Genealogy (theindoproject.org)
• Emigrants from Texel, Noord-Holland
• Limburgse Landverhuizers (Limburgs Emigrants)
• Passenger lists, Digital Resources Netherlands and Belgium In the left sidebar, select "Passenger lists" -

until 1736 or after 1736

• Stamboomgids emigratie

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.

Emigration from the Netherlands

• Emigration from the Netherlands has been occurring for at least four hundred years, and may be traced back to the international presence of the Dutch Empire and its monopoly on mercantile shipping in many parts of the world. Dutch people settled permanently in a number of former Dutch colonies or trading enclaves abroad, namely the Dutch Caribbean, the Dutch Cape Colony, the Dutch East Indies, Surinam, and New Netherland.
• Since the end of the Second World War, the largest proportion of Dutch emigrants have moved to Anglophone countries, namely Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, mainly seeking better employment opportunities. Postwar emigration from the Netherlands peaked between 1948–63, with occasional spikes in the 1980s and the mid-2000s.
• Cross-border migration to Belgium and Germany has become more common since 2001, driven by the rising cost of housing in major Dutch cities.

Notarial 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 "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
Cultural Education Center
Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY 12230
Telephone: 1-518-474-5355
E-mail: circ@mail.nysed.gov 
Internet: www.nysl.nysed.gov

For Further Reading

Many additional sources are listed in the FamilySearch catalog:

• Netherlands - Emigration and immigration

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