Netherlands Church Records

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Overview

Church records [DTB] are the main sources for births, marriages and deaths in the Netherlands between about 1550 and 1811.They recorded baptisms(or circumcisions), marriages and burials and sometimes confirmations, membership records and conversions.

In the late 1500s Churches began to mandate that registers of baptisms and marriages were kept. Burials were often not recorded at first. Records do not always exist for the period before 1700.

Records kept by Catholics are written in Latin. Most other records will be written in Dutch.

The main types of Church records are

• Dopens(Baptisms)
• Trouwens(Marriages)
• Begravens(Burials)
• Lidmaten(List of Parish Members)

Church records are arranged by religion. Most people in the Netherlands belonged to either the Dutch Reformed(Nederduits Gereformeerd) or Roman Catholic Churches. Some belonged to other religions such as Lutherans, Mennonites(Doopsgezinde) or were Jews(Jooden). See the page Netherlands Church History for more information about different religions in the Netherlands.

Church records are crucial for pre-1811 Dutch research. Church records continued to be kept after the introduction of civil registration,but are not kept by the Family History Library and are generally difficult to access. After 1811 they were mostly superseded by Civil Registration

Baptisms [Dopen]

From about 1550 onwards, Churches started to keep registers of infants that had been baptized. Catholics were usually baptized within two days of birth. Protestants may have waited until a Sunday. Mennonites/Doopsgezinden only baptized adults.

Earlier registers typically give less information, sometimes including only the child’s and father’s names and the baptism date. Earlier records do not always name the mother, or give only her first name.

Because of social conditions in the Netherlands, the birth of illegitimate children was not uncommon.

The Following information will usually be found in a baptism record:

• The name of the baptized
• The date of the baptism, and sometimes the date of birth
• The name of the parents, or at least the father's name
• The name of the witnesses or godparents
• The place of birth and/or baptism
• Whether the child was legitimate or illegitimate

Remember, not all of this information will always be there, especially the names of witnesses and the place/date of birth. The main date on the record will be that of the baptism, not the birth. Most baptism records do not have a birth date.

How to find your ancestor in the Netherlands church records in 5 steps

These steps will guide you in finding your ancestor in the christening records

Step 1. Find the parish when your ancestor was baptized

Read the later sections of the article about where the find Netherlands Church records both on- and off- line.

When looking for your ancestor's christening or baptism record, remember:

• Christening records are usually arranged chronologically. Sometimes they are arranged by the first letter of the given name and then chronologically for each letter.
• Christening records may be intermixed with marriage or burial records.
• Separate indexes to the christening records often exist.

If you don't know which parish your ancestor lived in, look for a marriage or death record of that person to see if the birthplace was mentioned. If not, then see if there are 'membership' (lidmaten) records available and look for the 'incoming' or 'outgoing' members and that will tell you where they came from. If that person, however, moved into the parish at a young age, you may have to look for a family with the same name.

Step 2. Find the entry for your ancestor.

Look for the last name, then look for the given name.

If you do not know the names of your ancestor's parents, you may have to check further to make sure you find the correct entry:

Find the entries for all the children with the same given name and last name as your ancestor. Start with the year when you think your ancestor was born. Then check the entries for five years before and five years after. You may find several entries for children with the same name but with different parents. Take into account the patronymic (father's given name) naming conventions as appropriate. Eliminate the entries that contradict what you know about your ancestor. Check death records to see if any of the children died before your ancestor did. Check marriage records to see if any of the children married someone other than your ancestor's spouse (but remember that your ancestor may have married more than once). Christening records of all churches except the Mennonite Church will be for infants, unless otherwise indicated. Mennonite Church christenings will only be for adults. Try to make sure the christening entry is of your direct line ancestor. Because names are so common, you must be sure you have the correct entry. For more help in finding the record entry, see Tip 1.

Tip 1. How do I find the entry of my ancestor? Look for the Latinized name. In different areas of the Netherlands and at different times, people sometimes Latinized their surnames. A person born and christened under the Dutch name of "Bakker," for example, may have later married and had children under the name "Pistorius," which was the Latin form of Bakker.

For help with name variations, see The Netherlands.

For help in reading the record entry, see Tip 2.

Tip 2. What if I can't read the record? Catholic church records are usually written in Latin, and most Protestant church records are written in Dutch. The language used in the record may also be affected by:

The language of bordering countries. The invasion by foreign countries. The movement of ethnic groups into the Netherlands, such as the French Huguenots.

For publications that can help you read the languages, see Latin Genealogical Word List, Netherlands Language and Languages, French Wordlist, Netherlands Handwriting, and Germany Handwriting.

For help in verifying that you have the correct record entry, see Tip 3.

Tip 3. How do I verify the christening of my direct-line ancestor?

Often more than one family in a parish has the same family name. Because the same children's given names are used in every family, several children with the same given and family names could be christened within a few years of each other. To identify the correct direct-line ancestor and his or her parents:

• Check 5 years on each side of the supposed christening year, and copy the entry of every child with the same given name and surname as the ancestor.
• If one or more entries exist, check church burial records to eliminate those entries of children who died before your ancestor.
• If burial records do not exist or you are not able to eliminate all of the possible entries, check marriage records to eliminate those who married someone other than your ancestor's spouse.
• If you still cannot eliminate 2 or more possibilities, trace all lines to see if they go back to a common ancestor. Then continue research back from the common ancestor.
• Be aware that Dutch parents usually named their first four children after their own parents, and other children after their brothers and sisters. Knowing about this naming practice is especially helpful when you are trying to identify those people that did not have fixed surnames (that is, they were identified by their father's given name, such as Peter Janssen).
• If you eliminate all the possibilities, check the surrounding parishes, and repeat the above process until you find the christening entry for your ancestor.

Step 3. Find the entries for each brother and sister of your ancestor.

Once you have the entry for your ancestor, find the entries for your ancestor's brothers and sisters:

Search the christening records for entries of your ancestor's brothers and sisters. Search local death records or the christening records from surrounding parishes, especially if there are gaps of 3 or more years between the christening of siblings. Gaps of 3 or more years may indicate there was another child. To make sure you have found entries of all the family members, search death records and christening records of surrounding parishes for any additional children. Search for children born before the parents' marriage. Children may have been christened under the mother's maiden name. Sometimes the father's name is not given.

For help in finding the entries for the ancestor's brothers and sisters, see Tip 4.

Tip 4. How do I find the record for each brother and sister? Remember, within the family, one or more children may have the same given name(s).

When more than one set of parents has the same given names and surnames (for example two John and Mary Smiths), use the following identifiers and records to separate the families:

• The place of residence of the family.
• The father's occupation.
• The witnesses or godparents.
• Other sources like census, probate and Orphans' Chamber records that list family members as a group.

Step 4. Copy the information, and document your sources.

If you can, copy the information on a flashdrive/thumbdrive, a cd or straight to a file on your own computer. If that is not possible you can also photocopy the record. If you can't, be sure to copy all the information in the entry either on paper or to the notes with your family group record, including:

• All the people listed and their relationships to each other. (Remember, witnesses are often relatives.)
• All the dates in the entry and the events they pertain to. (Sometimes birth, and death information pertaining to the child may be included. The minister may use symbols such as + for death.) Be sure to look for additional dates in the entry's margin.
• All the localities in the entry and who was from the places listed.

On the copy, document where the information came from. List:

• The type of source (a paper certificate, a microform, a book, an Internet site, etc.).
• All reference numbers for the source. Carefully record any microfilm, book, or certificate numbers or the name and Internet address of the site you used.

Step 5. Analyze the information you obtain from the christening record.

To effectively use the information from the christening record, ask yourself the following questions:

Is this the christening entry of my direct line ancestor? Because names are so common, you must be sure you have the correct record.

• Did the minister identify both parents, and is the mother's maiden name given?
• Were additional event dates, such as death, given in the entry's margin? (The minister may use symbols such as + for death.)
• Did more than 3 years pass since the christening of the last child? If so, another child may have been born and christened in a neighboring parish or born and died before it could be christened.
• Did you search 5 years without finding any earlier christening entries of children? If you find no other entries, then begin looking for the parents' marriage record.

For help in verifying that you have the correct record entry, see Tip 3.

Here are some examples

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  Example 1

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  Example 2

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  Example 3

Confirmations [Communicanten]

Catholics have their First Communion at age 6 or 7 and their Second Communion at age 12. Protestants have their confirmation at about age 15. Most confirmation registers merely list the names of those being confirmed and the confirmation date.

Marriages [Trouwens or Huwelijken]

Marriage registers list all newly married couples. They started to be kept in the late 1500s. The earliest marriage records may give only the names of the bride and groom and have little or no information about the couple’s parents. Couples were usually married in the residence parish of the bride, though they usually went to live in the residence place of the groom. Typically, women married for the first time in their early to late twenties. Men typically married for the first time in their mid-twenties to early thirties.

In most areas, every marriage was required to be registered in the Dutch Reformed Church or at the Court, regardless of the religion of the bride and groom. Only afterwards could they marry in the religion of their choice. Some Catholics married only in the Dutch Reformed Church or court, and not in the Catholic church. Thus you may find multiple marriage records for a single couple.

The following information may be found in a pre-1811 marriage entry:

• The names of the bride and groom
• The date of the marriage.
• Whether they were single, widowed or divorced at the time of marriage.
• The names of the witnesses.
• The place of their births (or where they were residing when married).
• Their residence and occupation
• The date of the marriage proclamations or banns.
• The names of previous spouses.

In later registers, especially after 1794, the following may be recorded.

• The names of their parents.
• The date of their births (or their age at the time of marriage).

Catholic marriage registers tend to be very simplistic, often containing only names.

4 Steps

These 4 steps will guide you in finding your ancestor in the Netherlands church records.

Step 1. Find the year of your ancestor's marriage record.

To find the marriage records available at the library, look in the FamilySearch Catalog. Go to What to Do Next, select the FamilySearch Catalog, and click on the tab for Town Records to see if your ancestor's parish is listed.

When looking for your ancestors' marriage record, remember:

• Marriage records are usually arranged chronologically.
• Marriage records may be intermixed with christening or burial records.
• Separate indexes to the marriage records often exist.

Step 2. Find the entry for your ancestor. Look for the last name. Then look for the given name.

You may have to check further to make sure you find the correct entry:

• If the entry gives the ages of the bride and groom, they should be compatible with their ages at death or on census or other records.

For more help in finding the record entry, see:

Tip 1.

Look for the Latinized name. In different areas of the Netherlands and at different times, people sometimes Latinized their surnames. A person born and christened under the Dutch name of "Bakker," for example, may have later married and had children under the name "Pistorius," which was the Latin form of Baker. For help in reading the record entry, see:

Tip 2.

Catholic Church records are usually written in Latin, and most Protestant church records are written in Dutch. The language used in the record may also be affected by:

• The language of bordering countries.
• The invasion by foreign countries.
• The movement of ethnic groups into the Netherlands, such as the French Huguenots.

For help in verifying that you have the correct record entry, see:

Tip 3.

Often more than one family in a parish has the same family name. Because the same children's given names are used in every family, several children with the same given and family names could be married within a few years of each other. To identify the correct direct-line ancestor and his or her parents:

• Check 5 years before and after the birth of the first child.
• If one or more entries exist, check church burial records to eliminate those entries of couples that died before or after your ancestor.
• If you eliminate all the possibilities, check the surrounding parishes, and repeat the above process until you find the marriage entry for your ancestors.

Step 3. Copy the information, and document your sources.

If you can, photocopy the record. If you can't, be sure to copy all the information in the entry, including:

All the people listed and their relationships to each other. (Remember, witnesses are often relatives.) All the dates in the entry and the events they pertain to. Be sure to look for additional dates in the entry's margin. All the localities in the entry and who was from the places listed.

On the copy, document where the information came from. List:

• The type of source (a paper certificate, a microform, a book, an Internet site, etc.).
• All reference numbers for the source. Carefully record any microfilm, book, or certificate numbers or the name and Internet address of the site you used.

Step 4. Analyze the information you obtain from the marriage record.

To effectively use the information from the marriage record, ask yourself the following question:

Is this the marriage entry of my direct line ancestors? Because names are so common, you must be sure you have the correct record.

Marriage entries for soldiers usually only give the name of the commander or company that the groom was in. To locate the groom’s birthplace, consult the military service records. See the "Military Records" section for more information.

Sometimes different religions are mentioned in the church records. As the Netherlands was a seafaring nation, as well as professing freedom of religion, many people from other countries settled in the Netherlands and formed their own churches, often in different languages. Not always did these churches see eye to eye and couples who wanted to get married, but not in their spouses-to-be faith often were married by civil authorities. You may also find their marriage recorded in their own church. For additional help, see the "Public Records" section.

In the province of Holland a tax on marriages was imposed from 1695 to 1805. If you do not locate your ancestor’s marriage in any other source, look in the marriage tax records. See the "Taxation" section for more information.

Marriage Banns [Ondertrouw].

In addition to the actual marriage registers, many churches in the Netherlands kept records of marriage intentions. These records are called  'marriage banns'. Often the marriage intention date and marriage date are recorded in the same register.

Marriage registers sometimes give the three dates on which intended marriages were announced (either read out loud or posted in church). These announcements, called banns, gave other community members a chance to object to the marriage, if necessary.

Burials [Begravens]

Burials were recorded in the parish where the person was buried. The burial usually took place within a few days of death. In some places burial records started long before baptisms and marriages but in most places they start quite late, often well into the 1700s. In most places people of all religions had to be buried in the Dutch Reformed Church or in the Catholic Church, depending on which was dominant in that town.

The following information will usually be found in a burial record

• The date of burial
• The name of the deceased
• The spouse of the deceased
• The age, especially if the deceased is a child
• The parents if the deceased is a child
• The tax paid, which was determined by their wealth and ability to pay

Some records, especially later records after 1795 may contain

• Cause of death
• Place of residence or death

Church account books [kerkrekeningen] often give details about burials.

Membership Records [Lidmaten]

Most churches kept a record of their members, usually organized by village or street. The records contain members’ names, dates of confessions of faith, and dates of arrival from other parishes. They may also contain death dates, dates members left the parish, communion lists, or names of those partaking of the sacrament or attending catechism school. The records of members arriving or departing are of great value as they mention the town or parish the member came from or moved to, which helps to then locate further records.

Membership records are usually in the archive of the church council [kerkeraad] of the parish. Sometimes they are part of the baptism or marriage register.

Church Council Minutes [Kerkeraadshandelingen]

Minutes of the church council can provide important information about your ancestor. They usually contain ministers’ names and dates of service, appointments of elders and other parish officials, disciplinary actions, names of fathers of illegitimate children, and money paid for the poor.

Certificates of indemnity or surety [akten van indemniteit] were sometimes issued to church members moving to a new town. The certificates guaranteed that the former parish would receive the people back in case they became poor.

Finding Netherlands Church Records

Essentially all Netherlands Church records from before 1811 are now online. This section gives instructions on where to find them and how to search them.

Online Indexes

You should search first for indexes, transcriptions and images broken down by year. The following sites are where you will find these if they exist for the particular church.

• Geneaknowhow

• Provincial, Regional and City archives, see the Netherlands City Archives page. Most provincial archives now have search engines for Church records.

• Zoekakten, see below and on its wiki page. The indexes will be under 'Indexen DTB' for each place.

Zoekakten

FamilySearch has put online all Netherlands church records with only very few exceptions(for example, some burials from Amsterdam). But the way the films are arranged can be confusing, so Zoekakten was created to make it easier to find Netherlands records on FamilySearch. See the Zoekakten page on this wiki for further details on how to use Zoekakten.

Note that in rural areas some records are not in the place you would expect, so search in a town and its surrounding towns.

Also on this wiki are the articles pertaining to the actual Record Collections on FamilySearch.

Records at the Family History Library

For the few records not on Zoekakten/FamilySearch, try the Family Search catalog. Search not only under the 'Church Records' category but under related categories such as 'Cemeteries'.

Indexes at the Family History Library

• Church and Civil Records of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, before 1811.

Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1975. (FHL book 929.1 G286gs ser. C no. 25; fiche 6000355–6000356.)

The Family History Library has collected many indexes to Dutch church records. These are listed in the Place search of the catalog under:

NETHERLANDS, [PROVINCE] – CHURCH RECORDS – INDEXES

NETHERLANDS, [PROVINCE], [TOWN] – CHURCH RECORDS – INDEXES

Inventories

Church record inventories are essential tools for finding Dutch records. They identify records that are available, their location, and the years they cover. The following source, prepared by the Central Office for Genealogy, lists all known church records of the Netherlands:

• Wijnaendts van Resandt, Willem. Repertorium DTB: Globaal Overzicht van de Nederlandse Doop–, Trouw– en Begraafregisters e.d. van voor de Invoering van de Burgerlijke Stand (Concise Repertory of Dutch Parish Registers, etc.). 2nd ed. ’s-Gravenhage: Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie, 1980. (FHL book Ref 949.2 K2w 1980.) It can be accessed on the website of the Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie at this link.

Church record inventories are also available for each province in the Netherlands. They are listed in the Place search of the FamilySearch Catalog under:

NETHERLANDS – CHURCH RECORDS – INVENTORIES, REGISTERS, CATALOGS

NETHERLANDS, [PROVINCE] – CHURCH RECORDS – INVENTORIES, REGISTERS, CATALOGS

Gazetters

Church records were kept at the local parish of the church. The term parish refers to the jurisdiction of a church minister. Parishes are local congregations that may have included many neighboring villages in their boundaries.

To use church records, you must know both your ancestor’s religion and the town where he or she lived.

Some gazetteers indicate parish jurisdictions. For more information, see the "Gazetteers" section and the section below, which discusses church record inventories.

A small village that did not have its own church was usually assigned to a parish in a nearby larger town. Consequently, your ancestor may have lived in one village but belonged to a parish in another town. This is particularly true of Roman Catholic parishes. In predominant Dutch Reformed Church areas, Roman Catholic records include people for a wide area.

The FamilySearch Catalog refers to parishes by the town in which the parish church was located, unless there was more than one church in the town. In large cities there may be many parishes for each religion. Church buildings were often named for saints, so the catalog uses the church name such as St. John to distinguish between different parishes in the same city.

Search Strategies and Tips

• Protestants(excepts Huguenots/Wallonia Reformed and Lutherans) wrote their records in Dutch. See Netherlands Language and Languages and Netherlands Handwriting

• Huguenots/Wallonia Reformed and a few French Catholics wrote their records in French. See French Wordlist

• Catholics wrote their records in Latin. See Latin Genealogical Word List

• Lutherans wrote their records in German. SeeGermany Handwriting

• Mothers will almost certainly be referred to by her maiden name but this is not always true for witnesses/sponsors/godparents.

• Don't assume people went to the nearest church, especially in rural areas. Always search the neighboring towns.

• Names in Catholic records will be Latinised, especially first names. For example Hendrik Bakker may become Hendricus Pistorius.

• Remember that some names are very common(e.g. Jan Jansz). Don't assume that just because their names are the same that they are the same people. If their are multiple people born around the same time that you cannot distinguish, use these tips:

*Look at the names of their parents and their mothers maiden name.

*Look at the names of the witnesses to their marriages and the baptisms of their children. These are often siblings.

*Look at burial records to see if any of them died as a baby or child

• Sometimes Baptisms and Marriages were recorded in the same book

• Ondertrouwen(The Marriage banns) were recorded in the residences of both the bride and groom, but the actual marriage was recorded only in the residence of the bride.

• Everyone had to marry before the Dutch Reformed Church or court. They could then marry in their own religion but did not always, due to legal reasons.

• The Marriage banns system only applies to marriages in the Dutch Reformed Church. For other religions there will only be one marriage-in the residence of the bride

• The first child is often born illegitimately or within 9 months of marriage. It is rare for a couple to be childless 2 years after marriage.

• Gaps between children tend to be 12-24 months while the women is young, but stretch out to as much as every 5 years when she is older.

Search Strategies

Effective use of church records includes the following strategies in addition to the general strategies:

• Search for the ancestor you selected in step two. When you find his or her birth record, search for the births of the person’s brothers and sisters.
• Search for the marriage record of his or her parents. The marriage record will often lead to the birth records of the parents. Marriage records usually give the birthplace or the place of residence and marital status. Some records like the Amsterdam marriage intentions are more informative.
• Estimate the ages of the parents, and search for their birth records.
• Use the above three strategies for both the father and the mother.
• If earlier generations are not in the record you are using, search neighboring towns and other denominations.
• Search the burial registers for all family members.

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)