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Because of social conditions in the Netherlands, the birth of illegitimate children was not uncommon. | Because of social conditions in the Netherlands, the birth of illegitimate children was not uncommon. | ||
== Introduction == | |||
Beginning about 1550, many churches required their clergy to keep christening (or baptism) records. The records may include birth dates. Information may be recorded on or after the date of birth. Information found in a christening depends on how detailed the minister made his record. | |||
For more information on church christening records, see Background. | |||
What You Are Looking For | |||
The following information may be found in a christening entry: | |||
The name of your ancestor. | |||
The date of your ancestor's christening or baptism. | |||
The name of your ancestor's parents. | |||
The names of the witnesses or godparents. | |||
The date of your ancestor's birth. | |||
The place of your ancestor's birth. | |||
The residence of the parents. | |||
The occupation of the father. | |||
Whether your ancestor was of legitimate or illegitimate birth. | |||
== 5 Steps will guide you in finding your ancestor in the Netherlands church records == | |||
Step 1. Find the year of your ancestor's christening or baptism record. | |||
To find the christening records available at the library, look in the Family History Library Catalog. Go to What to Do Next, select the Family History Library Catalog, and click on the tab for Town Records to see if your ancestor's parish is listed. | |||
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, see the Netherlands gazetteer Van Goor's aardrijkskundig woordenboek van Nederland instructions for using this gazetteer are found in How to use the Netherlands Gazetteer. | |||
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. | |||
For help in reading the record entry, see Tip 2. | |||
For help in verifying that you have the correct record entry, see Tip 4. | |||
Return to top of page | |||
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 3. | |||
Return to top of page | |||
Step 4. 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. (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. | |||
Return to top of page | |||
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 4. | |||
=== Marriages [''Akten van trouw'' or ''Huwelijken''] === | === Marriages [''Akten van trouw'' or ''Huwelijken''] === | ||