Would you like to join the Belgium Project? [closed]

Question

Are you Belgian? Do you have ancestors in Belgium or in a place that is now in Belgium? Or are you just interested in collaborating on profiles related to Belgium?

Then you might want to consider joining Project Belgium, a WikiTree project dedicated to growing an accurate single family branch connecting all Belgian profiles!

If you're interested, let us know by answering this post and telling us a bit about your Belgian connection and your specific interests! You'll receive a badge of Project Europe, the top-level project for Belgium.

Also follow the "Belgium" tag to make sure you stay up to date, and use the tag in g2g for any question or communication that is related to Project Belgium.

Looking forward to collaborating with you!

Answer 1

Hallo,

Ik doe graag mee; mijn familie heeft roots in enerzijds regio Aarschot/Begijnendijk/Betekom/Westmeerbeek en anderzijds in regio Genk.

Groeten

Tom Akkermans

Comments

Hi Tom, are you interested in joining the project? Filip is not much available these days and I don't speak Dutch. Btw, I have ancestors from Betekom too!

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Good to hear Tom. I know we already found some connections in the Aarschot area, and it would be great to get more people connecting up all the trees into one. Isabelle I do not recall seeing that you had any family in Betekom. Have you put any in Wikitree yet?

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It's her, Joanna Sels. They don't have profiles yet but her father was born in Betekom and her mother in Aarschot. (I should not advertise them, but you'll get much more on the family if you follow the link to Geneanet... I've only transferred a small part of my tree here).

Most of my Roothooft line is more from around Heist-op-den-Berg, but the name Betekom is very memorable.

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nice, i'll see if i can link to Joanna Sels!

cheers

Tom

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In that area, every family is connected, so I (my wife) also have a Sels connection: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sels-5 

This one is quite far back though, so it would be a big achievement to find Peter's ancestry. More likely, he might be an ancestor to a lot of people in the area. That family also has connections to Booischot and Houtvenne, so we might have more opportunities to connect.

Betekom, Booischot and Houtvenne are very small. Biggest town in the area is Aarschot but most of its records were unfortunately lost in WW1.

I have no problem citing Geneanet and have a lot of correspondence with people on it. The only problem is that that platform does not force them all to bring it into one conclusion. To be honest I hope more people with accounts there also end up contributing here.

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Isabelle you might also get leads from Wim Vandersloten's or Marcel Vervloet's big databases which cover a LOT of families in this region:

http://vandersloten.be/wrw/ 

http://home.scarlet.be/marcel.vervloet/ 

(possibly easier to use google site search sometimes)

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So far, I haven't got further than Joanna's grandfather, Joannes Baptista Sels, d. Houtvenne, 1783. I have one more generation on his wife's side (De Rijck) but overall this hasn't been the easiest area to research. They do tend to skip from one village to the other and yes, my Aarschot ancestress is a brick wall. I seem to have given up on them a bit.

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I know the feeling. From spending some time on parish registers I am confident however that there will be more break-throughs one day. The registers often contain snippets of extra information such as the birthplace of one of the parents.

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Also don't forget the Austrians did several censuses in the 18th century in Brabant, and the French did one also.

Answer 2

Hi Filip

I look forward to having a close read of the Belgium Project page; I would love to join the project! My interest in Belgium is that my maternal grandmother's maiden name was Hoornaert. Her father (1868-1946) was reportedly born in Lembeke, East Flanders, as were many of his ancestors and immediate relatives. Unfortunately, I have been unsuccessful to date finding any official sources in Belgium for them (using Family Search or the Family Search Wiki guide for Belgium genealogy). (I live in New Zealand, but grew up in North Dakota USA, and am very interested in learning more about the history of the country and the language/s my Belgian ancestors spoke.) I am keen to hone my records-finding skills for the area, and help out where I can with my ongoing learning... Thanks so much for the work you do; it's great to have a Wikitree Belgium project!

Linda

Comments

Hi Linda,

Many of the Belgian civil register books were filmed and online at FamilySearch. To find films of a specific place I go to the Catalog tab, enter the place name and get a list of items. That's how it was not to much trouble finding the birth certificate of your ggrandfather Philemon Hoornaert, born at 9 a.m. on 6 November 1868:

"Belgique, Flandre-Orientale, registres d’état civil, 1541-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9G89-9D2L?cc=2138513&wc=Q82R-Z8C%3A1068742601%2C1068769501 : 16 May 2016), Lembeke > Geboorten 1843-1870 > image 446 of 506; België Staatsarchief (Belgium State Archives), Oost-Vlaanderen.

I expect many more of your Belgian ancestors can be found the same way!

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How fantastic Jan! Many thanks!! 

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Thanks, Linda!

Answer 3

Yes, I would like to join. I have ancestors from Wallonia. Unfortunately I have no further information, only the name Abraham Gothar, who was born there around 1672.

Comments

Thanks, Lothar!

Answer 4

Could you please add me to the belgian project ? I'm about 65% belgian.

Comments

Thanks, Delphine!

Answer 5

I am just getting started in researching my maternal great grandparents who emigrated to the US from Belgium in the late 19th century.  The names and locations I am interested in are, 

Greatgrandfather Pielaet

1. Pielaet - East Flanders
2. de Bock - East Flanders
3. van Acker - East Flanders
4. van Damme - East Flanders
5. Bayens - East Flanders
6. Provost - Brussels
7. de Dobbelaar - East Flanders
8. Marquenie - East Flanders

And Great Grandmother 

1. Boerjan - Zeeland, Netherlands - West Flanders
2. Carton - West Flanders
3. de Brouwer - Zeeland, Netherlands - West Flanders
4. Ackx - West Flanders
5. Tack - West Flanders
6. de Pickere - West Flanders

I would love if these names ring a bell with anyone in these areas.  

Comments

Thanks Jonathan!

I am sure much can be found on your Belgian and Dutch ancestors.

Like it was not too much trouble finding the birth certificate of Eduard Pielaet, born at 7 p.m. on 24 April 1870 in Assenede, son of Bernardus Pielaet and Melania De Bock:

"Belgique, Flandre-Orientale, registres d’état civil, 1541-1914," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9GX6-9H13?cc=2138513&wc=Q82R-ZV8%3A1068735104%2C1068768902 : 16 May 2016), Assenede > Geboorten 1851-1870 > image 536 of 594; België Staatsarchief (Belgium State Archives), Oost-Vlaanderen.

Answer 6

Ja hoor, nog steeds interesse ! Soms zie ik hier op wikitree door de bomen het bos niet, maar het zal wel lukken

Mia

Comments

fijn dat je belangstelling hebt!! omdat Filip op het moment niet actief meer is op wikitree hebben wij van het Netherlands project er ons  - tijdelijk - over ontfermt. Ik zorg dat je de badge krijgt. de hulppagina vind je hier

Answer 7

I'm interested in this project. My mother is Belgian - her maternal side is tied mostly to Oostende, her paternal side is from the Charleroi area (I've had less success finding records in this area online). I'm keen to improve my Belgian research 

Comments

Great to hear you want to join the Belgium project. Because Filip is not active on wikitree at the moment the belgium project will function as a subproject of the Netherlands project - hopefully temporarly. you can find the Belgium helppages here

Answer 8

I'm interested as a Belgian with an extensive documented tree to copy that particular part to wikitree. See here.

Cheers,

Hans

Answer 9

Dag Filip, ik ben geïnteresseerd. Ik heb een gedocumenteerde stamboom die hier en daar 18 generaties bereikt.

Comments

Hallo Hans,

Filip is helaas voor langere tijd afwezig, maar laat je er daardoor niet van weerhouden om volop aan profielen hier op WikiTree te werken, succes!

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fijn dat je belangstelling hebt!! omdat Filip op het moment niet actief meer is op wikitree hebben wij van het Netherlands project er ons  - tijdelijk - over ontfermt. Ik zorg dat je de badge krijgt. de hulppagina vind je hier

Answer 10

Hey!

1/16th Belgium :D! Although more ancestors from there further up the tree on other branches. Didn't know there was a project for Belgium. Would love to contribute.

One question though, can I also 'give' some profiles to the Belgium project just like with Dutch profiles? Would be amazing!

Kind Regards Tiko

Comments

Thanks Tiko, your badge has been awarded.

The project will accept profiles that meet requirements for management by a project when it has its own account, not sure we are there yet!

Answer 11

Yes, I would like to join the Belgium project. I am a Belgian and researching my ancestors. My mother tongue is Dutch, but I also speak English, French and German. I am a bit stuck in the Hendrikx part of the tree. My roots could be all over the place. E.g. my grandmother told me that our roots could be around Maastricht, but my great great grandfather was born in Liège. On the maternal site I discovered a number of meiseniers who, according to some sources could hail from France. I joined the Dutch Project, because they asked me. I would like to join the Belgian project too!

Comments

fijn dat je belangstelling hebt!! omdat Filip op het moment niet actief meer is op wikitree hebben wij van het Netherlands project er ons  - tijdelijk - over ontfermt. Ik zorg dat je de badge krijgt. de hulppagina vind je hier

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Bedankt Eef!
Ik zie de badge wel verschijnen.
Ik was eerder lid van het Nederlands project omdat mijn stamboom me ook naar Nederland brengt.
Ik heb echter geen toegang meer tot de berichten van de groep en vraag dan ook terug toestemming.

Answer 12

Hi all,

The leader of the Belgium Project was away due to very much work during the Covid situ.

As Filip Beunis, leader of the Belgium Project, who is highly valued, and we hope he will be back again soon, was not able to take care of the Belgium project and was  too long away. The Belgium Project will be taken over/back under the Netherlands/Dutch Roots Project again for now. You all will get a mail from the leaders of WT.

Please give us some time to reorganize things. I will let you all know as soon as I can.

Thank you for understanding,

A.

Answer 13

Yes - I am interested!

Cheers,

Jan

Comments

Great to hear you want to join the Belgium project. Because Filip is not active on wikitree at the moment the belgium project will function as a subproject of the Netherlands project - hopefully temporarly. you can find the Belgium helppages here

Answer 14

Yes, I am interested in the Belgium Project.
My own father was born in Sint Gilles / Brussel, and I have many ancestors in the province of Antwerpen.

Comments

Thanks Pierre, I awarded your badge.

Answer 15

Yes, I would like to join the Belgium Project.

My father was born in Sint Gilles Brussel.

And many of my ancestors come from the province of Antwerpen.

Answer 16

My Belgian Family originated in West Flanders.  Bekegem was the town several lived prior to emigrating to the USA.

Comments

Great to hear you want to join the Belgium project. Because Filip is not active on wikitree at the moment the belgium project will function as a subproject of the Netherlands project - hopefully temporarly. you can find the Belgium helppages here

Answer 17

Would love to join the Belgium Project.  My paternal family came from West-Vlaanderen and lived in Mouscron-Herseaux (then in West-Vlaanderen), Lauwe, Tielt, Ruiselede, Meulebeke, etc.  Another branch lived in Brugge and Antwerpen in the 15th and 16th centuries.  Lots of linen weavers, artists, and merchants in the families.  And...one branch is related to the wealthy Della Faille family.

Comments

I don't seem to have had a response in 2021.  Still interested in joining the Belgium Project in 2022!

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Great to hear you want to join the Belgium project. Because Filip is not active on wikitree at the moment the belgium project will function as a subproject of the Netherlands project - hopefully temporarly. you can find the Belgium helppages here

Answer 18

Hi Filip,

I'd very like to join the Belgium project.  Both my parents are Belgian and I have traced by paternal line (with solid links to sources with originals on microfilm) back to 1691.

Please consider my request.

Bedankt, Jean-Michel

Comments

Great to hear you want to join the Belgium project. Because Filip is not active on wikitree at the moment the belgium project will function as a subproject of the Netherlands project - hopefully temporarly. you can find the Belgium helppages here

Answer 19

Hi! I'm from the Brussels region, I speak French (and understand Dutch), and my family is originally Flemish, from Thielt (Tielt) in West Flanders. I've added most of my family's direct tree on WikiTree already, up to the 1500s (before which I cannot yet edit, even though some old profiles have already been created but not very cleanly) and am looking forward to learning more about how to do genealogical research in Belgium!

Comments

Hi Serge,

I'm from the dutch project but due to the absence of Filip at the moment I can give you the badge for the Belgium project. The help pages for Belgium on wikitree you can find here. 

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Thanks a lot, Eef!

Answer 20

My name is Guy Turf, I am Flemisch, my grandparents are Richard Turf (senior), Emma Claes, Leon Coucke and Ida Onsea and I want to volunteer for the project. On my mother;s side I am in the 1700's , on my father's side in the 1800's.

Comments

Great to hear you want to join the Belgium project. Because Filip is not active on wikitree at the moment the belgium project will function as a subproject of the Netherlands project - hopefully temporarly. you can find the Belgium helppages here