Netherlands Project Reliable Sources

Profile managers: B. W. J. Molier [send private message] and Netherlands Project WikiTree [send private message]

Reliable Sources

In short: baptisms, marriages, burials, and other acts such as confirmation etc. Notarial deeds/records: marriage contracts, wills, transportakten, etc.
In het kort: doop,- huwelijks,- begraaf,- of overlijdensaktes, andere aktes zoals huwelijskbevestiging, etc. Notariele aktes, huwelijkscontracten, testamenten, transportaktes, etc.

See our

• Acceptable Resources List (English) The list is for younger profiles as well, so to keep it simple for all profiles but especially for Pre-1700 profiles (for Dutch because of the patronymics, and last name adoption in abt 1811 it's Pre-1811) Primary records are preferred !

Zie onze

• Acceptabele Bronnen Lijst (Dutch) Deze lijst is ook voor de jongere profielen, dus om het simpel te houden voor alle profielen maar vooral voor de Pre-1700 profielen (voor Nederlandse, vanwege de patroniemen en naamsaannemingen in ca 1811 is dit Pre-1811) liefst primaire aktes !

Also very important (!) read our * Dutch Naming Convention * (English)

Ook erg belangrijk (!) lees onze * Nederlandse Naamconventie * (Dutch)

Most Dutch records and archives are easy to access and many is available online, see our:
De meeste Nederlandse aktes en archieven zijn vrij eenvoudig te vinden en veel is online beschikbaar, zie ons:

• Dutch Archives for links and some explaining - Nederlands Archief voor links en meer uitleg
  There also are several searchengines that you can use to quickly search trough and find records from various archives.
  Er zijn ook verschilende zoekmachines waarmee je snel verschillende archieven kunt doorzoeken en dus ook aktes van meerdere archieven kunt vinden

• Strategy to find Dutch Sources

• Nederlandse archieven (Dutch)

• Archieven en Bronnen (Dutch but with many links to archives so probably useful for everyone, use googlechrome translate button)

• Archieven en Bronnen per tijdsperiode - Archives and Resources per timeperiod (1811-until now, 1700-1811, Pre-1700, Pre-1500)

• Portaal Nederland - Wereld- with links to resources from all over the world (including some for Dutch kolonies

Unreliable Sources

• A tree without sources is insufficient as a source for WikiTree profiles.
• Geneanet trees: Geneanet trees are user-contributed trees, many of them unsourced.
  • A tree with precise dates and places will usually be a good guide of where to look for primary records. Please take the time to look for the source and check it for yourself. Do not cite the Geneanet tree as your only source: it is courteous to give credit (under See also); however when the tree exists in multiple copies on the net you may not be crediting the original builder.
  • When a tree does present sources, please take the time to look up the original sources. Give credit.
• Other user-contributed trees: genealogieonline, FamilySearch, Ancestry, Geni, MyHeritage, Rootsweb, WikiTree, the Peerage, family association websites, etc. See Geneanet trees.

• Published databases containing information of uncertain origin: There are a number of "records" collections available on websites such as Ancestry and MyHeritage (and in some instance formerly distributed on CD-ROM) that do not identify their information sources and in fact are built in whole or in part from doubtful publications and user-contributed content. These include the "Family Data Collection" and similar sources associated with Edmund West, the "Ancestral File," the "Millennium File," the "Pedigree Resource File," and "U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900."

• Third party indexes: Indexes created outside of the Archives are not considered reliable. They are a good tool to use in order to find an actual record, but are not a reliable source on their own.

Frauds and fabrications

Be aware of the possibility of frauds and fabrications used to create connections to noble or otherwise desirable ancestors. There is a whole category listing some of the known frauds:

• Frauds and Fabrications, including the Gustave Anjou Fraud where some lines go back fraudulent aristocratic lineages. This is not one single publication - Anjou made his living in America over three decades by selling fabricated genealogies to individual customers. Some of his publications include fake ancestries for Dutch New Netherland settlers.

Work in progress

• If your favourite source for Dutch pre-1700 profiles is missing in the Dutch Archives, please ask a question about it there, or in G2G with the tag DUTCH_ROOTS - so that the source can be evaluated and added to this page.

Netherlands Project Reliable Sources