Locate municipality and province. Local and regional services are essential for civil and population registers.
Prepare your research
Municipality, province, names with prefixes, event, period and repository.
The method, step by step
- The Nationaal Archief family history guide helps select collections; it is not a register of the whole population.
- Compare indexed results with the record. Retain surname, prefixes, parents and residence without premature name normalisation.
- For emigration also search destination and residential moves. A missing death record does not prove departure.
Choose the right repository
Municipal and regional archives hold civil records. Nationaal Archief holds Zuid-Holland duplicates among its collections, not every municipality’s records.
Choose a route from the record you have
- Distinguish the scan website from original custody. Nationaal Archief notes transfers of South Holland holdings; an accessible image does not identify current custody.
- For copies or undigitised records, check local or regional custody. To go beyond vital records, try migration, occupation or probate files tied to a precise place.
Find archives
Nationaal Archief — familiegeschiedenis →
Guide to Dutch collections for family history.
Civil records are also held by local and regional archives.
Sources & references
- Nationaal Archief — familiegeschiedenis ↗ (Resource review date : )