Dutch genealogical research
Somewhere in a Dutch archive there is a record with your ancestor's name on it. A birth entry in a village register. A marriage certificate. A militia list recording a young man's height and the colour of his eyes.
Most of these records survive, and many are free to anyone who can find them. Almost none can be read by the families they belong to. They are in Dutch, written by hand in a script no one has been taught for a century, describing a world of trades and parishes that no longer exists.
I find the records, transcribe and translate them, and provide the context needed to read them.
I am Elke. I have worked as a guide in the Netherlands through ToursByLocals, and over the years my work there turned increasingly to ancestry tours — taking visitors to the villages their families came from. Dutch Roots Revealed is growing out of that work.
This site is new, and deliberately small. Example documents and full details will follow. In the meantime, the work is already being done — so if you have an ancestor in mind, write to me.
Where to begin
Tell me what you have. A name, a rough date, a place. The names of parents, if you know them. A fragment is often enough.
I will look at what survives and write back with a quote: what I found, what can be done with it, and what it would cost. You decide from there. Asking costs nothing, and if I find nothing, there is nothing to pay.