Volunteers put our ancestors online

This site contains the militia records from seventeen Dutch archives that have been consolidated into a searchable database. The database provides a single index of scanned records for those who served in the Dutch militia between 1814 and 1941. The records are searchable by name, date of birth and place of birth. New records are being added to database all the time, so it is a good idea to make multiple visits until searches are successful.

These militia records contain valuable information for genealogical research as well as details about an ancestor’s appearance, occupation, medical condition and, of course, their military service. The records containing this information which have been scanned by the archives and contributed to the Militieregisters.nl database are viewable online and available for download.

This database has been assembled thanks to the ongoing efforts of volunteers from the project Many Hands make light work - open archives by crowdsourcing, a project that compiles databases of information from anyone with information to contribute. Many Hands is always looking for volunteers to help with their work as well as documents that can make the information in this database more complete. The Many Hands website is located at velehanden.nl.

This unique collaboration between archivists and users is initiated by the Amsterdam City Archives and is made possible by the Mondriaan Foundation and the VSB .