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Family history

The Noord-Hollands Archief holds a range of resources for you to carry out your family research. Resources can be accessed in our reading room in the Jansstraat 40 in Haarlem, but more and more resources are also made available online. You can find an overview of the most useful resources below.

Our chatservice is available on Monday 09.00-12.30, Thuesday and Thursday 09.00-16.00, Wednesday and Friday 09.00-12.30 and 19.00-22.00. You can also reach us by e-mail: inlichtingen@noord-hollandsarchief.nl.

Civil registers

The following registers (and certificates) can be accessed at the moment: births between 1811-1912, marriages between 1811-1942, deaths between 1811-1970. These certificates cover the entire province of Noord-Holland.

A large quantity of these registers is also available through the national website ‘WieWasWie’.

Please be aware that the ‘huwelijkse bijlagen’ (documents that are required before the marriage can take place, it includes birth certificates, details about previous marriages etc) from several of the councils of Noord-Holland between 1811-1888 were destroyed in a fire, especially in the West-Friesland region. A list of councils that no longer have ‘huwelijkse bijlagen’ for 1811-1888 is available online.

Register of inhabitants

All local councils in The Netherlands keep an ongoing register of their inhabitants. The Noord-Hollands Archief holds registers of a selection of the councils in the province of Noord-Holland. You can find a link to an overview of which councils these are under ‘More information’ below. The registers start in approximately 1850 and are available up till about 1938. Some of the registers of inhabitans can be viewed online and have an online index.

Baptism, marriage and burial books

These register books cover the period before 1811. The start date depends on which register survived. The oldest registers are from 1600. However, a lot start from a later date. Some also contain gaps. The Noord-Hollands Archief holds the registers for the entire province of Noord-Holland, except for registers covering the cities of Alkmaar (stored at Regionaal Archief Alkmaar) and Amsterdam (stored at Stadsarchief Amsterdam). The registers are not available digitally.

More information

If you would like more information about how to conduct family research in the council archives that the Noord-Holland Archief holds, please visit the family research pages of the councils on our website.  Here you will find a list of resources for each council area. More information about other resources can also be found under ‘Personen’.