Church records have been kept in the Netherlands since the 1500s
in some places. The churches kept great records of christenings,
marriages, and burials. Then, in 1811, when the French occupied
the Netherlands, Napoleon Bonaparte decided to begin civil
registration. It was officially instituted a few years later,
but some places had started it in 1796. Because of French
occupation, the civil registration records from 1811 to 1813
were kept in French, but the rest are in Dutch. Under the civil
registration system, the Dutch were allowed three days to
register their vital events with government authorities.
Marriages were usually registered on the day the ceremony took
place, so the registration date found in the record will be the
marriage date, but for births and deaths, that is not the case.
Be aware that the first date found when looking at civil
registration records for these events will be the date of the
registration - you must keep reading to find the date of the
actual event. Both of these important re