Almeloers in Amsterdam

My Almelo database is a fairly big project, I have 28503 people in that project.

Many people from Almelo went to Amsterdam for a variety of reasons. Girls went to go in domestic service (even middle class girls), boys to learn a trade or for commerce. And this was not an easy journey. First they had to travel by boat or road from Almelo to Zwolle, then they took a ferry to Amsterdam. And this was not without its dangers, Janna ter Braake (dutch link), wife of Benjamin ten Bruggencate drowned in July 1748, when the ferry capsized on the way. She was already a widow (her husband had died in 1740), so the children were now orphans, and in the 1748 census they are living with their maternal grandmother.

Still, the trip was made quite frequently. In the Amsterdam baptismal records the sponsors are mentioned, and fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, who are living in Almelo, are sponsors at the baptisms of the children of their relatives in Amsterdam.

The scans of the Amsterdam baptismal and marriage records are online. The database of the Municipality of Amsterdam is one of my favorites. Not only do they have baptismal records and marriage records starting in the late 1500’s, but these databases are searchable in all kinds of ways. In addition, searching is completely free, although a fee is charged to see the actual scan (but not for the index entry,which sometimes is quite extensive) . And you can charge it to a credit card, and once you have paid you can see the record again and again. In other words, it is easy and convenient.

But herein lies my problem. I can find so many Almeloers, or ex-Almeloers in this database, that I can’t make up my mind about what to include, and it is rather hard to stick to my original purpose: family reconstructions in Almelo. 🙂