Knowing which population or professional group your family belonged to can be very helpful to your research. For certain groups, there are extensive name lists. For other groups, there may be a specific method of research required.
emigrants
In the 19th century a lot of people from the poorer regions of the province of Limburg, in particular from the middle-and northern regions emigrated to America.
There are many publications with lists of names. An interesting private website exists concerning emigrants from our province who left their native soil in the 1860-1870 period. It also contains the passenger lists of the ships with which they went to their new homeland.
emigrants from Limburg
If you are looking for emigrants who entered America at Ellis Island, please check the website of The Ellis Island Museum.
Jewish families
Research about Jewish families from before 1800 is rather difficult. Most of the families in that time didn't have a surname. Only in 1808, and again in 1825, were Jewish families required to take a surname. Name lists also exist for these families. There is even a special manual for Jewish genealogy (in the dutch language):
T. Spaans-van der Bijl, Handleiding joodse genealogie. Handleiding voor joods-genealogisch onderzoek in Nederland (Baarn 1997).
migrant workers
The "Teuten" were migrant workers from Central Limburg and the Kempen, wandering tradesmen and merchants that travelled through various European countries. Vendors of cottage industry products left from South Limburg in the 18th century. It was mostly from Southern Limburg that brick makers left for work in Germany. Sometimes they delayed their return home, as they had fallen for a local beauty!
'Bokkenrijders'
The 'Bokkenrijders' gang were rumoured to have been active in the 18th century. The name came about as the gang allegedly flew through the air on 'bokken' or billy goats. Although the 'Bokkenrijders' never actually existed as a secret fellowship, they were certainly an invitation to the imagination. In literature, you will find extensive name lists of the so-called 'Bokkenrijders'.
military
Genealogical research about families of soldiers is one of the most challenging tasks. This is the most difficult occupational group. Soldiers travelled with their families from one military base to another (Bergen op Zoom, Namen, Maastricht, Venlo, Nijmegen, Breda). They are therefore a challenging group to keep track of. Above all, they are champions of creating unlawful offspring. You will rarely find soldiers in the Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages, the notarial archives or the transfer registers: they belonged to the lowest class of society.
regilious organisations
There are detailed lists of individuals from religious organisations (priests, clergymen, protestants), secular as well as religious. They are as a rule celibate, so they have no offspring, but still form part of the family.
Maas Captains
One of the most mobile occupations in the old days was without a doubt that of the Maas captain. Particularly during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there were many voyages on the Maas. Maas captains were not simply bargemen on regular services, but merchants. They can be found in locations all along the Maas. If you should lose track of a Maas captain in Eijsden, you might find him again in Dordrecht, or even as far as in Nijmegen!
mines and foreign workers
The rise of coal mines in South Limburg drew masses of foreign workers. People from Poland, Germany, Romania and the Czech Republic came to work in the mines, settled in South Limburg, then married and eventually became fully integrated. Of course as part of this process, the mine workers were naturalized by law. These laws can be found in Luttenberg's Chronological Collection (Luttenberg's Chronologische Verzameling) of laws, decrees and arrests, available in the library of our archive center.
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