I've taken up an old hobby, that I once started but never followed through: genealogy! A few years ago I downloaded MyHeritage, free genealogy software.
Lately I've been digging around the WWW. I'm trying to go back in time with both my family line (Van der Heijden and Slotemaker) and Ron's (Van Leeuwen and Verdikt).
I found out someone had already done the research for the Slotemaker family (my mother's family). I imported it in my files and shared some new info from our branch.
(click on the pic to visit the Slotemaker website)
Luckily a lot of archives are accessible online these days. That makes things a lot easier. First I added what I knew myself, then asked family members around me. The Van der Heijden family had been researched already and I got copies. I found the Verdikt family through 'smart matches', a very handy feature of the MyHeritage software. Facebook, Google, specialized genealogy websites and tips & tricks from people who are more experienced in this help me to get further, step by step.
Above is a print-screen image of the MyHeritage software. This is the main part, the tree itself. It is easy to work with, but I haven't discovered all of its possibilities yet. Practice makes perfect. Genealogy is sooooo addictive! Before I realize it I've spent hours searching, digging, asking, etc. And it's never done; there's always more to explore and find out!
If you want to take a look at the "Van Leeuwen - Van der Heijden Stamboom", follow this link.
That's probably very interesting, a friend of mine could find traces of her family back to the 16th century.
ReplyDeleteWow! My earliest date is in the 1660's. I have a few names before that but without dates.
ReplyDeleteGenealogy really is very interesting! Looks like you have done a good job already searching and finding a lot of info, lucky you! we both have relatives from abroad and some is impossible to find probably, so we haven't even dared to try yet!
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