Civil Register of Certificates Zeeland (from 1796/1811)

After the annexation of Holland by the French Empire, the french law including the ‘Code Civil’; the french Civil Code came into force at January 1, 1811. Part from the Code Civil was the ‘Etat Civil’, the civil registration. Some areas in our country started earlier with the civil registration. In Zeeland these were Zeeuws-Vlaanderen and Vlissingen, which were annexated in 1796 and 1808 by France. The civil servant, who became the specialised official was appointed in every municipality with registration of the births, marriages and deceased inhabitants. They had to maintain four different registers:

- register of births;
- register of solemnization of marriage and divorce case (with supplement)
- register of marriage announcements and proclamations
- register of deceased.

About which amount of Civil register certificates are we speaking? An estimated amount from 1996 counted for the whole country of Holland a total of 11.370.000 birth certificates (period 1812-1902), 3.544.000 marriage certificates (period 1812-1922) and 11.111.000 certificates of deceased (period 1812-1942). The number of Zeeland birth certificates about the above mentioned period estimates about 629.000, the wedding certificates 165.000 and the certificates of deceased 525.000.

Birth certificate

The birth certificate can be regarded as the most important certificate of the civil register because this is the first legal evidence of the existence of a person. On top of the birth certificate is the date of entry registration by the civil servant. Also at that time up to now people had to enter for registration within three days after the birth, excluding Sundays and holidays. Mostly the father performed this action but not in all cases. When the father was ill or in the military the entry was done by a physician or midwife or by the person in who’s house the delivery had been done. Up to 1934 the birth certificate was done in presence of two witnesses. In most cases there is a relation between the notifier and the witnesses (family or neighbours). Very often the village policeman or a local clerk appeared as witnesses.

The child was being notified with his official first names. Also mentioned is the birth moment in time and on which address in the municipality. After that the name of the mother. The age of the father, in case when he is the notifier, can be the starting point for the search for the birth certificate. In this way the birth certificates offer the material for a family tribal line.

The birth certificate of an extramarital born child contains mostly only the name of the mother. It happened quite often that a man who married an single unmarried mother acknowledged the child as his. He was not always the biological father but at that moment he became the juridical father. This is mentioned in the marriage certificate and also in the marginal line of the child’s birth certificate. These notations were also called ‘marginal notation’ and were also being made by Koninklijk Besluit (Order in Council) when the first names or family names of the child were being changed. Some municipalities in Zeeland registered the acknowledgement of ‘extramarital born children” behind the birth certificate as a separate document. The acknowledgement of still-born children is included in the death certificates.

Marriage Certificate

The marriage certificate gives a lot of information. From both the bride and the bridegroom are mentioned the name (first names), age, occupation, place of birth and residence. Also both parental couples are mentioned and if they are alive also their occupation and residence are noted. The certificate also provides a summary of the supplements which have been handed in. In the final part of the certificate are mentioned the witnesses as well as their age, profession and residence and mostly also their connection to the bride and groom. Up to 1927 the witnesses are always male.

Up to 1970 the marriage had to be solemnized in the residence of the bride or groom. Usually in those times the couples married in the brides residence. If a couple did not marry in the place where the children were born it can be useful to look for the place of birth of the bride, for example in her death certificate.

Divorce certificates appeared less often in the past then nowadays. In case the marriage was dissolved by a divorce the official registrar at the municipality where the marriage had been solemnized at a previous time made up a certificate of divorce. The place were this certificate had been added can be different; between the marriage certificates, or in a separate section behind the register. The dissolvation of the marriage was definite only after the divorce had been entered by the register. By this registration the verdict (name of the Court, date and number) had to be mentioned. Besides that the official registrar made a so called marginal notation in the margin of the original marriage certificate. He did not have much space in the document and had to write very small letters; using with red ink.

Between 1811 and 1922 1.049 divorces have been registered in Zeeland in the Civil Register of Marriage Certificates. This is a percentage of 0,6% which is extremely low in comparison to the present national percentage of almost 40%. In the towns of Middelburg and Vlissingen the divorce rate was respectively 1,7% and 1,5%.

Death certificate

The death certificate contains the name, first names, occupation and gender, age and residence of the deceased, the date of entrance and also the date and moment of deceasing, the names of the notifiers and also the (family) relation when that was the case, the names of the parents of the deceased and the names of the spouse(s). In the older death certificates the information of the parents is often missing. Sometimes the address where the person was deceased is mentioned.

The decease was registred in the municipality of deceasing. If this was not the official residence the official registrar send a excerpt of the document to his colleague in the residence of the deceased. This person would add the extract to the death Civil Register. This means a deceased person can be registered twice.

The cause of death can not be found through the death certificate. Only when the deceased has been drowned this will be noted in the certificate.