Frequently asked questions
1. How do I order a reproduction of an account from the ship's pay-register?
2. I can't find the person I'm looking for in your database. How come?
3. Are there more records in the ship's pay-registers whereby I can better ascertain whether I have found the right person?
4. How do I find out the names of the parents of crewman found in the database?
5. What is the date of birth or age of the crewman?
6. How do I order a copy of the month certificate mentioned in the database?
7. I have found familiar (family) names in the database. How do I find out if these are ancestors of mine?
8. What are the possibilities for further genealogical research concerning a seafarer?
9. I have been unable to find information at the archives of the place where according to the database the sea-voyager.
10. The place of origin is totally unknown to me. What can I do?
11. I'm looking for a passenger on a VOC ship.
12. I'm looking for an employee of the VOC in the Netherlands.
13. Do the sea-voyagers of the home voyages also appear in a database?
14. Wills of VOC-personnel in Asia.
15. Which ship's pay-registers are on microfiche and where can I access them?
16. What is a DAS - number?
1. do I order a reproduction of an account from the ship's pay-register?
Fill in the repro order-form in.
The name of the archive file is: VOC
The requested access code is 1.04.02.
The requested inventory number can be found in the database.
In the space "specification" fill in: folio ……. (This number can be found in the database).
In the space "description" fill in: name of the sea voyager
2. I can't find the person I'm looking for in your database. How come?
There are several possible explanations:
2.1 You have not conducted your search in an optimal way.
It is best when searching to fill in so few fields as possible, preferably only the family name. Think about spelling variations. You can use 'wildcards', see Advanced search
2.2 The ship's pay-register in question has been lost.
5% of ship's pay-registers from the 18th century have been lost. A small number of VOC ships sank during the away voyage. Their crew drowned and their ship's pay-registers were also lost. By the end of the 18th century the VOC hired a number of ships and sometimes also the crew. From these a number of ship's pay-registers are also missing.
2.3 The employee is entered service at the Cape or in Asia.
The database contains no information about these persons. Perhaps they are included in the General Land and Sea Muster-rolls of the VOC archives, inventory numbers 5168-5239 and 11534-11820. This series is not available on the Internet and can only be accessed in the reading room of the National Archives. A more elaborate explanation can be found in the information guide Looking for an employee of the VOC
3. Are there more records in the ship's pay-registers whereby I can better ascertain whether I have found the right person?
The database contains all the systematically listed information over a person. The same also applies to information concerning a month certificate.
Sometimes extra information had been noted. When a seafarer died leaving a positive account balance as an inheritance, the heirs would occasionally be mentioned, but this rarely occurred.
With a death on board sometimes wills would be made up with the inheritance specified in the back of the ship's pay-register. Also this seldom happened.
4. How do I find out the names of the parents of crewman found in the database?
It was not standard procedure to register the names of parents within the ship's pay-register. Go to question 4.
5. What is the date of birth or age of the crewman?
Age and date of birth are not mentioned in the ship's pay-register.
6. How do I order a copy of the month certificate mentioned in the database?
The month certificate was not kept in the ship's pay-register, but was issued to a beneficiary or to beneficiaries. The ship's pay-register merely noted the existence of a month certificate. See month certificate for further information.
7. Within the database I have found familiar (family) names. How do I find out if these are ancestors of mine?
The Central Bureau for Genealogy CBG can inform you about making a family tree.
8. What are the possibilities for further genealogical research concerning a seafarer?
You can search in the archives of the place of origin, for example in clerical baptism and marriage registers. You can also search the archive of a local notary, as seafarers would prior to departure sometimes make a notary deed concerning who should look after his interests while absent. Do not presume that only high functionaries did this.
If the place of origin is in the Netherlands, one can check Archivenet to see if this place has its own archives. In due course request further information at the archives of the provincial capital city concerned. If it concerns a smaller place in the province of South Holland, then the National Archives can sometimes give more information.
Sometimes there is information about personnel in other VOC files that is not digitally accessible. The large series of 'Brought over Letters and Papers' from various overseas VOC locations is only partly accessible via the Internet site of TANAP.
Search here by entering a name of the seafarer, the ship and place of the settlement. Information found to be of interest could then be further observed at the reading room of the National Archives in The Hague. It is then only possible to order reproductions of the particular pages being observed.
9. I have been unable to find information about the seafarer at the archives of the place where according to the database the seafarer came from.
The place of origin is not always the birthplace of the seafarer. Sometimes it can be the place last resided or stayed at.
10. The place of origin is totally unknown to me. What can I do?
The chance is large that it concerns a place outside The Netherlands. As well as this these places were often noted phonetically that is as they sounded when spoken.
You can also search on the website of Genealogy.net or in an atlas. For the Netherlands one can look in the geographical lexicon, the 'Aardrijkskundig Woordenboek Van der Aa', 1839-1851, to be found in the National Archives or in an academic library.
Should you be unable proceed further with this information then unfortunately we cannot help you further.
11. I'm looking for a passenger on board a VOC ship.
Passengers do not appear in the database. Only rarely is a name of a passenger mentioned in the ship's pay-register.
There were also very few passengers on board. Mostly they were the wives of service personnel of the commander or other high ranks. The number of passengers per journey can be found in the database Dutch Asiatic Shipping DAS on the website of the Institute of Netherlands History
12. I'm looking for an employee of the VOC in The Netherlands.
Within the database one can only find seafarers en voyage at sea.
There is almost no information available about VOC personnel who worked on shore in the Netherlands. The little there is can only be found via a detour in the VOC archives. All VOC chambers in the Netherlands employed permanent personnel to service the offices, the shipyards, warehouses and abattoirs. There were also temporary workers on the yard. With difficulty the salary payments of exclusively high-ranking managerial functions can be found for the period 1700 to 1796. There is no mention of the names of workers in warehouses, the abattoirs and the yards.
Chamber Amsterdam VOC 7143-7168
Chamber Zeeland ---
Chamber Rotterdam ---
Chamber Hoorn VOC 14554-14577
Chamber Enkhuizen VOC 14855-14873
13. Do the seafarers of the home voyages also appear in a database?
The ship's pay-registers of the homebound voyages have not been preserved. For all seafarers who returned to The Netherlands, the year of repatriation is mentioned, the ship's name and the DAS - number. With this number one can request the names of other seafarers.
14. Wills of VOC-personnel in Asia.
In index 1.04.14 approximately 10,000 wills are recorded. This concerns the period 1698-1807; notaries in VOC settlements in Asia arrange the wills. These are not available on the Internet.
Also, within the inventory of the archives of the VOC under the numbers 6899 - 6939 en 6928 - 6929 wills are noted.
15. Which ship's pay-registers are on microfiche and where can I access them?
The ship's pay-registers of the Chambers Zeeland, Delft and Rotterdam are on microfiche and can be accessed at the National Archives, the Municipal Archives of Delft, the Municipal Archives of Rotterdam, the Zeeland Provincial Archives and the Westfresian Archives.
16. What is a DAS - number?
DAS stands for Dutch Asiatic Shipping in the 17th and 18th centuries, written by J.R. Bruijn, F.S. Gaastra and I. Schöffer with the assistance of E.S. van Eyck van Heslinga, RGP 165 - 167, 1979 - 1987. In this study of VOC shipping all the away and home voyages have been written up in tables. Each voyage has a specific number. The numbers up to 5000 are away voyages to Asia. From 5000 and higher they are homebound voyages. DAS can also be accessed on the website of the Institute of Netherlands History (ING)