Hello,

I'm looking for information on the family of my great-grandmother, Helena Frederika de Wit. I have an old passport of hers (of which I will attach a scan), so I know she was born on 24 Oct 1903 in Beverwijk, and I know through word of mouth that her father's name was Dirk, but I have been unable to find out any other family information (such as siblings, her mother, or anyone preceding her birth).

She married my great-grandfather, Klaas Siersema, in August of 1923, according to an old wedding invitation I have, but I know their marriage dissolved and that she remarried; although, I have no idea to whom. She gave birth to sons Johan Siersema (1924) and Tonny Siersema (1927). Also, my mom always called her Oma Utrecht, so she may have lived there...

I would appreciated any and all help. Thank you!

-Christina

I think that an index to the marriage of her parents is available on www.genlias.nl I see there:

Source Civil register - Marriage
Archive location Noord-Hollands Archief
General Number of finding aid: 358
Item number: 358.20
Municipality: Beverwijk
Type of record: Huwelijksakte
Record number: 34
Registration date: 15-08-1902
Groom Dirk de Wit
Age: 29
Place of birth: Buren
Bride Wubbina Engellina Johanna Petronella Swalve
Age: 22
Place of birth: Beverwijk
Father groom Dirk de Wit
Mother groom Hendrika Goudsblom
Father bride Freek Bellinga Swalve
Mother bride Helena Catrina Koster
Additional information beroep Bg.: onderwijzer; beroep vader Bg.: gemeenteveldwachter
The profession of the groom is teacher and his father is a local policeman.

I am not sure whether this is the right groom. I found the original marriage record on
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-10797-14660-41?cc... and it tells us that the groom is living in 's-Hertogenbosch. This makes the birth of a daugther in Beverwijk less normal. The birth records of 1903 are not yet available to the public. You need to wait till next year when the birthes 1903-1912 get available to the public. See attachment for the marriage record.

Dear Christina,

The passport is dated 1939. The first sentence reads "the mayor of the city of Utrecht declares", so at that point she must have lived in Utrecht.

The birth records are public (more than 100 years ago), but only available at the archive of Haarlem up until now. Also the population registers, they are not part of the index "digitale stamboom Kennemerland" yet (http://haarlem.digitalestamboom.nl/).

She will also appear in the population registers of Beverwijk, also available at the archive only.

The digitale stamboom lists an interesting entry:
Beverwijk, 15 Aug 1902. Dirk de Wit, born in Buren, 29 years old, school teacher, son of Dirk de Wit and Hendrika Goudsblom, marries
Wubbina Engellina Johanna Petronella Swalve, born in Beverwijk, 22 years old, daughter of Freek Bellinga Swalve and Helena Catrina Koster.

It is my bet that these are the people you're looking for, but it should be confirmed by looking up records.

Good luck, and kind regards,

Lars Roobol
http://www.familyaffairs.nl

Does the wedding invitation tell where, in which place, she married? That might help finding her and his parents as they are named in the marriage form. The marriages 1923-1932 of Utrecht are online, but she did not marry there. So she moved there after her marriage.

Kind Regards,
Jan Brul

Thank you for your help! I have the wedding invitation attached to this post, but it is in Dutch, which I unfortunately cannot read (and I've had bad luck with Google translate)...

Thank you! I will definitely look into them. I really appreciate the help.

Wow! Thank you so much. I really hope this is him. I had no idea about the birth records release. I'll be waiting anxiously for the next year or so :)

See the right hand side, # 214 of the attachment for their marriage record on 28 August 1923 as indicated in the invitation in 's-Hertogenbosch. It shows the same parents as the already sent ones. Her husband is a 1st lieutenant in the army. At the side is written that they divorced on 12 January 1930. The groom is age 27, born in Groningen and living in Venlo. His birth can be found on www.allegroningers.nl

A confirmation! Thanks, Jan! You are amazing.

This is also very interesting because I have an old family photograph and while I do not know who is in it, the photographer stamped the back with the name "A.J. Swalve." Another clue :)