National Archives of the Netherlands Antilles

The National Archives are the archives of the Netherlands Antilles of Five – i.e. the five islands which have constituted the country of the Netherlands Antilles since 1 January 1986. They are Curaçao, Bonaire, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba. Aruba also belonged to the Netherlands Antilles until 1986 but is now an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The main building of the National Archives, Scharlooweg 77, also known as 'the weddingcake'.

While the islands that make up the Netherlands Antilles have constitutional ties with each other, they do not form a geographical unit. The three Netherlands Windward Islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao) are situated in the south-west of the Caribbean, whereas the Netherlands Leeward Islands (St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba) are on the north-eastern side. Because of this there are also significant differences in the history of these islands, especially as regards the 18th and 19th centuries. For each island, we will mention a few of the most important facts:

• Curaçao
• Bonaire
• Aruba
• St. Maarten
• St. Eustatius
• Saba

Collection

The National Archives manage the archives of the governmental services of the five islands and of Aruba. These include the colonial administrations, the district administrations, the judicial institutions, notaries public, etc. The National Archives also manage various private archives such as family, individual, business and church archives. Please also refer to our website: www.nationalarchives.an. The National Archives are housed in two beautiful historic buildings as you can see in the photos.

The archives of the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages generally cover the period from 1831 to the present (Windward Islands) and 1869 to the present (Leeward Islands). However, access to them is restricted. Birth certificates may be inspected after 100 years, marriage certificates after 75 years and death certificates after 50 years.

The second building of the National Archives, Scharlooweg 79.

Search instructions

Information to bear in mind when consulting the civil registration from the Antilles:

• Often the surname of the godfather or godmother was and/or is given to the child, which can lead to long lists of first or last names.
• Many individuals had aliases. The aliases were the names by which the individuals in question were known locally, whereas in the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages they were registered under official names. The aliases can be found in the Comment field.
• A death certificate often also contains the place of birth and sometimes the date of birth of the deceased. These are included in the Comment field.
• Names that are spelled with a "ij" in the Netherlands, are often spelled with a "y" in the Antilles. This obviously makes a difference when formulating a query for the Genlias system.
• In some cases, the clerk seems to have written down the name phonetically. Spanish speaking people pronounce the letter "j" as "g" and the letter "v" as "b".

Literature and resources

General history:

• Hartog, J., Geschiedenis van de Nederlandse Antillen. Van Kolonie tot autonomie. Deel I tot 1816; Deel II: Na 1816. (History of the Netherlands Antilles, from colony to autonomy. Part I until 1816, part II: after 1816).
• Hamelberg, J.H.J., De Nederlanders op de West-Indische Eilanden (The Netherlanders on the West-Indies Islands)
• Gibbes, F.E., Scriwanek, M. en Römer-Kenepa, N.C., De bewoners van Curaçao, vijf eeuwen lief en leed. 1499-1999 (The inhabitants of Curaçao, five centuries of joy and hardship).
• Goslinga, C. Ch., A short history of the Netherlands Antilles and Surinam.

Economic history:

• Soest, J. van, Olie als water: De Curaçaose economie in de eerste helft van de twintigste eeuw. (Oil as water: The Curaçao economy in the first half of the twentieth century).

The main finding aids are:

• De inventaris van het oud archief Curaçao, Bonaire en Aruba tot 1828 en die van de archieven van Curaçao, Bonaire en Aruba na 1828 (tot 1845). (Finding aid to the old archives of Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba until 1828 and from the archives of Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba after 1828 (until 1845)).
• De voorlopige inventaris van het Gouvernement van 1845 t/m 1940. (Preliminary finding aid of the government from 1845 until 1940).
• De inventaris van de notariële protocollen van 1845 tot en met 1950 (Finding aid to the notary protocols from 1845 until 1950).
• De inventaris van het Kabinet van de Gouverneur van de Nederlandse Antillen, (1949) 1951 - 1990 (Finding aid to the Cabinet of the Governor of the Netherlands Antilles, (1949) 1951 - 1990).