Meet our 2018 Sponsor: Antecedentia

It was on a Monday evening around 8pm that John Boeren received an email from an American couple. Their question was simple but challenging: “In two weeks we travel from the United States to the Netherlands and we want to visit some locations where our ancestors lived, can you help us?” John has received emails like that many times. In the last few years more and more people from the United States, Canada or Australia plan a trip to the Netherlands to follow in their ancestor’s footsteps. They ask Antecedentia, John’s genealogy business, for help.

John and his clients went on a field trip two weeks later. He was able to show them the exact spots where their forefathers once lived. One of them owned several houses, a soap factory and a large warehouse. A quite wealthy family. His clients were surprised. At the end of the day he took a picture of the couple standing in front of their ancestor’s former carpentry workshop, a large 18^th century corner house in a picturesque little town.

Two weeks later, when his clients were back in the United States, he received an email: “Working with you was a great pleasure and a fine learning experience. We discovered many things we did not expect, several very happy surprises. You worked quickly because we had contacted you with very little notice. Your research was solid and gave us many leads to continue to follow. Your guide work was also top-notch. We have worked with other genealogical guides in Europe and your work was up with the best. You are very knowledgeable about history of the country and region, and were a good teacher for the entire trip we had with you.”

Joining clients on a journey like this gives John a lot of pleasure. He wants them to have a special experience, to see the link between genealogy, cultural heritage and identity. “If you really want to connect people to their heritage, you need to do more than only talk or write about it. The best way is to show them what is still left of their past. This way they really feel who they are and where they come from.”

Beside these heritage trips, John’s business also provides the more basic or traditional genealogy services. Many overseas clients with Dutch ancestors ask him to research their family history. With 30 years of experience as a genealogist in the Netherlands, John knows very well where to look for records. Both online in different databases and onsite in local and regional archives. His research reports not only show pedigree charts or family trees, but also give transcriptions and translations of the documents. Something his clients really appreciate, because they often have no knowledge of the Dutch language.

Because of his 30th anniversary as a genealogist, John offers all participants of the 2018 Genealogy Journeys Cruise a one-time discount of 30%! You can reach John through his website: www.findmydutchancestors.com.