Voyages of New Netherland

Searching for Names in the Database

The "Voyage Legs" table is the best table for searching for names, since all fields are visible in this view. This table contains the exact same information as in the "Voyage Overview" table, but is displayed differently. Under the "Voyage Legs" tab, data for each voyage leg is displayed in a separate row, and voyages are listed by voyage number rather than chronologically. (To search chronologically via the "Voyage Overview" table, see the previous section, "Using the Database," for how to navigating hidden fields.)

TO SEARCH FOR A NAME:

Go to the "Voyage Legs" tab

1) Click on the tiny magnifying glass in the upper right corner and enter the name (or part of the name). Now, any cell containing that name will be highlighted in yellow. Click on the cell, and then click on the double blue arrow to expand the cell. You can then locate the name inside the expanded cell.

2) You can also filter to search only for passenger names (excluding skippers, crews, etc.):
Click on the tiny arrow to the left of "Passengers Recorded." Click on "Add filter." In the search field that appears to the left ("Where passenger contains . . ."), type the name or part of the name you are searching. Now, only the cells containing that name will be displayed in the "Passengers Recorded" column. Again, click on an individual cell, and then click on the double blue arrow to expand the cell to display all the names. (To remove the filter, click on the green "filter" button, and then click the "x" inside the box.)

About spellings
Spelling was not standardized in the seventeenth century, so names often appeared in the records under different spellings. Searching for a name can be a little bit of "guess and check."

The following standardizations have been adopted for the database:

- ij is expressed as y
- All names ending in ss, sz, sz., or sen have been standardized to sz (i.e. Jansen is listed as Jansz)

Some common spelling variations to check for:
ae - aa
i - y
ck - k
ch - g
dt - t
th - t

Note: All passenger data should be considered incomplete since there are no known "passenger lists." Passenger information has been compiled from a variety of colonial records, including West India Company account books. The account books list passengers who still owned for their passage, but do not list passengers whose passage was paid. Additionally, not all passengers were immigrants; some were merchants who returned on the same ship. When no passengers are known for a particular voyage, the cell will show "NA."

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, especially about sources, at jlsvandenhout@gmail.com