The Face Behind The Words
This is me, Kirsten
Huijsen. I'm the one who set up this website and provides most of its content and services. I'm
a Dutch cultural historian and have been intrigued by family history since... well, actually as
long as I can remember.
This is mostly due to my beloved grandmother (the lady in the picture frame) who used to tell me
endless stories about her youth in Indonesia and our family in general. And I've been blessed with
a fascinating family. Their roots stretch over three continents: from the Netherlands, Switzerland
and France to Indonesia and the United States. The search for my own family history has made it
clear to me that doing research in foreign archives is often no easy task.
That is why I founded Dutch Ancestry Coach and Dutch Ancestry Magazine. I want to help non-Dutch
speaking people find their Dutch ancestors and share my knowledge on Dutch culture with them. Why?
Because I believe knowing your family history is important. It would be a shame if you missed out
on that simply because all data about your ancestors are hidden in a system you are not familiar
with and are written in a language you do not speak.
My Professional Ethics
If I conduct paid family research for you, you can rest assured that I will conduct a solid research that complies with the "Genealogical Proof Standard" as issued by the American Board For Certification Of Genealogists. This standard consists of the following five rules:
- The research must be reasonably exhaustive.
This means that we will collect as many records as necessary to prove a fact beyond reasonable doubt. - The research must give complete and accurate source citations.
Therefore we always include a complete list of source citations and archive addresses so you can check the evidence we have based our reports upon. - The research must analyze and correlate the collected information.
We do not just give you a list of dates and places. We always make a sincere effort to get a complete picture of what all the evidence is telling us. - The research must resolve any conflicting evidence.
We never leave out evidence that does not suit the story. Where evidence contradicts itself we will make a sincere effort to either resolve the issue or to at least provide a sound hypothesis that explains the contradiction. - The research must have a soundly reasoned, coherently written conclusion.
All the evidence about your family is presented to you in a well written (e-)book that aims to translate that evidence into a pleasantly readable, soundly proven family history.
My Philosophy And Mission
I strongly believe that history is mostly written by ordinary people like you
and me. As we go around our daily business caring for our kids, doing our jobs the best we can,
contributing to the community with our efforts, we write history without even noticing. How? By
learning and passing our knowledge on to others shaping the path of our and their lives. Every
big event, every great invention took place within the context of the ordinary people surrounding
them. And yet, finding out who your great-grandmother was proves far more difficult than learning
about Marie-Antoinette .I feel it should be the other way around.
It is my mission to take the life of the historic people most important to you, your ancestors, as close to you as I can. Not only by tracing the little traces that are left of them in the archives, but also by placing those facts in a broader historic and cultural context for you. That is what I think matters in life and that is what I am deeply passionate about...