Van Gorkom Network

Introduction

The Van Gorkom Network is intended to serve anyone who is called Van Gorkom or is related to someone called Van Gorkom. Though it is a Dutch family name, first language on this site is English as there are many Van Gorkoms who live abroad. At the moment the Van Gorkom Network is run by two 'third' cousins, Johan and John, their grandfathers being first cousins and grandsons of Izak van Gorkom and Louisa Roä (generation X-i18 Rutger branch). We are running this website just for the fun of it. Nevertheless we try to be as accurate as possible. We go mainly by official sources, like the archives of Utrecht and Amsterdam, and Genlias, the official genealogical website of the Netherlands. If information is coming from any other source, it is always mentioned.

Maybe you have additional information or maybe even the details of a complete branch that links to family on this site. In that case you could join us. In case you have your own website, we might link the sites in one way or another.

For all suggestions, remarks, questions or additions, please send an e-mail to: info @ vangorkom.net.
Reacties in het Nederlands zijn even welkom!

On this Site

Origin of the name Van Gorkom
On the page about the origin of the name Van Gorkom you find a general description of the family name, being of interest to anyone who is called Van Gorkom, Van Gorcom, Van Gorkum, Van Gorcum, VanGorkom, Vangorkum, Vangorcom and so on. Please be aware that the discrimination between the four main variants with "ko", "ku", "co" and "cu" in it have no real meaning for family records older than 1811, as they could all be used for one and the same person untill that year of date. It is for convenience and consistency that all names are spelled as "van Gorkom" on this site, only exception being literal quotes from records.

The picture shows a city map of Gorchum (Gorinchem or Gorkum) from Blaeu's "Toonneel der Steden" (Blaeu's "Scenery of Cities"), published in 1652. Click here for a large version (2095 Kb).

Family history
Names and dates come to life as soon as you start adding little details of daily life. That's what we intend to do on this site. In fact, it is the main reason for building the site. Here follow the main Van Gorkom branches that we cover:
Rutger branch - starting about 1565
Marten branch - starting about 1675
Abraham branch - starting in 1694
Jan branch - starting in 1695

On the very informative Dutch website www.fransvangorkum.nl you find many details about another Van Gorkum-branch, which has it roots in the provinces of Gelderland and Brabant, going all the way back to about 1400. This site also gives many more links.

On rootsweb.com you can even find a Johannes von Gorinchem (with the German infix "von") who caused about 1600 the start of a branch in Wesel, Germany, just across the Dutch border.

Bulletin Board

On our bulletin board we inform you about updates of this site. It is also the place where we post questions to visitors concerning genealogical matters. Please click here in case you like to take a look at it.

Search

Search through the pages on this site
You can search this site for a name or any other word. Be aware that old names can be spelled in different ways. In that case you will have to try all possible versions one by one. When getting results from your search, select a result. Press the Ctrl and F key simultaneously to search through a specific webpage itself, after you opened it. Search Utrecht archives
Go here to search the archives of the Province of Utrecht. The archive gives you online access to all notary records. Unfortunately, most of the site is in Dutch.

Search national archives
Go here to search Genlias.nl, the website of the Rijksarchiefdienst (State's Archive Service). It contains many records, some of them going back more than two hundred years. It is certainly not complete, as it often does not give birth or death records. There is also an English version of the site. To go there click at the language switch at the top of the home page of Genlias.

Search for maps of Dutch cities
Use Google Maps to find a map of any address in Holland. For many cities there is also Google Street View, available through Google Maps. Just keep zooming in, until your map changes into a street view, provided images are available.

Search Dutch phone directory
The website of the "official" directory of the former state owned PTT is called www.detelefoongids.nl. You find a language switch in the upper right corner of the home page.

Search StamboomSurfpagina.nl
If you can read Dutch, www.StamboomSurfpagina.nl is an excellent portal to start a search. The site gives numerous links to all kinds of sites that offer genealogical information in the broadest sense.

Search Google
Search results will be displayed on a Google page. If you wish to return to this site, then please use the back button of your browser.