Glossary

Key terms

These are the common terms that appear in the militia records:

• Broederdienst: With an even number of brothers in a family, half had to be employed. With an odd number, the lesser number had to be employed. Those with a brother already in the service could get an exemption from service.
• Burg. getrokken: When a conscript is not present to draw his lot, the mayor draws on their behalf.
• Conscriptie: Mandatory military service.
• Finaal vrij: Someone who is exempt from conscription and will never need to register.
• Gedesigneerd: is incorporated
• Geïnfameerd: Rejected because of a criminal record.
• Gepasporteerd: Someone who has fulfilled their military service.
• Militiecommissaris: The person at the head of a district who is responsible for the draw.
• Militieraad: The committee that assesses the applications for exemption.
• Nalatige: A person who has entered the service after the deadline. The “nalatigen” are often registered in a separate booklet.
• Nummerverwisselaar: A conscript with a number higher than the number imposed by district militia. This person could volunteer to take the place of a conscript with a lower number.
• Onbekend (at place of birth): An orphan who volunteered for military service.
• Remplaçant: Someone who took the place of another whose lot had been drawn. Because the wages of an ordinary soldier was very low, few people volunteered. The regulation was abolished in 1898.

Maat

Some registers have a ‘Maat’ column in which the height of the registrant was recorded. The following rules applied:

1 el = 1 meter
1 palm = 1 decimeter
1 duim = 1 centimeter
1 streep = 1 millimeter

Stripes and encodings

In a large proportion of the registrations corrections or deletions are included. The marks may have had the following meanings:

• A vertical line through the application: permanently unfit for duty
• A green diagonal stripe: assigned to the Navy
• A blue stripe diagnoale: assigned to the Army
• A red cross, redeemed by brotherly service

The reference API with a number and letter combination occurs in some entries. API stands for General Practical Intelligence, or an intelligence test. The scoring ranged from 0 to 226. In the militia, a higher score was associated with a higher education.

Diseases and defects

In 1862 a regulation passed identifying diseases or disabilities that made men unfit for military service on land or at sea. In the lottery registers from 1863 have a separate column: ‘Zoo vrijstelling wegens ziekelijke gesteldheid of gebreken is verleend, nummer, waaronder de ziekte of het gebrek in het reglement op het geneeskundig onderzoek voorkomt.’ The number in this column corresponds to a disease identified in the regulations. Download the list here.