This dataset comprises data on households residing in six municipalities in the province of Noord-Brabant on January 1 1850, 1890 and 1921. It concerns the cities of Eindhoven, Gestel, Stratum, Strijp, Tongelre and Woensel. The dataset contains a random sample of more than 20.000 individuals, born between 1770 and 1930.The seven files of this relational database contain (sur/last)names, marriages, date and place of birth, occupations, religion, generation and (il)literacy of the Eindhoven population. The data set was used for the master thesis of dr. O.W.A. Boonstra:, 'De waardij van eene vroege opleiding: een onderzoek naar de implicaties van het alfabetisme op het leven van inwoners van Eindhoven en omliggende gemeenten, 1800-1920', (Hilversum 1993).The dataset was originally created by prof. dr. A.M. van der Woude (Wageningen Agricultural University) and prof. dr. H. van Dijk (Erasmus University Rotterdam) for research into the development of the population of Eindhoven in the 19th and 20th centuries.