Argentina is bordered by Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, and Uruguay. In 1810 the provinces belonging to the Río de la Plata separated themselves from the crown of Spain. In 1816, the United Provinces of the Rio Plata formally declared their independence from Spain. Spanish is the official language. (Source: Wikipedia)
The provincial archives of Argentina are open to the public. However limited access is offered in some of their archives and a letter of recommendation may be required. The provinces are divided into departments which are divided into municipalities. Each municipality has a civil registry office, one or two notaries, civil and criminal courts, and a municipal government to administer all other matters. Every municipality has jurisdiction over their own archives, separate from the province archives. These offices are comparable to county courthouses in the United States.
In Argentina, civil records created by the local government, including birth, death, and marriage records, are kept in local municipal offices. These records are available to the public. (Source: FS Wiki)
The first national census in Argentina was taken in the year 1869. The next censuses were taken in 1895 and 1914. The 1869 and 1895 censuses are available for public inspection at the National Archives and have also been microfilmed by the Family History Library. Census records of the 1914 census are available only at the Argentinian National Archives. Census records are generally less important in Argentina genealogy research than church or civil registration records.
The 1869 census lists for each person in the country by household the address, names and surnames, sex, age, civil status, nationality, place of birth, number of person in the family, legitimacy or illegitimacy of children, occupation or profession, literacy, and whether student.
The 1895 census list names, surnames, sex, ages, nationality, if he is Argentine it gives the province or territory of birth, profession, occupation or trade, literacy, highest grade in school obtained, whether property owner, how many children the women have born, number of years married, civil status, whether if orphaned for each person in the country by household This is the first national census that includes Chaco, Formosa, Misiones, La Pampa, Río Negro, Neuguén, Chubut, Santa Cruz and Tierra de Fuego. The 1895 census has been indexed and is online.
After the 1895 census, the 1914 census and those following have about the same information with a few minor changes. The 1869 and 1895 census do not list the Indian populace. Some localities are missing from each census either because the census was not taken in that locality or the census records have been lost.
Other censuses were taken by different levels of government. For example, in the city of Buenos Aires there are many early census records that were taken for different reasons. For example, there was a 1855 census of Buenos Aires and a 1667 –1772 censuses of the Indians of Buenos Aires (taken by the Contaduía General de Retasas). Be sure that you look for census records under your city or town as well as your province in the catalog for additional census other than the national censuses. (Source: FS Wiki)
When referring to church records in this section, the Roman Catholic Church records are implied. These are the most important records for genealogical research in Argentina. The vast majority of Argentines were Catholic and were registered in the records of the local parish or diocese which are called registros parroquiales (parish registers).
These records include entries for baptisms, marriage information, marriages, deaths, and burials. They can help you trace and link families. Often two and sometimes three generations are indicated in the records. In addition, church records may include church censuses, account books, confirmations, and other church-related records. Most records were recorded in Spanish. Some Catholic records were also kept in Latin.
Church records are crucial for genealogical research, since civil authorities did not begin registering vital statistics until after 1886. After this date one should search in both church and civil records as there may be information in one that does not appear in the other. For instance the church records may only list the godparents whereas the civil records may list the grandparents.
In Argentina, Catholic church records are kept in different levels the church. The highest level of government in the Catholic church is the archdiocese [arquidiócesis]. There are three divisions under the archdiocese: prefectures [prefecturas], diocese [diósesis], and apostolic vicarage [vicariatos apostólicos]. The parishes [parroquias] are under the jurisdiction of the diocese. The parishes have jurisdiction over both vice–parishes [vice–parroquias] and chapelries [capillas foraneas]. Parishes are local congregations that may include smaller villages within their boundaries. A large city may contain several parishes. All these jurisdictions have their own records.
In searching for your ancestors you must know the town where they lived. You must also determine the parish to which your ancestor belonged. If he or she came from a large city that has several parishes you will need to know in what section of the town he or she lived to determine to what parish he or she belonged.(Source: FS Wiki)
Civil registration (government birth, marriage, and death records) and church records (christenings/baptisms, marriages, and burials) were kept at the local level. The information recorded in civil registration records varied over time. These records may be either hand or typewritten.
Because they cover so large a part of the population and because they are indexed, easily accessible to the local public, and provide more information than church records, civil registration records are an important source for genealogical research in Argentina.
Every municipal district was to make duplicate copies of their books. In Buenos Aires they kept the original books and send the copies to the Archivo General de Tribunales in the Federal District. In the provinces they were to be send the copies to the provincial or judicial archives of each province.
According to the law, the public has liberal access to the civil records. The director of the civil archive is required to provide interested parties with a complete copy of any record, including marginal notes, under his jurisdiction.
Although civil registration records are an important source for genealogical research in Argentina, many births, marriages, and deaths were never recorded by civil authorities, and you must use church records to supplement this genealogical source. (Source: FS Wiki)
In 1824 the Commission of Immigration begin to function, advertising abroad in order to attract European immigrants to create new agriculture communities in the vast open lands outside the great Buenos Aires. One of the first groups sponsored came from the British Isles in Feb 1825 departing from Glasgow and Liverpool. This is how some of the first Irish came and populated the outskirts of the province of Buenos Aires and the south of Santa Fe.
Starting around 1853 the project to colonize took force. The immigrants that had made contracts in Europe to gain land began to arrive, settling in colonies in the provinces of Santa Fe, Chaco, and Entre Rios. In 1857 these contracts brought families from Switzerland, the Piedmont area in Italy, and the Haute–Savoie and Savoie departments in France. Russians and Germans also began coming at this time.
Until 1876, when the laws of immigration were realigned, Santa Fe and Entre Rios were at the head of the new colonization movement. In reality most of these new colonies were brought under contract from Europe and the people stayed and began to make roots in their new soil and contribute to the development of the agriculture and industrial foundation of their new country. They worked the land, and gave of their harvest to the government as payment and as their contracts were fulfilled the land became their property.
After this wave of contracted immigrants, other independent immigrants came. By 1875, 68,277 new immigrants had entered Argentina, the majority being Italians and Spaniards. From 1870–1890 a million and half more came. In the latter part of this period, hundreds of Russian Jewish Refugees came and settled in colonies in the province of Entre Rios. The Welsh came and settled the southern zone of the country. (Source: FS Wiki)
Australia officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The population of 25 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. (Source: Wikipedia)
The National Archives holds records of Australian government records of the Federation or Commonwealth since in 1901; Commonwealth people; and the High Court. RecordSearch describes over 7.7 million records created by 9000 Australian Government agencies. Reading rooms are in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin.
A step-by-step guide to research at the National Archives is available. More than 200 fact sheets about their records are available online. Family history records are not in their collections, but the site contains links to those records.
State and Territory Libraries hold family history collections specialising in resources for their state and a selection of material relating to other areas of Australia and Overseas. Contact information for other libraries in Australia may be found at the Australian Libraries Gateway. (Source: FS Wiki)
Cemetery records often give more information than church burial records and may include the deceased's name, age, date of death or burial, birth year or date of birth, and sometimes marriage information. They may also provide clues about an ancestor's military service, religion, occupation, place of residence at time of death, or membership in an organization. Cemetery records are especially helpful for identifying ancestors who were not recorded in other records, such as children who died young or women. They may also give clues to finding more information. In Australia, the first cemetery is reported to have been in Sydney in 1788.
Plot Books and Cemetery Plans give a diagrammatic description of a cemetery. Each grave is shown by number with the name of the person buried there. These records may have been transcribed and listed in alphabetical order. By examining the original plot book or cemetery plan, rather than relying on alphabetized transcripts, you may find relatives buried in adjoining plots.
Because of the vast distances between settlements, many people who died en route to other localities were buried where they died. Many of these "lone graves" have been located, and the known information has been transcribed and collected.
Many burials were on stations, which are small settlements on large tracts of grazing land. These burials were generally limited to family members or workers at the station. Station burials were on private ground, and seldom was burial information transcribed, except in a published family or local history.
Local genealogical periodicals may publish sexton's records and transcripts of tombstone information. For information on periodicals, read the Periodicals article. When death and burial records are difficult to find, contact a local library, historical society, or historian. They may have the records you seek or can help you locate obscure family plots or relocated cemeteries. (Source: FS Wiki)
Civil registration of births, deaths and marriages was introduced in England in 1837 but was not made compulsory until 1875. As was often the case, the colonial legislators considered applying Imperial legislative innovations and began to pass their own laws establishing civil registration. However, the schemes implemented were ahead of the mother Parliament by requiring from the beginning compulsory civil registration soon after the event.
The dates of commencement of civil registration in each colony/state and territory are: Tasmania, 1838 1 Dec; South Australia, 1842 1 Jul; Western Australia, 1841 9 Sep; Victoria, 1853 1 July; Queensland, 1856 1 March; New South Wales, 1856 1 March, Northern Territory, 1870 24 Aug; Australian Capital Territory, 1930 1 Jan.
At first, civil registration required the clergy to make copies of marriage, baptism, and burial records. These records are known as civil transcripts of church records. Because churches were involved in early civil registration, it is difficult to clearly distinguish between civil registration and church records. Later, about 1856, the responsibility for civil registration was placed in the hands of government employees independent of the church. Civil registration then required people to report all births, marriages, and deaths to a civil registrar.
When civil registration first began, there was no common standard of recording information, so the information listed may vary from state to state. Common records include birth, marriage, divorce, and death.
Birth, marriage, and death records may be obtained from the state civil registration offices or archives in Australia. Pre-civil registration records from many towns are in the various state archives and registrar general's office. Many of these records have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library. However, for more recent records, and for those not yet microfilmed, contact the appropriate state archives. If your request is unsuccessful, search for duplicate records such as church registers. (Source: FS Wiki)
Between 1788 and 1900 over 1,000,000 people immigrated to Australia. Most of them were from the British Isles, but some were from Europe and Asia. Prior to 1900 there were four classes of immigrants to Australia: 1) Convicts sent to Australia after they were tried and convicted for crimes committed in the British Isles. Tasmania and New South Wales were the states that received most of the convicts before 1830. 2) Bounty immigrants were chosen by Australian colonists to come from the British Isles to Australia. 3) Assisted immigrants came to Australia through the financial assistance of the government, organizations, or wealthy individuals. 4) Paying passengers came to Australia through their own means.
With the exception of paying passengers, immigration records usually contain a great deal of genealogical information. Many records list each individual's name, age or date of birth, place of birth, trade or occupation, physical description, marital status, and number of children. Passenger lists of paying immigrants usually list only names.
The National Archives of Ireland has a searchable index database on the Internet for transportation records of Irish convicts sent to Australia between 1788 and 1868. Over 38,000 names are indexed on the Ireland - Australia Transportation Web site. For the period before 1825, check local newspapers. (Source: FS Wiki)
Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in Central Europe comprising 9 federated states. Its capital, largest city and one of nine states is Vienna. Austria has a population of nearly 9 million people. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects as their native language, and German in its standard form is the country's official language. (Source: Wikipedia)
Vital records were recorded by church officials. Births and baptisms; marriages, marriage proclamations; deaths and burials; confirmations; church censuses, memberships, and family registers. Records exist for many denominations and for military units.
Transcripts are similar in content to original parish registers and civil registration. Printed forms were used and indexes added that make them easier to search than parish registers. Occasionally transcripts have more complete data than parish registers. Sometimes the originals have more. Very often separate transcript registers were kept for major towns in the jurisdiction of each parish, whereas the originals have only one register which includes all towns.
The first Protestant regulation for keeping of Church books was in 1533, and the first Catholic regulation to do so was in 1563, however a few isolated parishes had already begun in 1379 in Tirol, 1517 in Dalmatia, 1518 in Hungary and 1523 in Austria. Many early church records were destroyed during the Thirty Years' War 1618-1648 and in subsequent conflicts. Generally registers exist for the following denominations: Evangelical Lutheran 1533-, Evangelical Reformed 1556-, Moravian Baptist/Hutterite 1561-, Brethren 1561-, Catholic 1563-, Orthodox 1600-, Orthodox (Uniat) 1697-, Jews 1709-, Salzburger (Salzburger Protestanten) 1731-.
Types of church records include baptismal/birth, marriage, marriage contracts and banns, death and burial, confirmation, and church censuses and membership lists. (Source: FS Wiki)
Civil registration is births, marriages, marriage supplements, deaths, family registers kept by the government. Coverage of births and deaths began throughout on 1 January 1939. Civil registration of marriages started on 1 August 1938; however, marriages celebrated between 1 August 1938 and 31 December 1938 were conducted at regional district offices
Types of civil records include birth, marriage, marriage supplement, and death registers. (Source: FS Wiki)
Austrian emigration patterns have been difficult to determine. There was no official country known as Austria until 1918. Prior to that time the sprawling Habsburg Empire, an amalgam of a dozen nationalities, encompassed the idea of Austria. Thus Austrian immigration can rightly be seen as the immigration of Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Slovenian, Serbian, and Croatian peoples as well as a plethora of other national and ethnic groups.
Between 1860 and 1974 Austria provided 4.3 million emigrants to the United States. These included ethnic German, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Slovene, Romanian, Italian, Croatian and Serbian peoples. During many of these years Latin America also received many Austrian emigrants. Many North and South Americans need Austrian records. (Source: FS Wiki)
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus , formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital and most populous city is Minsk. Over 40% of its 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) is forested. Its major economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing. (Source: Wikipedia)
Historical Census Resources are an excellent source for identifying family groups. Population enumerations were conducted after the revisions for the purpose of assessing a poll tax and identifying those for conscription into the military. Since there was no universal mandate as in the case of the revisions to create these records, they occur randomly at different times for different places. Family lists were also created by conscription offices that listed all male members of a family along with their parents.
Time period: 1860-1920. Contents: Head of household, family members, ages; other details vary. Location: Central state historical archives in Minsk and Grodno. Population coverage: 30% coverage because conducted randomly on a local basis and not always preserved.
Revision lists area an excellent source for identifying family groups. Record type: Population enumeration for the purpose of assessing a poll tax and identifying those for conscription into the military.
Time period: 1794-1859. Contents: Revision number of household, name, parentage, age, age at time of previous revision, sex, nationality, social rank, relationship to household head, and change of status since the last revision of all those in the household. Females were not recorded in the sixth revision. The fifth revision included information on the parentage of the females but this was dropped as of the sixth revision. Sometimes the lists are accompanied by supporting documentation. Location: Revision lists are at the central state historical archives in Minsk and Grodno. Population coverage: 75% coverage. This record was not compiled for non-taxed classes: the nobility, high officials, clergy, military, and foreigners. (Source: FS Wiki)
Church records uniquely identify individuals and connections of those in one generation to the next. Transcripts are difficult to research because generally all parishes in a district are filed together for each year. Consequently, a researcher must refer to many volumes to identify the entries for a single parish.
Church records are kept by parish priests of births/baptisms, marriages, and deaths/burials. The term is also used to refer to the records of denominations that had jurisdictions other than parishes. The Church acted as both a religious and civil agent in recording vital events and church sacraments such as baptism and burial. Peter the Great mandated the keeping of Orthodox books in 1722. The format was standardized in 1724. Printed forms were introduced in 1806. In 1838 a format was introduced that prevailed until 1920 when civil registration began.
Time period: Orthodox, 1722; Greek Catholic, 1796; Roman Catholic, 1613 (transcripts begin in 1826); Evangelical/other Protestant, 1641(transcripts begin in 1833); Old Believers, 1874; Baptists, 1879–all to about 1930. Contents: Names of the person and other family members, residence, relationships, dates and place of birth and baptism, marriage, death and burial. Baptisms include names of godparents; marriages include the ages of the bride and groom; burials include the age of the deceased and cause of death. Location: Central state historical archives in Minsk and Grodno, the regional archive of Brest, civil registration offices. Population coverage: 70% coverage for early periods, 90% from about 1830 through the destruction of most churches in the 1930s, 50% among minority religions and dissident groups such as Old Believers and Baptists. (Source: FS Wiki)
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Western Europe. It is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,688 square kilometres (11,849 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.4 million. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi and Liège.
The sovereign state is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. It is divided into three highly autonomous regions: Flanders in the north, Wallonia in the south, and the Brussels-Capital Region. Brussels is the smallest and most densely populated region.
Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups or Communities: the Dutch-speaking, mostly Flemish Community, which constitutes about 59 percent of the population, and the French-speaking Community, which comprises about 40 percent of all Belgians. The Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual (French and Dutch), although French is the dominant language. (Source: Wikipedia)
Census records verify family linkages from other records, shows relationships, places of birth of parents, previous residence, extended families. Record type: Enumeration and registers of population. Time Period: 1792-present. Content: Names of residents, new arrivals and those requesting moves in a community. Includes registers of those with specific occupations such as domestic servants, tradesmen, laborers, etc. Shows birth dates or ages, birth places, parents', spouse's, children's, other relatives' names, previous residence, removal and arrival dates, current residence, occupations, and citizenship status. Location: Provincial, state, city and municipal archives and registry offices. Population coverage: 80%. (Source: FS Wiki)
In the period before 1795, Church records are the main genealogical resource in Belgium. The main types of church records are: baptisms, marriages, burials, and confirmations. The records will be written in Latin for Catholics (the vast majority of the population, and the only legal religion before 1781), or in the local language, either Dutch, French or German. In 1795, civil registration becomes the major information source for births, marriages and deaths in Belgium.
Catholics traditionally baptised children a few days after birth. A typical baptism record includes: the name of the baptized, the date of baptism and sometimes the birth date, the names of the parents, often including the mother's maiden name, and the names of godparents or witnesses.
A typical marriage record includes the names of the bride and groom, the date of marriage and whether they were single, divorced or widowed. Any previous spouses may be named, as well as the witnesses to the marriage.
Marriage contracts and banns often include couples' names, marriage intention dates, residences, occupations, and witnesses' names.
Burial records often include the name of the deceased, the date of burial, the spouse or widow of the deceased for married women, and the parent's names for children.
Confirmation records (usually for children ages 7-12) often include candidate's name, age, residence, and father's name. (Source: FS Wiki)
Civil registration was introduced after 1795. The records will be either in Dutch, French, or German, depending on the language locally spoken and the political situation. Many smaller towns put births, marriages and deaths all together in chronological order, while later records and those from larger towns and cities usually divide the records into births, marriages and deaths separately.
Civil registration records include births, marriages, marriage supplements, marriage proclamations, and deaths. Divorces are noted on marriage records. (Source: FS Wiki)
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At 8.5 million square kilometers (3.2 million square miles) and with over 208 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the fifth most populous. Its capital is Brasília, and its most populated city is São Paulo. The federation is composed of the union of the 26 states, the Federal District, and the 5,570 municipalities. It is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language and the only one in the Americas; it is also one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations, due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 kilometers (4,655 mi). It borders all other South American countries except Ecuador and Chile and covers 47.3% of the continent's land area. (Source: Wikipedia)
The vast majority of Brazilians were Catholic and were registered in the records of the local parish (registros paroquiais). These records include entries for baptisms, marriages, deaths, and burials. Often two and sometimes three generations are indicated in the registers, with personal information on the family. In addition, church records may include church censuses, account books, confirmations, and other church-related records.
The most important church records for genealogical research are baptism, marriage, and burial registers. The type and amount of information and detail recorded in church books varied over time. The later records generally give more complete information than the earlier ones. Occasionally other helpful church records were kept, including confirmations and church censuses. Most records were recorded in Portuguese. A few Catholic records were kept in Latin.
Most church records used in genealogy were created at the parish (paróquia) level. By 1900, there were several thousand parishes or vicarages in Brazil, divided between 15 diocese (diocese), within two archdioceses (arquidiocese). You must determine the parish your ancestor belonged to in order to begin research. If your ancestor came from a large city that has several parishes, you will need to know what section of the town he or she lived in to determine the parish. Parish boundary maps, if they exist, can be extremely helpful when determining which parishes had jurisdictions over the place where your ancestor lived. They can also help you identify neighboring parishes if you need to search through the various parishes in a given region. As the parish books were filled, many times they were sent to the diocese or archdiocese that had jurisdiction over the parish. Therefore, if records are no longer available at the local parish you may find the records in the diocesan or archdiocesan archives. (Source: FS Wiki)
In 1850 a law was passed requiring registration of births and deaths throughout the country. Until 1870 the Catholic Church was required to keep this record. After 1870 these records were to be kept by the justices of the peace. Compliance was not immediate. While some civil registration records in Brazil date back to the 1860s and 1870s, others did not begin keeping records until as recently as the 1920s.
The most important civil records for genealogical research are the birth, marriage, and death registers. These records may be either handwritten or typed and are most often indexed by given name rather than surname. Other civil records include emancipações (emancipations) made by fathers when their sons reached 18 years of age (not required after 21 years old), land sales (imóveis), and corrections of children's names (comunicaçes). For the most part, only birth, marriage, and death records have been filmed by the Family History Library, and these will be of most help in doing genealogical research. (Source: FS Wiki)
Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres (3.85 million square miles), making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, many near the southern border. (Source: Wikipedia)
In Canada these archives have records for genealogical research: Library and Archives Canada (LAC), provincial archives and county and local museums, municipal local government offices, church archives and parish offices, public and academic libraries, and historical and genealogical societies.
The Canadian government collects records about Canadian history, culture, and people. Many such records are at the Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa, formerly called the National Archives of Canada (NAC) and previously known as the Public Archives of Canada (PAC). Their collection includes census, military records, immigration lists, land records, and some church records.
Each province has its own archives that are separate from those of the national government. These repositories have many records valuable for genealogical research in their particular area. In eastern Canada, provincial archives have some birth, marriage, and death records, some census records, many land records, some probate records, and some church records. In western Canada, provincial archives have many land records, some probate records, and specialized documents about the history of their area. (Source: FS Wiki)
The national government of Canada has taken censuses every ten years since 1871 and every five years since 1971. The 1871 census covers the four original provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. The first coast-to-coast census was taken in 1881. Newfoundland was not part of Canada until 1949. For Newfoundland few 19th-century censuses that list names have been found. They mostly contain statistical summaries.
Canadian national censuses, taken for these dates, are available to the public: 1871, 1881 (April 4), 1891 (April 6), 1901 (March 31), 1911 (June 1), 1921 (June 1).
The 1871 and later censuses list for each member of the household: Name, Age, Occupation, Religious affiliation, Birthplace (country or province).
The 1871 and 1881 censuses list for each person the father's origin or ethnic background. The 1891 census, in addition, asks if persons are French Canadian and the parents' birthplaces. The 1891 and later censuses ask for a person's relationship to head of household. The 1871 and later censuses list for each member of the household: Name, Age, Occupation, Religious affiliation, Birthplace (country or province).
The 1901 census asks for: complete birth date, not just the year; the year the person immigrated to Canada; the year of naturalization; and the father's racial or tribal origin, not whether the person was of French Canadian descent. The 1901 census also contains a buildings and lands schedule for each locality. This schedule gives a city street address or a farm land description, such as township and range, or township, concession, and lot number—for most families. (Source: FS Wiki)
Canada is a country of religious diversity, even though three-fourths of all Canadians claim affiliation with one of four churches: the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church of Canada, The United Church of Canada, or the Presbyterian Church in Canada. The United Church of Canada was formed in 1925 by a union of most Methodist and Congregationalist groups and 70 percent of the Presbyterians.
Church records are crucial for pre-Confederation research. Since civil authorities did not begin registering vital statistics in most provinces until after 1867, church records are the major information source before this date. Church records continued after civil registration began in the 1860s or later but often are not as accessible after that date.
The Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church kept more detailed records than some other religions. Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and other groups, especially those that did not baptize infants, often did not keep church registers unless required by law. You can find a person's religious affiliation in Canadian censuses beginning in 1851. Common church records include baptism, marriage, and burial.
Church records were kept at the local parish of the church. A parish is a local congregation that may include many villages. Your ancestor may have lived in a village and belonged to a parish in a nearby larger town. To find church records, you must know your ancestor's religion and the town where he lived. You must determine which parish your ancestor's town belonged to so you know which parish registers to search. (Source: FS Wiki)
The first large emigration from Canada was between 1755 and 1758 when 6,000 French Acadians were deported from Nova Scotia. Some settled temporarily in other American colonies and in France. Many eventually found permanent homes in Louisiana, where they were called "Cajuns." A few returned to the Maritime Provinces. During the "Michigan Fever" of the 1830s, large numbers of Canadians streamed westward across the border. By the late 1840s, over 20,000 Canadians and newly landed foreign immigrants moved to the United States each year. California gold fever attracted many, beginning in 1849.
After 1850, the tide of migration still flowed from Canada to the United States. Newly landed immigrants tended not to stay in Canada very long. Between 1851 and 1951, there were up to 80 emigrants, both natives of Canada and others, who left Canada for every 100 immigrants who arrived. A few immigrants returned to their native lands or went elsewhere, but many eventually went to the United States after brief periods of settlement in Canada. Canadians from the Atlantic Provinces often went to the "Boston states" (New England). A favorite 19th-century destination of Canadians leaving Upper Canada (Ontario) was Michigan. About one in four Michigan families finds a direct connection to Ontario. Many also find links to Quebec. At least two million descendants of French Canadians now live in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Many also live in New York and the Midwestern states. (Source: FS Wiki)
Vital records are an excellent source of accurate names, dates, and places of births, marriages, and deaths. But the births, marriages, and deaths of many people were never recorded by civil authorities. Other vital records are described in "Church Records" and other sections.
Vital records are the responsibility of the provinces except for the registration of First Nations individuals, which is a federal responsibility. In some provinces, authorities began registering births, marriages, and deaths since the 1860s. Complete registration in all the provinces and territories was achieved in the 1920s. After this date, almost all individuals who lived in Canada are recorded.
To find a civil vital record, you will need at least the approximate year and place in which the birth, marriage, or death occurred. You may need to search other records first to find clues about these events, such as family Bibles, genealogies, local histories, biographies, cemetery records, censuses, pension files, newspaper notices, and probate files. In the 18th and 19th centuries these other records must often substitute for civil vital records, though they may not be as accurate as those kept by church authorities and local or provincial governments. (Source: FS Wiki)
The Caribbean is a region of The Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean) and the surrounding coasts. The region is southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and the North American mainland, east of Central America, and north of South America. (Source: Wikipedia)
The Family History Guide has individual pages for Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. Information for other Caribbean islands may be found in the FamilySearch Wiki.
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a South American country occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far south. Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Oceania. (Source: Wikipedia)
The Chilean government collects records relating to Chilean history, culture, and population. Records of genealogical value at the National Archive include: Census records, Church records, Civil registration, Court records, Emigration and immigration lists, Land records and Military records.
Each province in Chile has its own archive separate from those of the national government. Most of the records of genealogical value are kept by these archives. They serve as repositories for records pertaining to their particular area. Write or call each office for information about the services they offer to the public. Records of genealogical value at provincial archives include: Birth, marriage, and death records; Census records; Land records; Some church records; Notarial records; and court records. (Source: FS Wiki)
Church records (registros parroquiales) are excellent sources for accurate information on names, dates, and places of births, marriages, and deaths. Virtually every person who lived in Chile before 1885 was recorded in a church record. Records of births, marriages, and deaths are commonly called "vital records." Church records are vital records made by church priests. They are often referred to as parish registers or church books. They include records of christenings, sometimes including a birth date; marriages; deaths; and burials. Church records may also include account books, confirmation records, and lists of members (padrones).
Church records are crucial for pre-1900 research in Chile. Civil registration started in January 1885, but was not comprehensive until 1900. Church records are often the only sources of family information before this date. Church records continued to be kept after the introduction of civil registration.
The most important church records for genealogical research are baptisms, marriages, marriage information, and death or burial registers. Other helpful church records include confirmations and church censuses (padrones). Most of these records were recorded in Spanish, but a few of the older Catholic records may be written in Latin or a mix of Spanish and Latin.
Church records were kept at the local parish of the church. The term parish refers to the jurisdiction of a church priest. Parishes are local congregations that may have included many local villages within their boundaries. In order to know which parish registers to search, you must know your ancestor's religion and the town where he or she lived. It will also be helpful to know the parish to which your ancestor belonged in case there were several parishes in one large locality.
Parish boundary maps can be extremely helpful when determining which parish church records to search. They can help you identify neighboring parishes if you need to search through the various parishes in a given region. Some church directories include boundary maps. Church records can be found at the local parish archive, copies of older records may be found at the archdiocese archive, and some old records can be found at the National Archive. (Source: FS Wiki)
Civil registration records are an excellent source for accurate information on names, dates, and places of births, marriages, and deaths. In the late 1800s the government of Chile recognized the need for accurate vital records for military conscription and taxation purposes. Civil authorities began registering births, marriages, and deaths in 1885. After this date, almost all individuals who lived in Chile are recorded. For many families, civil registration records are the only sources of information after this date.
The most important civil records for genealogical research are birth, marriage, and death registers. These registers are written in Spanish. Some registers may have an index. In some cases, a separate index may be available that covers a specific time period. (Source: FS Wiki)
Ship arrivals and passenger lists provide the best documentation of immigrants who came to South America after the middle of the 19th century. These records are housed in the national archives of each of the countries in South America. For information about archives, see Chile Archives and Libraries. Another important source of information for immigrant ancestors are the emigration records that may exist from the port city of departure.
During the early period, most Spanish emigrants left through the ports of Sevilla, Cádiz, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and Málaga in southern Spain. These records were housed in the cities of Cádiz and Sevilla. Later the ports of San Sebastián, Bilbao, Santander, and La Coruña in northern Spain were added as departure cities not only for Spaniards but also for other Europeans. These emigrants almost always traveled first to Islas Canarias (the Canary Islands) where they resided for a short time before continuing on to the Americas. Registers of these emigrants were kept in Cádiz and Sevilla. These records are currently housed in the Archivo General de Indias in Sevilla. The records of departures from these ports are called passenger lists. The information contained in these lists varies over time but usually includes the name of the emigrant, age, occupation, and destination. In addition, names of other family members, last town of residence, and birthplace may be given.
Emigration to South America slowed drastically between 1790–1825 due to wars of independence in the Latin American colonies. Toward 1840 and beyond, emigration from Europe to Latin America increased as people left Europe seeking religious, economic, or political freedom.
Each province has its own archives that are separate from those of the national government. These repositories have many records valuable for genealogical research in their particular area. In eastern Canada, provincial archives have some birth, marriage, and death records, some census records, many land records, some probate records, and some church records. In western Canada, provincial archives have many land records, some probate records, and specialized documents about the history of their area. (Source: FS Wiki)
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia and the world's most populous country, with a population of around 1.404 billion. Covering approximately 9,600,000 square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third- or fourth-largest country by total area. Governed by the Communist Party of China, the state exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. (Source: Wikipedia)
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a sovereign state largely situated in the northwest of South America, with territories in Central America. Colombia shares a border to the northwest with Panama, to the east with Venezuela and Brazil and to the south with Ecuador and Peru. It shares its maritime limits with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Colombia is a unitary, constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments, with the capital in Bogota. (Source: Wikipedia)
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around 5 million in a land area of 51,060 square kilometers (19,714 square miles). An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, San José with around 2 million people in the surrounding metropolitan area. (Source: Wikipedia)
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, on the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the southeast, sharing a maritime border with Italy. Its capital, Zagreb, forms one of the country's primary subdivisions, along with twenty counties. Croatia has an area of 56,594 square kilometres (21,851 square miles) and a population of 4.28 million, most of whom are Roman Catholics. (Source: Wikipedia)
Croatian State Archives: Registers more than 100 years old were transferred to archives in 1957. Registers before World War I were transferred to town halls. The churches kept registers for the post-War period. The reson for this was the census conducted in 1957. Thus, the archive has most records prior to 1857. There are still registers in the parishes. The transcripts are in the Archbishopric Archive. Pedigrees are scattered in the collection. Though censuses were conducted in 1857,1869,1880,1890, and 1900, there are no census records in the archive. Past issues of the Arhivski Vjesnik, bulletin of the Croatian State Archives, are available online. (Source: FS Wiki)
The most predominant religion in Croatia is Christianity and a large majority of the Croatian population declares themselves as members of the Roman Catholic Church (86.28%). The other main religions of Croatia are Eastern Orthodoxy (4.44%), Protestantism (0.34%), other Christianity (0.30%), and Islam (1.47%). 4.57% of the population describes themselves as non-religious. Croats are almost exclusively Roman Catholic and Serbs are Orthodox.
The language of the records is either Latin, Croatian, Hungarian, or Italian. Glagolitic and Cyrillic as well as Roman script occur in the records. Roman Catholic parishes kept registers earlier than Orthodox parishes which were required to keep them only after 1777. Civil transcripts of registers were mandated during the 19th century. A tabular format was adopted after 1848. Church records commonly include birhts, marriages, and burials. (Source: FS Wiki)
The Czech Republic, also known by its short-form name, Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres (30,450 sq mi) with a mostly temperate continental climate and oceanic climate. It is a unitary parliamentary republic, with 10.6 million inhabitants; its capital and largest city is Prague, with 1.3 million residents. Other major cities are Brno, Ostrava, Olomouc and Pilsen. (Source: Wikipedia)
In the Czech Republic there are several types of genealogical repositories: National archives and libraries, Regional archives, Military archives, Church parish offices, University and public libraries, Historical and genealogical archives, and Societies.
Czech vital records are kept at the regional archives and most are available online. There are seven regional archives. Former Bohemian Region is served by five regional archives in Litoměřice, Plzeň, Praha, Třeboň, and Zámrsk. Former Moravian Region is served by two regional archives in Opava and Brno. The seven regional archives are the repositories for most pre-1900 parish books and, therefore, are the archives of primary importance to Czech genealogical researchers. In addition to early parish books, the regional archives house an enormous amount of important material including early cadastral records, maps, architectural plans, historical documents, court records, administrative papers, etc. The archives maintain extensive catalogs of their holdings but, so far, these catalogs are not available online. The regional archives of the Czech Republic are open to the public. You must know the village, city or parish to determine which archive holds the records of your ancestors. (Source: FS Wiki)
The most predominant religion in Croatia is Christianity and a large majority of the Croatian population declares themselves as members of the Roman Catholic Church (86.28%). The other main religions of Croatia are Eastern Orthodoxy (4.44%), Protestantism (0.34%), other Christianity (0.30%), and Islam (1.47%). 4.57% of the population describes themselves as non-religious. Croats are almost exclusively Roman Catholic and Serbs are Orthodox.
The language of the records is either Latin, Croatian, Hungarian, or Italian. Glagolitic and Cyrillic as well as Roman script occur in the records. Roman Catholic parishes kept registers earlier than Orthodox parishes which were required to keep them only after 1777. Civil transcripts of registers were mandated during the 19th century. A tabular format was adopted after 1848. Church records commonly include births, marriages, and burials. (Source: FS Wiki)
Czech Land Books include declarations of land and property possessed, land transfers and inheritances. The Czech name of these records has varied over time.These records are now called pozemkove knihy. These books initially started being kept on the landhold level. They were later broken down to villiage, then farm level. These books were kept by a district administrator and his scribe.
There were four main types of Czech land holdings during the middle ages. These were -Domanial (belonged to the Lord or Dominus), Community land farmed in common, Parish land gifted to the church by peasants or local authorities, and Peasant holdings.
The land records of greatest genealogical significance are the land books [pozemkové knihy] which record landholders and land lease titles. These date from about 1600. With the exception of church registers and civil registration, land records are the single most important source for genealogical research. In most instances the land records provide exact family relationships. Land books identify individuals in connection with their residence. They enhance the use of church registers and can be used to bridge gaps and are often essential for linking generations. When persons with the same name need to be sorted out, this can be done by house numbers and house ownership. A study of the records of a specific piece of property can give the sequence of generations of the family surname, as ownership was usually passed from father to son. Where names change from generation to generation, land books are helpful in making proper family connections. (Source: FS Wiki)
Denmark, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, is a Nordic country and the southernmost of the Scandinavian nations. Denmark lies southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and is bordered to the south by Germany. The Kingdom of Denmark also comprises two autonomous constituent countries in the North Atlantic Ocean: the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Denmark proper consists of a peninsula, Jutland, and an archipelago of 443 named islands, with the largest being Zealand, Funen and the North Jutlandic Island. The islands are characterised by flat, arable land and sandy coasts, low elevation and a temperate climate. Denmark has a total area of 42,924 km2 (16,573 sq mi), land area of 42,394 km2 (16,368 sq mi), and the total area including Greenland and the Faroe Islands is 2,210,579 km2 (853,509 sq mi), and a population of 5.8 million (as of 2018). (Source: Wikipedia)
Original records of genealogical value at the National Archives include census and emigration records. Photocopies of census records from 1850 on are available to search. The copies are indexed by parish. The National Archives also has microfilm copies of all the church records for the whole country. Microfilm copies of the military records are also available at the National Archives. The National Archives of Denmark is open to the public. Microfilm copies of many records at the National Archives are available at the Family History Library, other major archives and libraries, and branches of the National Archives.
In Denmark there are four regional archives: one each for the islands of Sjælland and Fyn and two for the peninsula of Jylland. Each county deposits its church records at the respective regional archive when the records are over 100 years old. Records of genealogical value at regional archives include church (birth, marriage, and death), census, and land records. The regional archives of Denmark are open to the public. (Source: FS Wiki)
The first census in Denmark with genealogical information was taken during the summer of 1787. Unfortunately, this meant that most seamen and seasonal workers were away. The next census was taken in 1801, and then again in 1834. Beginning in 1840, a census was taken every five years until 1860. After 1860, the census was taken every ten years until the end of the century. Beginning in 1901, censuses were again taken every five years.
The 1787, 1801, 1834, and 1840 censuses give the names of all members of the household, their ages, sexes, occupations, relationships to the head of the household and marital statuses. The 1845 and later censuses list the names, ages, occupations, relationships to the head of the household, religious affiliations, and birthplaces (county and parish) of all members of the household.
There have been a few special censuses taken at the kommune (city or parish) level in certain areas throughout Denmark. These kommunal censuses were taken whenever they were needed, usually in the bigger cities. They had the same information as the national census plus extra information. It is always good to check if there is a kommunal census for the area you are researching, as they can help fill in gaps that national censuses miss. (Source: FS Wiki)
Approximately 80-85% of Danes are members of the Church of Denmark, with about 5% of Evangelical Lutherans attending weekly services.
Church records are excellent sources for accurate information on names, dates, and places of births, marriages, and deaths. Virtually every person who lived in Denmark was recorded in a church record. In addition, church records may also include introductions, communions, absolutions, church accounts, confirmations, and lists of people moving into or out of the parish. (Source: FS Wiki)
Danish emigration records can be a useful source of genealogical information. They are usually found as passenger lists. The information in these records includes the emigrants' names, ages, occupations, and destinations and often the places of birth and last places of residence. These sources can be very valuable in helping you determine where in Denmark your ancestor came from. They can also help in constructing family groups. If you do not find your ancestor, you may find emigration information about your ancestor's neighbors. People who lived near each other in Denmark sometimes settled together in the country they emigrated to.
Most Danish emigrants left through the port of København (Copenhagen). The departure records from this port are called passenger lists. These lists begin in 1869. The information in them varies over time, but it usually includes the emigrants' names, ages, occupations, and destinations. Relationships and last residence or birthplace may also be given. Most Danish immigrants to the United States arrived at the ports of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Quebec, and Montreal. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of the records and indexes for many of these ports. (Source: FS Wiki)
The Dominican Republic is a country located in the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands, along with Saint Martin, that are shared by two sovereign states. The Dominican Republic is the second-largest Caribbean nation by area (after Cuba) at 48,671 square kilometers (18,792 sq mi), and third by population with approximately 10 million people, of which approximately three million live in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo, the capital city. (Source: Wikipedia)
Each civil registrar (Oficial del Estado Civil) is required to keep a duplicate registry of the original records of birth, marriage, divorce, and death. At the end of each year, the original registry, together with its corresponding index book, is sent to the Central Office of the Civil State. These civil registrations allow people to be identified as citizens and therefore able to receive governmental benefits in the future. The birth of a child in the Dominican Republic must be registered within 30 days of the birth. After that, it is considered a late registration and has penalties. However, to avoid the penalties, many children were not registered. Common civil registration records include birth, marriage, and death. (Source: FS Wiki)
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Ecuador also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) west of the mainland. The capital city is Quito and the largest city as well. (Source: Wikipedia)
El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is San Salvador. As of 2016, the country had a population of approximately 6.34 million. (Source: Wikipedia)
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north-northwest. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight. (Source: Wikipedia)
Before the Burial Acts of 1852 and 1853, most people were buried in church graveyards. The Burial Acts enabled the town officials to purchase and use land as civil graveyards. Private companies also maintained cemeteries before and after this time. Civil cemetery registers are located at local archives or libraries or are held by the group controlling the cemetery.
To find monumental inscriptions, you need to know where an individual was buried. The person may have been buried in a church, city, or public cemetery—usually near the place where he lived or died. You can find clues to burial places in church records, death certificates, or family histories.
(Source: FS Wiki)
Church records are the main source for genealogy prior to 1837, when civil registration began. They are also a useful source after 1837, in conjunction with civil registration.
Although a nationwide order was given in 1538 that each parish keep a register of baptisms, marriages, and burials, many parishes did not start to keep registers until later and some early records have since been lost or destroyed. Beginning in 1598, copies of entries from many parishes were copied and sent annually to the bishop for the diocese of that area and these copies are known as Bishop's Transcripts or BTs. The percentage of parish registers being kept in 1600 is around 54% and in 1555 14.8% and only 7.2% in 1538. Other records must be used to help establish ancestry. (Source: FS Wiki)
In the early 1800s, Parliament recognized the need for accurate records for voting, planning, taxation, and defense purposes. Legislation was passed to create a civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths for England and Wales and, for registering the same for British subjects abroad. England and Wales registration began on 1 July 1837, and covered births, marriages, divorces and deaths. However one problem with English civil registration is that coverage was not universal, especially in the earlier years before tougher laws in 1874. Use Church Records in these cases. (Source: FS Wiki)
Court records will probably mention some of your ancestors as defendants, plaintiffs, jurors, or witnesses. Court records can establish family relationships and places of residence. They often provide occupations, descriptions of individuals, and other family information. They seldom provide birth, marriage, or death information.
Most researchers use court records after they have investigated other records. Court records tend to be difficult to use since few are indexed, the handwriting is hard to read, and they include unfamiliar legal terms. To interpret court records, you may need to consult a dictionary. (Source: FS Wiki)
Probate records are court records dealing with the distribution of a person's estate after death. Information recorded may include the death date, names of heirs, family members, and guardians, relationships, residences, inventories of the estate (including trade and household goods), and names of witnesses.
Probate records are very useful for family historians because they are often the only record for the time period before census records, where all members of a family might be listed. They can give vital information such as localities that the individual is associated with. They were recorded much earlier than birth, marriage, and death registration.
While probate records are one of the most accurate sources of genealogical evidence, they must be used with caution. For example, they may a) omit the name of the eldest son who received his inheritance according to the law, or the names of others who had previously received their inheritance, or any deceased family members; b) mention children from a spouse's previous marriage; c) mention a spouse who is not the parent of the children named; or d) give inaccurate relationships of people mentioned in the document. (Source: FamilySearch Wiki) (Source: FS Wiki)
Probate records were not created for every person who died. Courts probated estates (with or without a will) for fewer than 10 percent of English heads of households before 1858. However, as much as one-fourth of the population either left a will or was mentioned in one.
The English system historically has allowed a portion of a person's property to be divisible by will or testament. That portion changed over time according to circumstances, locality, and number of surviving heirs. For example, the unrestricted right to dispose of personal property by will was granted in the province of York in 1693, and widow's third (a widow's right to one-third of her husband's estate) was barred in 1833.
With the exception of apostates, heretics, traitors, and suicides, any free male over 14, unmarried females over 12, or widows of sound mind could leave a last will and testament. If land was part of the estate, a person had to be at least 21.
Wills were made primarily by the middle and upper classes, the majority of whom were nobility, gentry, merchants, or tradesmen. Most wills were left by males with property. Before 1882 a wife who died before her husband could not make a will except with her husband's consent or under a marriage settlement created before her marriage.
When a property owner died without leaving a valid will, the next-of-kin or creditors may have received Letters of Administration.
Until 1660 when a landholder died, his heir, if of age, had to pay a fee called "livery" to the Crown before taking possession of the land. If underage, the heir became a ward of the Crown. Crown jurisdiction was determined by an "inquisition post mortem." Records of inquisitions may list heirs, their relationships to the deceased, and land holdings. The practice of selling the Crown's guardianship to a third party led to the Court of Wards and Liveries, which was a source of funds for the government.
Before 1750 heirs often did not prove wills in order to avoid court costs. The will was often kept in case someone later objected to the property's distribution. As a result, wills were sometimes probated many years after the testator's death (one was as late as 76 years later). Some archives have collections of unproved wills. Other wills may be among family papers.
When a father or widow died leaving minor children, relatives usually took the children without court sanction. Sometimes the court appointed a guardian or curator to look after the children's interests until they were 21. If a child was under marriageable age (12 for girls and 14 for boys), guardianship was called "tuition." If the child was of marriageable age but under 21, it was called "curation."
Critical to researching English aristocracy is the understanding of primogeniture. The word defines the rights of inheritance for the aristocracy. Tradition usually followed included that the first surviving son is the only child who can inherit both title and property. If his father was a Sir, Earl, Lord, Baron, etc., this son becomes the holder of the title upon his father's death. The second born son could be seen often serving as an officer in the military. A second son did not usually accede to title or property unless his elder brother dies intestate. The third and subsequent sons often were inducted into the church, becoming vicars, bishops, etc. or other occupations.
Daughters could inherit property, although this did not occur often. Essentially, daughters could only inherit if there were no surviving male heirs and the property was not entailed; all surviving daughters would inherit the property together as co-heiresses.
Entail (also known as fee tail) was a way in which property and title was passed intact in a pre-determined chain of succession. If no sons survived, the property and title would pass to the nearest male descendant. This way, the estate would remain whole instead of being divided. (Source: FamilySearch Wiki) (Source: FS Wiki)
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland with Finland on the other side, to the west by the Baltic Sea with Sweden on the other side, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia (338.6 km). The territory of Estonia consists of a mainland and 2,222 islands in the Baltic Sea, covering a total area of 45,227 km2 (17,462 sq mi), water 2,839 km2 (1,096 sq mi), land area 42,388 km2 (16,366 sq mi), and is influenced by a humid continental climate. The official language of the country, Estonian, is the second most spoken Finnic language. (Source: Wikipedia)
Censuses have been enumerated in Estonia in 1881, 1897, 1922, 1934, 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989, 2000, 2011. The 1897 census was conducted by Imperial Russia. (Source: FS Wiki)
Historically, Estonia was a largely-Christian country. A large percentage of Estonians belonged to the Lutheran church, the established church. A substantial proportion of the population was Russian Orthodox; there was also smaller groups of Jews, Old Believers, and Baptists.
The Lutheran church began keeping records in the 1680s, although many of the earlier records have been destroyed (mainly through parish fires). Lutherans recorded christenings, weddings, and religious funerals until the 1840s, when part of the population converted to the Orthodox faith. These Lutheran records can be found in the Estonian Historical Archives in Tartu. Church records are generally well kept.
In 1926, the registering of births, marriages, and deaths was passed over to the civil service. Clerics could also perform the registrar's duty if they observed the requirements of the state. (Source: FS Wiki)
In 1926, the registering of births, marriages, and deaths was passed over to the civil service. Clerics could also perform the registrar's duty if they observed the requirements of the state. Before 1926, birth, marriage, and death information can be found in church records. (Source: FS Wiki)
Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,100 nautical miles (2,000 km; 1,300 mi) northeast of New Zealand's North Island. Its closest neighbours are Vanuatu to the west, New Caledonia to the southwest, New Zealand's Kermadec Islands to the southeast, Tonga to the east, the Samoas and France's Wallis and Futuna to the northeast, and Tuvalu to the north. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands, of which 110 are permanently inhabited—and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about 18,300 square kilometres (7,100 sq mi). The two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, account for 87% of the total population of 898,760. The capital, Suva, on Viti Levu, serves as the country's principal cruise-ship port. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts, either in Suva or in smaller urban centres such as Nadi. (Source: Wikipedia)
The first census in Fiji was enumerated in 1881. It consisted of: Return of the total population -- Census of Fijians (Provincial dept.) -- Agricultural returns for 1880 (European) -- Return births, deaths & marriages 1880 (Fijian) -- Causes of deaths (Europeans) 1876-1880 -- Meteorological returns 1880.
Other censuses have been enumerated in 1911, 1921, 1936, 1946, and every ten years since. You can find statistical analysis but no names for these censuses online.
Items enumerated in each census by law include: 1. Names, sex and age; 2. Occupation, profession, trade, employment; 3. Nationality, birthplace, race, language, health; 4. Place of abode, character of dwellings and fittings; 5. Condition as to marriage, relation to head of family, issue born in marriage; 6. Religion; 7. Livestock; 8. Any other matters with respect to which it is desirable to obtain statistical information with a view to ascertaining the social or civil condition of the population. (Source: FS Wiki)
Civil registration records uniquely identify individuals and connects them to their parents.
Other censuses have been enumerated in 1911, 1921, 1936, 1946, and every ten years since. You can find statistical analysis but no names for these censuses online. Civil registration begins late in Melanesia as compared to other areas of the world but it is the most complete source for genealogical purposes. The time period is 1874-present.
Birth, marriage, and death records have the exact date of the event, including time of day for births; name of principal and parents; occupation and religious preference of parents; name of informant for births and names of witnesses for marriages; place of residence for parents of new born, of the groom and bride for marriages, and of the deceased for deaths; age at death, cause of death, and place of burial in death records. (Source: FS Wiki)
Primarily three groups of people comprise most of the immigrants to Fiji; Europeans, who started coming in 1835; Indians who came in 1879; and other Polynesians. The primary emigration of people from Fiji are to the following four countries: Australia, U.S.A., New Zealand and Canada. (Source: FS Wiki)
There is a large collection of the newspapers of Fiji at the Sir Alport Barker Memorial Library, part of the Central Archives of Fiji. (Source: FS Wiki)
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a country in Northern Europe bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between Norway to the north, Sweden to the northwest, and Russia to the east. Finland is a Nordic country and is situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia. The capital and largest city is Helsinki. Other major cities are Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Oulu and Turku. Finland's population is 5.52 million (2018), and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region. 88.7% of the population is Finnish and speaks Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages; next come the Finland-Swedes (5.3%). Finland is the eighth-largest country in Europe and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. (Source: Wikipedia)
If you know the specific area where your ancestor lived, you may contact the local mortuary for information about burials that occurred after the 1920s.
Cemeteries and churchyards keep records of the location of graves. Graves are often reused after 25 years, and the tombstones are replaced. But the cemetery records generally provide both birth and death dates of everyone who has been buried there. (Source: FS Wiki)
In Finland records similar to census records are called henkikirjat/mantalslängder. These records were a type of population registration kept for taxation purposes. Various tax lists were kept from the 1530s on; however, they are not as comprehensive as the henkikirjat/mantalsängder, which began in 1634.
Another record similar to a census is the communion book. The henkikirjat/mantalslängder precede the earliest church records and can frequently be used to extend family lines beyond what is recorded in the church records. They also can be used to fill in information where the church records have gaps or are missing. (Source: FS Wiki)
Church records, made by parish ministers, are often referred to as parish registers or churchbooks. They include records of christenings and births, marriages, burials and deaths, and communions. Church records may also include account books, confirmations, and records of people moving in and out of a parish.
In general the Lutheran church began keeping records after a 1686 royal decree. Each parish gradually complied with this decree. Before the decree some prominent churchmen, including bishop Johannes Rudbeckius in Sweden and bishops Isak Rothovius and Johannes Gezelius in Finland, promoted record keeping. Hence, some parishes began keeping records earlier. For example, Teisko birth records begin in 1648.
Church records (kirkonkirjat/kyrkoböcker) are the primary sources for accurate information on names; dates; and places of births, marriages, and deaths. Since the state entrusted the church to keep vital records, virtually every person who lived in Finland was recorded in the church records from the time the records began.
In Finland, birth, marriage, and death records are called history books (historiakirjat/historieböcker), and the communion books are called main books (pääkirjat/huvudböcker). (Source: FS Wiki)
Vital records of Finland have traditionally been kept by the church. In 1923 a freedom of religion law was passed. As a result, people who did not have a religious preference were recorded in a civil registry [Siviilirekisteri/Civil registret]. Later, people who belonged to churches other than the state churches were also included in the civil registry. (Source: FS Wiki)
Probate records are court records that describe the distribution of a person's estate after his or her death. Information includes the name of the deceased person, death date, names of heirs and guardians, relationships, residences, an inventory and appraisal of the estate, a list of the deceased's debts, and names of assessors. These records are very helpful for research as they establish relationships that may be hard to prove in other ways because of patronymic names.
Because laws determined which heirs got what percentage of an estate, it was often not necessary to write wills; consequently, usually only the upper classes wrote them.
After a person died, two appraisers usually visited the house and made an inventory and appraisal of the property. In addition, creditors listed their claims against the estate. A probate official then deducted the debts and court fees from the assets. If money was left over, it was divided up among the heirs. The widow usually received half of the estate. The remainder was divided equally among the children. Boys were allotted double the girls' portion.
Because this process was so well defined, records were not always kept. Probate cases that were recorded usually involved minor children or children from more than one marriage. To ensure that these heirs would be justly treated, guardians were appointed to represent the underage children and any unmarried female heirs. The law was changed in the mid-1860s to allow women to represent themselves. (Source: FS Wiki)
France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories.[XIII] The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.
The country's 18 integral regions (five of which are situated overseas) span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.3 million (as of October 2018).[10] France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice. (Source: Wikipedia)
Archives collect and preserve original documents of organizations. These documents include government and church records. Libraries normally collect published sources such as books, maps, and microfilms.
If you plan to visit one of these repositories, contact the organization and ask for information about their collection, hours, services, and fees.
Although the records you need may be in an archive or library in France, the Family History Library has filmed over half of the vital records of France. A microfilm copy may be available in Salt Lake City or in its FamilySearch centers.
France has three major types of genealogical repositories: Departmental archives, Town registrars, and other libraries, networks, and archives. (Source: FS Wiki)
In France, tombstones with inscriptions can be found from as early as the 18th century. The inscriptions may apply to entire families, because members of the same family may be buried in the same grave in layers for several generations. Family inscriptions are especially common for the recent 20th century. Some older French graves have been replaced by new graves with recently deceased persons and new tombstones.
Cemetery records may include the name of the deceased, age, birth date, death date, and sometimes marriage information. They may also provide clues about military service, occupation, place of residence at time of death, or membership in an organization, such as a lodge. It is illegal to photograph French tombstones without permission of the cemetery keeper.
Cemetery files are usually kept at the town hall. The cemetery keeper at the entrance to a cemetery may have alphabetical files with detailed information and relationships.
A Jewish or German cemetery may be adjacent to but separated from the Catholic cemetery. (Source: FS Wiki)
French national censuses have not been microfilmed and are seldom used for genealogical research. Unlike the censuses of the United States, Canada, or Great Britain, they cannot be easily used to locate families. Because French censuses are not indexed, it is not easy to find a name in them. Church records and indexed civil registration are better sources. (Source: FS Wiki)
Church records [registres paroissiaux] are excellent sources for information on names, dates, and places of baptisms, marriages, and deaths. Most persons who lived in France were recorded in a church record.
Records of births (baptisms), marriages, and deaths are commonly called "vital records" because critical events in a person's life are recorded in them. Church records are vital records made by priests. They are often referred to as parish registers or church books. They include records of births, christenings, marriages, and burials. Church records may also contain other information, lists, or documents. Other helpful church records are marriage banns, marriage rehabilitations, and abjurations from Protestantism.
Church records are crucial for pre-1792 research in France. Since civil authorities did not begin registering vital statistics until 1792, church records are often the only sources of family information before this date. After 1792 Church records continued to be kept, but such records were usually not filmed because they are incomplete and less accurate than the civil registers.
The Catholic churches in France were among the first to keep vital records. The Council of Trent in 1563 issued the first mandate that Roman Catholic parishes keep records of christenings. A later directive in 1579 required the keeping of marriage and death records. The churches in France did not always comply with this regulation. Many Catholic registers date from the mid-1600s, but a few date back to the 1500s. However, there are some earlier records, such as the parish registers of Givry (Saône-et-Loire) which go from 1334 to 1357 and the records of Roz Landrieux (Ille-et-Villaine) from 1451 to 1528. Records were kept in French or Latin.
Although many of the very early records may have been preserved, many parishes have gaps in their records, especially before 1736. The information recorded in church books varied over time. The later records usually give more complete information.
Catholic records are usually written in French or Latin. Protestant records in Alsace were often written in German. Some records from the area of Nice are in Italian. Local dialects may have affected the spelling of some names and other words in the church records. Some given names are common to some areas and unknown in others. Catholic children were usually baptized within two days of birth. Some were given an emergency baptism [ondoyé] by the midwife when the child was in danger of death. Protestant children were usually baptized within a few weeks of birth. (Source: FS Wiki)
French civil registration offices are excellent sources for accurate information on names, dates, and places of births, marriages, and deaths in their area. In addition, civil registration may include divorce records.
Civil records are crucial for research in France. Civil authorities began registering births, marriages, and deaths in 1792. After this date, all individuals who lived in France are recorded. Because these records cover all the population, are indexed, are easily accessible, provide more information than church records, and include persons of all denominations, they are the most important source for genealogical research in France. Other significant genealogical sources, such as church records, are not easily available after 1792, not complete, not necessarily accurate and not considered as reliable a source as the civil registers. For many families, civil registers are often the only valuable source of information after 1792.
Baptism, marriage, and death record duplicates that were made by the churches before 1792 are usually in the departmental archives, or sometimes in the town's civil registration office. After civil registration began in 1792, the clergy continued to keep their own parish registers separate from civil registers.
The information recorded in civil registration records varied over time. The later records usually give more complete information than the earlier ones.
The most important civil records for genealogical research are birth, marriage, and death registers. References to other documents are often noted in the text or marginal entry of the civil records. This practice alerts researchers to look for documents such as acknowledgment of paternity, subsequent marriage of the parents of an illegitimate child, name rectification, or any court judgment regarding the person, or the name and date of the notary who wrote the marriage contract.
Most French civil registers are written in French, with the exception of areas under a foreign influence. In Alsace-Lorraine, some civil registers are in German. In Nice and Corse, some are in Italian. (Source: FS Wiki)
Emigration and immigration records list the names of people leaving (emigration) or coming into (immigration) France. These lists are usually found as permissions to emigrate; records of passports issued, including passports for the interior; records of border crossings; and lists of prisoners deported. The information in these records may include the name of the emigrant, age, occupation; usually include the place of origin and destination; and sometimes include the reason for leaving. These sources can be very valuable in helping you determine where in France your ancestor came from. French emigration records are very incomplete and are not usually indexed.
In addition to their usefulness in determining where an emigrant lived in the nation before leaving, these records can help you construct family groups. If you don't find your ancestor, you may find emigration information about neighbors of your ancestor. People who lived near each other in France often settled together in the nation where they emigrated to. (Source: FS Wiki)
Military records identify individuals who served in the military or who were eligible for service. Most young men were required to serve in or register for military service in France. Evidence that an ancestor actually served may be found in family records, civil registrations, biographies, censuses, probate records, military conscription records, and church records.
Some French military records begin as early as the 1500s. They may give information about an ancestor's military career, such as promotions, places served, pensions, and conduct. In addition, these records may include information about his age, birthplace, residence, occupation, physical description, and family members. (Source: FS Wiki)
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and North Seas to the north, and the Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France to the southwest, and Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands to the west.
Germany includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,386 square kilometres (137,988 sq mi), and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With 83 million inhabitants, it is the second most populous state of Europe after Russia, the most populous state lying entirely in Europe, as well as the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is a very decentralized country. Its capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while Frankfurt serves as its financial capital and has the country's busiest airport. Germany's largest urban area is the Ruhr, with its main centres of Dortmund and Essen. The country's other major cities are Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Leipzig, Dresden, Bremen, Hannover, and Nuremberg. (Source: Wikipedia)
Germany Archives collect and preserve original documents from organizations such as churches or governments. Libraries collect mostly published sources, such as books, maps, and microfilm.
If you plan to visit one of these repositories, contact the archive or library and ask for information about its collection, hours, services, and fees. Also ask who may use their facility.
Although the original records you need may be in an archive or library in Germany, the Family History Library may have a microfilm copy of them, or they may be available on the Internet. Check the FamilySearch Catalog and online resources before writing to or visiting archives in Germany.
German archives and parishes often refer family history letters to historical or genealogical societies. Members of these societies can usually search the local archives. Sometimes the archive will recommend other archives to which you can write. (Source: FS Wiki)
Most older German graves have been replaced with recently deceased persons and new tombstones. However, copies of some old tombstone inscriptions are available, especially for private or church cemeteries and crypts. Parish register burials, funeral sermons, bell tolling accounts, and civil registration death records are easier to find than tombstone inscriptions. Another alternative is if there is a general family plot in the area, your ancestor may have been buried there in the past but since replaced. Living relatives still in the area may be able to provide more information on family members that were once buried there.
Cemetery records may include the deceased's name, age, death or burial date, birth year or date, and marriage information. They may also provide clues about military service, religion, occupation, place of residence at time of death, or membership in an organization, such as a lodge. (Source: FS Wiki)
German censuses may not be as helpful as censuses from other countries because better sources, such as church records and civil registration, are available. Only the compiled statistical information that was gathered from the censuses is generally available. Census records of some towns and regions may be accessible at various archives, but most are presently not available to researchers. (Source: FS Wiki)
Church records (parish registers, church books) are an important source for genealogical research in Germany before 1876. They recorded details of baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials. The vast majority of the population was mentioned. In addition, church records can contain financial account books, (the record charges for toll bells, fees for masses for the dead, and so on), lists of confirmation, penance register communion lists, lists of members and the family register.
Church records also often contain information on local minority faith populations. For example often Evangelical Registers in West Prussia are also populated with Mennonite data, when Mennonites lived in those regions.
In general you will need to know the religion of your ancestors as different religions kept separate records. The main religious division in Germany was between Catholics (Katholische) and Protestants, comprised mainly of Lutherans (Evangelisch) and Reformed. Catholic records are generally written in Latin, while other records will be written in the local language.
In many regions, it was also common for the local church records to function in the role of Civil Registries. This is especially true in the further Eastern regions (ie. West Prussia, East Prussia). (Source: FS Wiki)
Civil registration records are records of births, marriages, and deaths kept by the government. German terms for these records include Standesamtsregister, Zivilstandsregister, or Personenstandsregister. They are an excellent source for information on names and dates and places of births, marriages, and deaths. These records are kept by the civil registrar [German: Standesbeamte] at the civil registry office (Standesamt).
Because they cover about 98% of the population and often provide more information than church records, civil registration records are important sources for German genealogical research, especially after 1876 when the entirety of Germany established civil registration. (Source: FS Wiki)
Courts may be found on various levels of government: within the local community, on the district- or Kreis level, or higher. They vary widely in function and the types of records that may be created within their jurisdictions. Marriage contracts and permission papers, guardianship records, probate records, land records, and property transfers are some records kept by courts. Marriage contracts are the most common early court records of value to family historians.
There were over fifty kinds of courts (each with a different jurisdiction) in the German states before 1870. Court records are rarely indexed, so finding an ancestor in them is difficult. Search court records only after you have tried all other record types first. You may need professional help to use court records.
If you do find a person mentioned in court records, you will often find much useful information. Age, residence, political allegiance, property, debts, misdemeanors, taxes, adoptions,and guardianship are typical information in German court records. Divorces are also recorded in court records, but they are rare before the 1900s. For information about wills, see the "Probate Records" section. https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Germany_Court_Records (Source: FS Wiki)
Directories are alphabetical lists of names and addresses. Some German directories list all the adult residents or tradesmen who lived in a town or area at the time the directory was published. A directory of book sellers was published in Augsburg in 1564. The earliest German city directory, for the city of Halle, was published in 1701. Directories have become common since then. The German Term is "Adressbuch", plural "Adressbücher".
Address books, AKA city directories, can be a big help when researching in larger towns and cities. Some directories cover a larger, more rural area, such as a Kreis. Others exclude large segments of the population. For example, the city directory of Vienna, Austria, does not list servants and laborers for many years. Some address books only include businesses. It pays to check out the book's introduction pages.
The most helpful directories for genealogical research are town directories of local residents and businesses.
In recent years, directories have usually been published annually and may include names, addresses, occupations, and other helpful facts. Particularly in large cities with several parishes, addresses often help you find your ancestor's parish. Directories sometimes have town maps and may include addresses of churches, cemeteries, civil registration offices, and other locations of value to the genealogist. (Source: FS Wiki)
Significant numbers of German emigrants can be found on every continent and in many countries around the world. Millions of people left Germany in several waves of migration.
Records that document emigration from Germany include passenger lists, passports, permissions to emigrate, German and French emigration indexes, published emigration lists, police registration records, and other departure documents, as well as sources in the emigrant's new countries. (Source: FS Wiki)
Military records identify individuals who served in the military or who were eligible to serve. Germany had a large army and a small navy. Since most German states had conscription laws, most young men were required to register for military service. A young man who had not yet served had to get special permission before he could emigrate.
Evidence that an ancestor actually served in the military can sometimes be found in family records, biographies, censuses, photographs, emigration papers, medals, probate records, civil registration records, and church records.
The crucial information needed to find military records is the soldier's regiment or the sailor's ship.
German church records usually indicate social standing. This included active military service. These records usually indicated the regiment in which the man was serving. Search the sources cited above to find your ancestor's regiment, ship, or commanding officer. Commanding officers can be identified with their units relatively easily. Photographs sometimes show insignia that identify a regiment or ship. (Source: FS Wiki)
Funeral sermons include remarks (eulogies) made by ministers regarding the life of a deceased person. In Germany, these sermons were often collected and published. The middle and wealthier classes were more likely to have sermons for their dead, but sermons can occasionally be found for farmers, printers, or soldiers. Protestants started the practice and made the most funeral sermons, but Catholic priests also followed the custom.
Published funeral sermons were most popular from about 1550 to about 1750. They usually contain information such as names, dates, places, relatives, life histories, and sometimes pedigrees for many generations. Eulogies are subject to error because the information was given by relatives who did not always remember facts accurately.
If you find a phrase like "with sermon" ["mit Predigt"] in a burial record, check for a published funeral sermon. If you suspect a funeral sermon was given for one of your ancestors, you can contact archives in the area where you ancestor was buried, asking for help finding the sermon. Published abstracts are often available. (Source: FS Wiki)
Probate records and wills [Testamente] are court records that deal with the distribution of a person's estate after death. Information in probate records may include the deceased person's death date and occupation; relationships, residences and names of heirs and guardians; an inventory of the estate; and names of witnesses.
Probate records can supplement and clarify information found in parish registers and civil registration records. Depending on location and time period, they may only be available for a small segment of the local population. Most farmers, merchants, and artisans did not own their own farms or shops and did not leave wills. Relatively few probate records have been microfilmed, so they may need to be used in local and regional German archives. They are often not indexed and require relatively good reading skills. However, some German probate records are very old, as early as the 1300s, and occasionally they provide information found nowhere else. (Source: FS Wiki)
In order to research your ancestor in German records, you need to know the exact town of origin. Most of the time this information is found in U.S. sources. Thus it is very important to search all available records in the United States first.
Once you have traced your family back to a German immigrant, you must find the city or town your ancestor came from if you wish to find earlier generations. The records you will need to continue your research, such as birth, marriage, and death records, are kept in local areas. Germany has no nationwide index to these records.
Several sources may reveal where your ancestor came from. You may learn of your ancestor's place of origin by talking to older family members. Other relatives or a library may have documents that name the city or town, such as Birth, marriage, and death certificates; Obituaries; Journals; Photographs; Letters; Family Bibles; Church certificates or records; Naturalization applications and petitions; Passenger lists; and Passports.
Sometimes it is possible to guess where an immigrant originated through surname distribution maps. https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Germany_Emigration_and_Immigration (Source: FS Wiki)
Greece is a country located in Southern and Southeast Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2016. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Situated on the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a large number of islands, of which 227 are inhabited. Eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres (9,573 ft). The country consists of nine geographic regions: Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands (including the Dodecanese and Cyclades), Thrace, Crete, and the Ionian Islands. (Source: Wikipedia)
Greece belonged to the Ottoman Empire from the fifteenth century to 1821. (Source: Wikipedia)
Records of births or christenings, marriages, and deaths or burials by the church can be used with or in the absence of vital records (birth, marriage, and death records created by the state). The parish priests church records for the diocese. In many cases, these records were kept on a civil district (eparhia) level. Because there was not separate of church and state, it is sometimes difficult to clearly define where church registers end and civil registration begins. Church records are crucial for genealogical research in Greece.
The Eastern Orthodox faith is the official religion of Greece, although other religions are tolerated. About 98% of the population of Greece belongs to the Greek Orthodox Church. Greek Orthodox church records are excellent sources for accurate information on names, dates, and places of births, marriages, deaths, and relationships. During the time of Turkish rule, the Orthodox church was given control of the Christian population (millet). Priests controlled marriage, divorce, and inheritance proceedings and even collected taxes for the state. Most people who lived in Greece can be found in church records.
Greek Orthodox churches have made records for several centuries. Some church records in Greece begin in the 16th century, although most registers begin in the late 1600s and early 1700s. For birth, marriage, and death records after about 1840, there may also be a civil record. Church registers are available until about 1940.
The information recorded in church books varied over time. The later records generally give more complete information than the earlier ones. The most important church records for genealogical research are christening, marriage, and burial registers. In addition, church records may include account books, list of clergy, and lists of members. Greek Orthodox church records were written in Greek. Catholic Church registers are in Latin and Italian. Armenian church registers are in Armenian.
In early years, children were generally christened a few days after their birth. Christening registers usually give the infant’s and parents’ names (including mother's maiden name), often the grandfathers' names, status of legitimacy, names of godparents, and the birth and christening date. The patronymic name is given for each male person mentioned in the entry and husband's name for the females. You may also find the date, father’s occupation, and the family’s place of residence.
Deaths were recorded by the priest who performed the funeral and burial. Burial usually took place within 24 hours of death, either in the parish where the person died, or in the cemetery of the town where the person died. Death registers give the name of the deceased person, the dates and places of death and burial, age, marital status (widow or widower), spouse, and sometimes the cause of death. For men and single women, they may also list the parents. (Source: FS Wiki)
Marriage registers give the date and place of marriage, the names of the bride and groom, and the names of the fathers of the bride and groom. They may also list the names of witnesses and the ages and birthplaces of the bride and groom. After the early 1800s there may also be marriage permission registers with copies of documents required for approval of the marriage.
In Greece, persons who wanted to marry had to talk to the local priest. The prospective couple submitted certificates giving their birth, parentage, and other information to the local priest, who forwarded it to the diocese (mitropolis). Clerks there would check to make sure neither party was currently married to someone else, nor too closely related to the intended spouse. If no problems were found, the diocese would issue the permission for marriage. Upon receiving the diocese’s approval, the local priest performed the marriage.
Often, the only permanent record of the marriage is the information recorded by the diocese. If the marriage did not actually take place, that fact is usually noted in the diocese's records. These records generally give the same information as the parish marriage record and may also list the date the certificate was issued, the birthplaces of the bride and groom, their residence, parents’ names, and whether this was the first or a subsequent marriage. Other information varies. The original certificates that were provided by the bride and groom appear to be on file in the diocese.
Divorces before the mid-twentieth century were uncommon. Records of divorces may contain information on family members, their marital history, their property, residences, and dates of other important events such as the children’s births. Records of divorce are found either in court records or in diocese records. (Source: FS Wiki)
Greece's civil registers mostly cover the 1840s–1940s. Beginning around the 1840s, births, marriages, and deaths started to be recorded by local governments in some areas in Greece; the Ionian islands and the Dodecanese islands were two areas in which civil registration began at this time. The official record-keeping administration for civil registration, Lixiarheion, was not established until 1925. Even then, the practice of civil registration was not fully established throughout all of Greece until 1931.
Birth records are available to 1945, marriage records are available to 1950, and death records are available to the present. (Source: FS Wiki)
In 1844, a the Greek Constitution was passed and elections were held to create the first parliament. Registers were kept of names and ages of men over the age of 25, who were eligible to vote.
The lists are organized by locality, so in that sense they serve a census function. They list men in the locality over age 25 and their age. Some give the name of the voter's father and the occupation of the voter. (Source: FS Wiki)
People who lived near each other in Greece often settled together in the country they emigrated to. Records were created when individuals emigrated from or immigrated into Greece. Other records document an ancestor’s arrival in his or her destination country.
Sometimes the best sources for information about your immigrant ancestor are found in the country he or she immigrated to. These records sometimes provide the town of origin and other information. To learn about these records, use handbooks, manuals, and research guides for that country. (Source: FS Wiki)
Military records identify individuals who served in the armed forces or who were eligible for service. All men are required to serve in the armed forces in Greece when 21 years of age. Attempting to escape military service is punishable by death. In some cases the service obligation may be postponed for higher education. At certain periods, the first son of a family in which the father was deceased or where there were many children was excused as a prostatis (protector [of family]). Some may also have been excused due to health reasons or handicaps. These exceptions had to be noted in the records.
Evidence that an ancestor served in the armed forces beyond the required term of service may be found in family records, biographies, census, probate records, and civil registration. Military records give information about an ancestor’s military career, such as promotions, places served, pensions, and conduct. In addition, these records usually include information about his age, birthplace, residence, occupation, physical description, and family members.
Records of military service in Greece are kept by the government in various archive locations. The Family History Library has some military records, for the nineteenth century and more recently. To use Greek military records, determine the year your ancestor would have been called to service (when he was 21 years old). Males are listed in records by the year they come of age for military service. You must also know at least the town where your ancestor was born. (Source: FS Wiki)
Naturalization is the process of granting citizenship privileges and responsibilities to residents. Greek citizenship was generally extended by individual cities to certain of their inhabitants and did not pertain to the country as a whole. Until the twentieth century, only males of the middle or upper classes were granted citizenship. A citizen had privileges that included, rights to engage in business in a city, protections under the law, and permission to reside in a city without being expelled.
Citizenship records include information about the citizen, including names, ages, social and economic status, occupation and training, and, sometimes, birthplaces and relationships.
The original citizenship books are generally kept by the city and may be found in city archives or city halls. Citizenship records from the GAK in Athens have been filmed. (Source: FS Wiki)
In Greece, all legal transactions are recorded by notary offices (Symvolaiografeion). Notaries kept records such as dowry and marriage contracts (proikoa), wills (diathiki), land transfer contracts, and mortgage, business, and property records.
Notary records contain useful information linking families, proving relationships, and providing some marriage and death information. Because these records exist from the 1400s, they are a valuable source for the pre-church register and pre-municipal record time period. (Source: FS Wiki)
Probate records are court records that describe the distribution of a person’s estate after he or she dies. Information in the records may include the death date, names of heirs and guardians, relationships, residences, an inventory of the estate, and names of witnesses.
Various wills, dowry contracts, settlements, and other such documents from the 1600s to the 1900s were included with church records of the Catholic church in the county of Kykladon, Greece. These can be found in the FamilySearch Catalog.
In other parts of Greece, such records were generally kept by a notary public. The Greek Orthodox Church had the responsibility of keeping probate records for Greek residents of other eastern European countries during Ottoman rule. The Family History Library has microfilmed probate records of Greeks in Albania in the Greek diocese records. (Source: FS Wiki)
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, Belize and the Caribbean to the northeast, Honduras to the east, El Salvador to the southeast and the Pacific Ocean to the south. With an estimated population of around 16.6 million, it is the most populated country in Central America. Guatemala is a representative democracy; its capital and largest city is Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción, also known as Guatemala City. (Source: Wikipedia)
Church records were kept from the mid-1500's to the present. Civil registration began in 1877, after which time you can use both record sources to support each other. (Source: FS Wiki)
Hungary is a country in Central Europe. Spanning 93,030 square kilometres (35,920 sq mi) in the Carpathian Basin, it borders Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Austria to the northwest, Romania to the east, Serbia to the south, Croatia to the southwest, and Slovenia to the west. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a medium-sized member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken Uralic language in the world. Hungary's capital and its largest city and metropolis is Budapest. Other major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr. (Source: Wikipedia)
Church Registers refer to the records of births/christenings, marriages, and deaths/burials recorded by churches (also First Communions, Confirmations and conversions). At the Peace of Linz in 1645, Hungary successfully forced the ruling Habsburgs to recognize four religions: Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Unitarianism.
Roman Catholic: Roman Catholic parishes were first required to keep church registers in 1563 by order of the Council of Trent. Unfortunately most of Hungary was under Turkish rule at that time and was unable to comply. Only a few Franciscan registers exist from the Turkish period and these start in the 1660s. Most Catholic records begin shortly after the Turks were forced to leave in 1686.
Greek Catholic: In three separate agreements, made during the 1600s, Orthodox ethnic groups (Ukrainian Ruthenes, Romanians, and Serbs) agreed to accept the jurisdiction of the pope while retaining Orthodox liturgy and ritual in order to gain legal status and its accompanying freedoms and benefits. The resulting Uniate churches were called Greek Catholic. Most Greek Catholic parishes began keeping registers in the mid 1700s.
Reformed: Calvinist Protestantism became the dominant religion of Hungarians in the late 1500s. Many Hungarians remained faithful to this religion despite the Counter Reformation efforts by the Habsburgs which began in 1604 and continued into the late 1700s, aiming to reassert Roman Catholicism in Hungary. The keeping of Reformed church registers began in the early 1700s after the Turks were replaced by the Christian Austrian government.
Lutheran: Lutheranism was accepted by many Germans in Hungary at about the same time Calvinism was adopted by the Hungarians. Their church registers begin in the early 1700s with the departure of the Turks.
Unitarian: Unitarianism (anti-trinitarianism) was introduced to Transylvania in the mid 16th century. Unitarians were considered heretics in many other lands but were legally recognized by Hungary after 1609. Unitarianism is identified with the Hungarian minority in Transylvania.
In 1730, Hungarian Catholic priests were ordered to record non-Catholics in their church register books. A new format for the records was introduced in 1771. In 1781 the Emperor Joseph II issued the Toleration Patent which recognized Protestantism and Judaism throughout the empire. After 1784 the Emperor Joseph II declared church registers to be official state records. Protestants were officially required to maintain registers under Catholic supervision. Imperial law also required that the church registers record births, deaths and marriages separately for each village in the parish. In Hungary, Protestants were authorized in 1787 to keep their registers independent of Catholic control.
The oldest church registers date from the 1630s, but the earliest entries in the registers of most parishes were made in the 1686-1740 time period. Church records continue to the present. (Source: FS Wiki)
Civil Registration (Állami anyakönyvek) refers to records of births, marriages, and deaths maintained by civil authorities. One of the main reasons for the introduction of Hungarian civil registration in 1895 was the conflict in the late 1800s over the baptism of children of mixed marriages.
Hungarian Civil registration began on October 1, 1895 and continues to the present. (Source: FS Wiki)
Military Records refer to records of military service. Hungarian soldiers served in the military of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Early records were only of officers. Later, the Austrian army kept personal files on all soldiers called muster rolls or foundation books. Up to 1869 most records are arranged by regiment or unit and time period; thus they are unusable unless the researcher can determine the military unit to which an individual belonged, personal files on officers were called officers qualification lists. These lists are arranged alphabetically for the whole empire for the years 1828 to 1918. Several other military record types also exist. (Source: FS Wiki)
Iceland is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic, with a population of 348,580 and an area of 103,000 km2 (40,000 sq mi), making it the most sparsely populated country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Reykjavík, with Reykjavík and the surrounding areas in the southwest of the country being home to over two-thirds of the population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains, and glaciers, and many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence keep summers chilly, with most of the archipelago having a tundra climate. (Source: Wikipedia)
Iceland was settled by Vikings in 874. It was governed by Denmark from 1381 to 1944, when it gained full independence as a Republic. (Source: FS Wiki)
Capital Area Cemeteries (Kirkjugaðar Reykjavíkurprófastsdæma) has information on the various cemeteries in three muncipalities: Reykjavík, Kópavogur and Seltjarnarnesbær . The site can be found at http://www.kirkjugardar.is/sida_en.php?id=331.
Select cemeteries in Iceland can be searched through Gardur. Bear in mind the website is in Icelandic but can be translated to English. Ideally, you should search with Name, Birth Date and Death Date. If you want to search a cemetery through Capital Area Cemeteries, it will direct you to Gadur. (Source: FS Wiki)
Because Iceland was under Danish rule until 1944, when the Danish officials ordered a census taken, that same order and census format extended to Danish posessions, which included Iceland. However, there were censuses taken in Iceland which are not found for Denmark.
These special censuses were taken in 1703, 1762, and 1816. The 1703 census included genealogical information and listed all residents by name. The next census was taken in 1762. This census only included the names of adult males who were farm owners, land leasers, or tenant farmers. Females, laborers, children and the poor were not listed by name, but are included in the number counts. A census taken in 1816 lists the names of all residents and asks for their birthplace among other items.
Census which used the Danish format were taken in 1801, and then again in 1834 (1835 for Iceland). Beginning in 1840, a census was taken every five years until 1860. After 1860, the census was taken every ten years until the end of the century. Beginning in 1901, censuses were again taken every five years. The census forms had Danish language headings through 1845. Beginning in 1850, the forms used were printed in Icelandic. (Source: FS Wiki)
Church books are the primary source of birth, marriage, and death information in Iceland. They identify names of parents and prove other relationships and are the official vital records of Iceland until 1953. They also include lists of priests, parish move-ins and move-outs, and church census data. The king of Denmark issued a royal decree in 1735 and again in 1746 commanding the Icelandic clergy to keep registers of vital events. Although slow in starting, this system of maintaining vital records became well established. The earliest records date from 1664; most date from about 1750-1780 to present. As required by law, these records are deposited in the National Archives. Recent records are in local parish custody.
This system of recording vital events worked so well that it became the official government registry of births, marriages and deaths. In 1914 the government established the Statistical Bureau of Iceland [Hagstofa Íslands], responsible for all statistical data for the country. It oversaw the accurate recording of vital events and starting 1916 received transcripts of births, marriages, and deaths from Church records and for non-Lutherans received vital record information from county offices [sýslumaður].
Since 1953, the National Registry, a department of the Statistical Bureau, is responsible for maintaining the national register of persons. It provides unified, centralized registration of the entire population for administrative and statistical uses. The national register of persons is continuously updated and includes ID numbers, addresses and address changes, deaths, etc. Information on births is obtained from birth reports submitted by maternity institutions and midwives. Lutheran ministers and heads of other religious communities report at least monthly on baptisms, marriages, and deaths. Town and county magistrates report on civil marriages. The Ministry of Justice reports naturalizations, divorces, adoptions and name changes. The national register of persons is the one, single register of persons in the country and is therefore utilized by virtually all relevant public authorities and is also used extensively by the private sector: banks, insurance companies, etc. (Source: FS Wiki)
These are records of civil proceedings which include marriage settlements, disputes between executors, property and land settlements, real estate transactions, and so forth; also include criminal offences against the crown whereby property could be confiscated. They can be used to locate persons to places of residence with relationships. These records are of greatest value before 1800 when many parish church books were not yet being kept or were incomplete.
The earliest records date from 1597 to 1612; a few records date from the mid-1600s; The majority of preserved court records do not start until the early 1700s and continue to 1805. They contain transcriptions of civil and criminal action containing names of persons involved, relationships, if any, to other persons mentioned, places of residence, dates; personal, legal, and moral circumstances. (Source: FS Wiki)
Icelandic Emigration began later than other Scandinavian countries partly due to the isolated nature of the Island. Icelandic Emigration can be hard to trace as Iceland was a part of Denmark and counted among their citizens.
By the 19th century, some Icelanders were emigrating to the United States and tended to settle around the Great Lakes. At first attaching themselves to other Scandinavian settlements but eventually establishing their own communities mainly in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Emigration records provide information about date of emigration, enable descendants to determine the village or farm where their ancestors originated. These include special lists of emigrants [Sérstakir Listar um Útflytjendur til Amerika] drawn up at each of the county offices [sýslumaður] from 1876 to 1893, entries and notations in church books, and copies of passenger contracts between emigrants and shipping agents.
Mortgage records give places of residence, and family relationships, particularly of value before church records. They are records of property and real estate transactions; the sale, transfer, or leasing of property. In many cases these records give details of family relationships and contain information regarding real estate conveyances, mortgages, agreements, contracts, etc., which sometimes contain such genealogical data as names of persons, residences, and relationships. The earliest records date from 1781; most date from the 1820s to present.
Originals are housed at the National Archives. Records currently in use are found at the local county offices. (Source: FS Wiki)
These records contain wills, testaments, and settlements of estates. They contain the name of the deceased, heirs, guardians, ages, relationships, places of residence; inventory, valuation, and division of real estate and property. The earliest records date from 1717; most date from the late 1700s to present. Earliest records are at the National Archives in Reykjavik. volumes still in use are found at local court. Some records are also found in the National Archives of Denmark. Probate records are good linkage sources, especially helpful where they predate the church records. They can be used to establish birth dates and establish relationships of family members. (Source: FS Wiki)
India, also known as the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh largest country by area and with more than 1.3 billion people, it is the second most populous country as well as the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, while its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia. (Source: Wikipedia)
India was gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom after Indian Rebellion of 1857. India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi. The official languages are Hindi and English. (Source: FS Wiki)
India national censuses started in 1871 and continue every 10 years.
The Indian census had two immediate precursors: On the one hand, the regional gazetteers, censuses, and regional surveys in India; and on the other hand, the British decennial censuses beginning with the 1801 census. Both of these historical antecedents of the Indian Census have their foundation in the "statistical movement" that gathered great momentum in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although this movement (at least as it led to the accumulation of social statistics) had the administrative purpose of more efficiently matching state resources to social needs, in the colonial context its manifestation in the early Indian censuses cannot be separated from Britain's colonization of India. (Source: FS Wiki)
Buddhist temples keep records of death and cremations performed by and for the temple, and names of pilgrims visiting the temple. These records are kept at each temple. Death and cremation records may contain additional information on the deceased's family members.
Hindu Pilgrimage (Bahi) documents record the names of Hindus who make pilgrimages to sacred centers in India where certain religious rituals or ordinances are performed. They can be used to establishes individual identity and linkage back many generations. Some records date back as far as the 15th Century. However, the great majority are of the 18th Century to the present. Generally these records include the name of the pilgrim, caste/occupation, birthplace, or family origin, present residence, father, grandfather, great grandfather, etc., sometimes going back many generations on both the maternal and paternal sides. Often names of sons, brothers, nephews, and cousins are given, each relationship being carefully and precisely indicated. Date of visit or register entry is given. Records can be located in the homes and "offices" of the Panda (Hindu combination priest-businessman) in cities and towns scattered all over India but primarily in the North.
Muslim Pilgrimage (Vahi) documents record the names of Muslim pilgrims who visit certain centers in India where rituals are performed. They are used primarily to establish individual identity and linkage back many generations. Records date from about 1400 to present and can be found in homes and "offices" of Muslim family bards in Northern India.
Islamic Marriages (Kadi) Records of Islamic marriage contracts. They are used to establish individual identity and linkage back two generations. Theoretically generations could be identified back to when the keeping of the record started. Records date from about 1500 to present. Generally these records contain names, ages, and residences of bride and bridegroom. Names and sometimes occupation of father and grandfather. Date of event. Signature of bridegroom. Names and residences of witnesses and names of witnesses fathers. Amount of dower money. They can be found in Mosques and in the houses of the Kazi who is the marriage registrar and judge. (Source: FS Wiki)
The first step in researching European or Anglo-Indian ancestry in colonial India is to use the church records. For administrative purposes, colonial India was divided into three Presidencies, Bombay, Madras, and Bengal. Protestant and Catholic churches began to keep records in India in 1698 (Madras), 1709 (Bombay) and 1713 (Bengal). Each year, these records were transcribed and sent to the capital of the Presidency, where they were indexed. The records and indexes were then sent to headquarters in London. This practice ceased at Independence in 1947.
Christian parish records include baptisms, marriages, and burials. This includes not only British, and European members, but native Indians as well, from 1700 to present.
Burial records give date and place of death and deceased name, if in the military has detachment, if a mariner the name of his ship, if a colonist the words "inhabitant". European nationality was given if not English and if a native Indian the words "India Man" were used. Initially no age was given however, if an infant it was so noted. Cause of death given. Christenings, baptisms and births are often mixed together in the register. The event’s date, the name and sex of the child, it’s father’s name and sometimes that of the mother is given as is European nationality if other than English. The marriage records show date and place of marriage, full name of bride and groom except in the case of an Indian woman where only a European first name is given, the groom’s military affiliation if any and the word "inhabitant" was generally noted. (Source: FS Wiki)
Registration of births and deaths began in about 1751. However, not until 1969 was there a uniform registration for all of India excepting the 1886 Act for voluntary registration. (Source: FS Wiki)
Between 1948 and 1962, workers from British colonies could migrate to England without restriction. The immigrants from India can be traced through passenger lists. However, some immigrated to Great Britain and then quickly returned to India. Some examples are: Students who had completed their education, ayahs (nannies), servants, and nurses after their time of service.
Under the British nationality Act of 1948 and until 1962, every Commonwealth citizen was entitled to enter Great Britain at will. Citizens of British colonies or British protectorates could simply apply to the Home Office for registration of British nationality and were issued certificates. This right had been freely exercised for many years, but it was only in the ten years from 1952 onward that substantial numbers of people from the Commonwealth began to think of settling in England. (Source: FS Wiki)
Until 1859, there were two armies in India: the British Army and the Honourable Company (East India Company) Army. There were also several garrisons of French, Danish, and Dutch soldiers.
The British Army regiments were raised in England and spent several years in India, as well as in other places. For the most part, British Army records are now stored in the National Archives (TNA) in Kew, London.
Honourable Company regiments were raised in India or England for service only in India. Their records are for the most part stored in the Oriental and India Office Collections (OIOC) at the British Library, also in London.
In 1859, following the Mutiny, all of the Honourable Company's regiments were absorbed into the British Army. Note that many of your ancestors may have begun their lives in India in the British Army, then transferred to the Honourable Company's Army when they become too old or invalid for regular army work. (Source: FS Wiki)
Wills contain the name and address of the deceased, names of beneficiaries, sometimes addresses of relatives, details of bequests, and names of executors. Between 1728 and 1780 in India wills were recorded in court proceedings (Records class P): Bengal Mayor's Court Proceedings 1727-1774 and Supreme Court Proceedings 1774-1779; Madras Mayor's Court Proceedings up to 1780; and Bombay Mayor's Court Proceedings up to 1783 (Source: FS Wiki)
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is the world's largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands, and at 1,904,569 square kilometres (735,358 square miles), the 14th largest by land area and the 7th largest in combined sea and land area. With over 261 million people, it is the world's 4th most populous country as well as the most populous Muslim-majority country. Java, the world's most populous island, contains more than half of the country's population. (Source: Wikipedia)
There 737 languages spoken in Indonesia, with Bahasa Indonesia as the national language and Javanese as the most spoken traditional language.
Indonesia is a very multi-cultural country. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious, and political models from these countries, and Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms developed. Islam was brought by the Muslim traders and Sufi scholars, while European brought Christianity during the Age of Discovery. Indonesia experienced the Dutch colonialism for a long period of time. During World War II, Japan interrupted the colonialism by the Dutch and occupied Indonesia for a little over three years. In August 17, 1945 Indonesia declared their independence, but achieved its full independent in 1949 after an armed and diplomatic conflict with the Netherlands.
Even after being independent, the influence of the Dutch is still affecting the country. Due to a very minimal education system in Indonesia, illiteracy was quite common among the society. For this reason, many native Indonesians did not keep family records. (Source: FS Wiki)
Cemetery records (Kuburan) often give more information than church burial records and may include the deceased’s name, age, date of death or burial, birth year or date of birth, and sometimes marriage information. They may also provide clues about an ancestor’s military service, religion, occupation, place of residence at time of death, or membership in an organization. Cemetery records are especially helpful for identifying ancestors who were not recorded in other records, such as children who died young or women.
Information recorded on tombstones is of primary importance. Often, this information has been transcribed, indexed, and published and is found in manuscripts and books in libraries and archives.
Death information in other records is often meager. Used to distinguish adults and surviving children in parish registers, other family relationships. Chinese and other non-Christian cemeteries are particularly valuable due to a dearth of other records. This record type can be found in records such as lists of gravestone burial records, exhumations, sextons records, obituaries. These date from the Dutch colonial period to present. Records can be found in district and municipal archives, church archives, Chinese community associations, cemetery offices. (Source: FS Wiki)
Between 1948 and 1962, workers from British colonies could migrate to England without restriction. The immigrants from India can be traced through passenger lists. However, some immigrated to Great Britain and then quickly returned to India. Some examples are: Students who had completed their education, ayahs (nannies), servants, and nurses after their time of service.
Under the British nationality Act of 1948 and until 1962, every Commonwealth citizen was entitled to enter Great Britain at will. Citizens of British colonies or British protectorates could simply apply to the Home Office for registration of British nationality and were issued certificates. This right had been freely exercised for many years, but it was only in the ten years from 1952 onward that substantial numbers of people from the Commonwealth began to think of settling in England. (Source: FS Wiki)
Between 1948 and 1962, workers from British colonies could migrate to England without restriction. The immigrants from India can be traced through passenger lists. However, some immigrated to Great Britain and then quickly returned to India. Some examples are: Students who had completed their education, ayahs (nannies), servants, and nurses after their time of service.
Under the British nationality Act of 1948 and until 1962, every Commonwealth citizen was entitled to enter Great Britain at will. Citizens of British colonies or British protectorates could simply apply to the Home Office for registration of British nationality and were issued certificates. This right had been freely exercised for many years, but it was only in the ten years from 1952 onward that substantial numbers of people from the Commonwealth began to think of settling in England. (Source: FS Wiki)
From the 1870s Indonesians were recruited to work in the pearling and sugar cane industries in northern Australia. Around 1,000 Indonesians were living in Australia by the Federation period, almost all in Queensland and Western Australia. With the introduction of the White Australia Policy in 1901, most sugar workers returned to Indonesia, although some pearl divers remained. Few settled in Victoria, and those who did were probably Dutch Indonesians – the Netherlands having controlled the Indonesian archipelago since the 19th century.
Immigration to Indonesia was in practice since the ancient era. The early phase of Indonesia Emigration started when fishermen of Indonesia migrated to the neighboring islands. Immigration to Indonesia also took place at this time when huge populations from the Indian subcontinent visited the country and settled there. They also highly influenced the culture and society of the country considerably. Thus Indonesian culture is primarily a blend of Indian and Chinese culture.
Immigration, naturalization and foreigner registration (Imigrasi, pewarganegaraan, kewarganegaraan) records are very valuable for making proper connections to place of origin in other countries, and for pinpointing place of residence in Indonesia. Many researchers do not know their ancestor's place of origin. They are generally available from the 1700s to the present. Records can be found at the National Archives, municipal archives, and Chinese community kapitans. They generally include the immigrant’s name, age, occupation, birth date and place, former residence, destination; wife’s name, childrens’ given names and ages or number of children; religion, race, nationality, sometimes picture. Chinese immigration records give names and places in Chinese characters. (Source: FS Wiki)
This record type includes deeds and land tenancy tax records, property assessments, estates and purchase agreements. They are used primarily to identify family relationships and to extend lineage beyond other existing records. Records exist from the 1650s during the Dutch colonial period to the present.
Generally these record contain land holders’ and renters’ names, taxes and rent paid, dates of deeds, residence, land descriptions, fathers’ names and sometimes names of several generations of ancestors; date and mode of land acquisition (from a parent or grandparent, by dowry, or division). Records are housed at the National Archives and municipal archives. Coverage of the recorded population is about 20%. (Source: FS Wiki)
Inheritance records and wills (Akte warisan): This record type includes wills, inventories, distribution of estates. They can be used to provide linking information for family relationships. Generally they contain names of individuals, their parents, children and grandchildren, dates, relationships, sometimes places of events, race, and civil status. They are available from the 1700s during the Dutch colonial period to the present. Records can be found at the National Archives, local courts and civil registry offices.
Guardianship records includes Orphan’s chamber records of guardianship dispositions, orphans, adoption records, legitimations and decisions. These records are especially valuable in cases of death or divorce of parents with minor children. Generally these records contain the names of children, guardians, parents, ages, dates of birth, residence, legal acknowlegements. They are available from the 1650s to the present. Records are housed at the National Archives and municipal archives. (Source: FS Wiki)
Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland), which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. In 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.6 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.8 million live in the Republic of Ireland and just over 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland. (Source: Wikipedia)
Prior to 1922 the island of Ireland was one country. The language most widely spoken is English. (Source: Wikipedia)
Gravestone inscriptions can be a useful source of family history information. Sometimes, multiple family members are buried in the same vault and the inscription will give information on all that are buried there. Gravestones may give birth, marriage, and death information. They may also give clues about military service and occupation, or family members buried in the same area. Sometimes they give more information than the parish burial register or civil certificate of death. Gravestone inscriptions are especially helpful for identifying ancestors who are not recorded in other existing records. (Source: FS Wiki)
The Irish government took a census in 1813 (which no longer exists), then every ten years from 1821 through 1911. Due to the Irish Civil War of 1921-22, another census was not taken until 1926. The next census was taken in 1936. Starting in 1946, censuses were taken every five years through 1971. Since 1971, censuses have been taken every ten years.
Only parts of the early civil censuses survive. The censuses from 1821 through 1851 were mostly destroyed in the 1922 fire at the Public Record Office in Dublin. The censuses from 1861 through 1891 were destroyed by the government sometime after statistics had been compiled from them.
The 1901 census is the first complete census available for Ireland. The 1901 and 1911 censuses are available to the public and are now online, but all censuses taken since 1911 are not. The 1821 to 1851 censuses are divided by county, barony, civil parish, and townland. The 1901 and 1911 censuses are divided by county, electoral division, and townland.
Because many of the earlier censuses are not available, census substitutes are especially useful for Ireland. These include tax, religious and poll lists among others. (Source: FS Wiki)
General: Before civil registration was introduced in 1864, Church records are the main source for Irish genealogy as they give baptism, marriage and burial dates. The most common sorts of Church Records in Ireland are baptism and marriage registers. Less common types of records are censuses/members list, burials and emigration lists.
Ireland Catholic Church Records began from the mid 1700s. Most rural parishes did not start keeping records until Catholic Emancipation in 1828.
Protestant: Church of Ireland Records began in 1536, but most were destroyed in 1922. This was the religion of many plantation settlers in the 17th century. In what is now Northern Ireland the Church of Ireland and various Presbyterian Churches were the main religions, with a substantial Catholic minority. Protestants and Catholics tended to live apart with most areas either strongly Catholic or strongly Protestant. Ireland Presbyterian Church Records In 1605 Scottish Presbyterians began a massive migration into Northern Ireland. Few congregations kept records before the early 1800s. Ireland Methodist Church Records A Methodist society began in Dublin in 1746. Ireland Quaker Records In 1654, the Quaker faith (Religious Society of Friends) began in Ireland. By 1750, there were 150 Quaker meetings across Ireland within the provinces of Ulster, Leinster, and Munster. Many of its original records exist and are located in the repositories. In the mid-1600s Congregationalists and Baptists first came to Ireland as soldiers under Cromwell. Huguenots, seeking religious freedom, also came in the 1600s. Most Huguenots affiliated themselves with the Church of Ireland or with the Presbyterian Church. (Source: FS Wiki)
Before civil registration, Church Records were kept on the island of Ireland to keep track of baptisms, marriages and burials. Protestant records often stretch back to the 18th century, while most Catholic records begin around the time of emancipation in 1829. Ireland was then part of the United Kingdom, where civil registration had been introduced in England in 1837. In 1845 this was begun in Ireland for non-Catholic marriages only, before being extended to births, deaths and marriages for people of all religions in 1864. A unified system of civil registration then operated until the partition of Ireland, after which Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland kept their own records with different formats and information. (Source: FS Wiki)
Land records are valuable genealogical sources, because they may reveal where and when your ancestor lived and where they previously lived; family information, such as the names of children, heirs, spouse, other relatives, and neighbors; the occupation your ancestor pursued; other records that may mention your ancestor; and the progression of estate ownership or tenancy from one generation to another. (Source: FS Wiki)
This record type includes deeds and land tenancy tax records, property assessments, estates and purchase agreements. They are used primarily to identify family relationships and to extend lineage beyond other existing records. Records exist from the 1650s during the Dutch colonial period to the present.
Generally these record contain land holders’ and renters’ names, taxes and rent paid, dates of deeds, residence, land descriptions, fathers’ names and sometimes names of several generations of ancestors; date and mode of land acquisition (from a parent or grandparent, by dowry, or division). Records are housed at the National Archives and municipal archives. Coverage of the recorded population is about 20%. (Source: FS Wiki)
Military records identify individuals who served or were eligible to serve in the armed forces. From 1660 to 1922, the Irish were part of the British armed services. Consequently, pre-1922 records for Irish military personnel are mostly British. (Source: FS Wiki)
In comparison to other countries, Ireland was slow in developing a newspaper industry. An occasional newspaper was printed in the mid-1600s. Ireland's major city and provincial newspapers began in the 1700s. Town newspapers began by the 1800s. (Source: FS Wiki)
In 1838, the Poor Law Act divided Ireland into 159 districts called poor law unions. A workhouse was established in each union to house the poor. Each union elected a board of guardians to administer poor law relief.
Records of the poor in Ireland are found in board of guardian minutes, in workhouse registers, and in the British Parliamentary Papers (unpublished). Information found in board of guardian minutes and workhouse registers may include names, dates of admission, places of birth or residence, ages, occupations, information about parents, testimony about conditions in the workhouse, and reports of disciplinary actions. Many of the minutes and registers are deposited in county libraries and national archives in Ireland. (Source: FS Wiki)
Grants are documents stating that the court has 'granted' permission for the deceased's estate to be dealt with by a named person or persons. If a will exists then the grant is a 'grant of probate' issued to the executors named in the will. If no will exists then the grant is a 'grant of administration' issued to an applicant (usually a relative of the deceased) to administer and distribute the deceased's assets according to the prescribed formula as set down by law.
Grant Books, were the records of grants of probate and included administrations, marriage licenses, faculty of notary public, letters of tutelage and acquittance, commissions and some decrees. The grant books for Ireland dated from 1593 to 1858, but were mostly destroyed by the fire in the Public Record Office in 1922. The surviving Grant Books are for the years 1684-1688, 1748-1751 and 1839.
Wills are dated, signed and witnessed documents setting out the deceased's bequests. These were the most informative of the probate documents since they were likely to name heirs, give relationships, occupations, places of residence, ownership of property and various details relating to the disposition of a personal estate. The Prerogative wills were transcribed into bound Will Books after they were deposited in the Public Record Office.
Codicils are dated and signed addenda to a will.
Day Books, were the daily registers of fees received for the documents issued, and allocated between offices of the judge, registrar, and marshal plus a record of the stamp duties collected. Approximate death dates and other important event dates may often be derived from the Day Books. Prior to their destruction, the Day Books dated from 1775-1858. The surviving Day Books are for the years 1784-1788.
Letters of administration (or admons), which indicate that a person died without leaving a will so the court appointed an administrator to oversee estate distribution. These often mention only the names of persons administering the estate and some reference to the approximate date of death may be derived. While these persons are often related, the relationship may not always be easy to recognize.
Inventories are the records of detailed listings of the property of the estate of the deceased. The inventories would list a record of all of the belongings and personal items. Sometimes records of sale or auction are included. The inventories were extant for the years 1688-1858 and a separate list of the inventories existed for the time period 1590-1619.
Grant or act books provide a day-by-day account of all grants issued in a probate court including the records of grants of probate and included administrations, marriage licenses, faculty of notary public, letters of tutelage and acquittance, commissions and some decrees. The grant books for Ireland dated from 1593 1858, but were mostly destroyed by the fire in the Public Record Office in 1922. The surviving Grant Books are for the years 1684-1688, 1748-1751 and 1839.
Irish probates were handled by ecclesiastical courts up to 1858. Twenty-eight diocesan courts, known as consistory courts, existed. The highest court, with authority over all the ecclesiastical courts, was the Prerogative Court of Armagh (which operated from Dublin). If a person had an estate that included property in more than one diocese and was worth more than £5, that person's will would have been proved in the Prerogative Court. And in addition, the wills of wealthy people were usually proved in the Prerogative Court.
In 1858, civil authorities, government departments, and courts, took on the work of proving wills and administrations. Eleven district will registries and a Principal Probate Registry in Dublin replaced the church probate courts.
Each registry made copies of wills and administrations that it proved in 'will and admon books' and after 20 years sent the originals to the Public Record Office in Dublin. The originals and copies, of almost all records of the Principal Probate Registry (which also had jurisdiction as a district court over the counties of Dublin and Kildare) were destroyed in the fire that consumed the Public Record Office in 1922.
Copies of wills and administrations kept by other district registries have been gathered into the National Archives and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, where they remain grouped by district. To determine the district registry that served your county of interest, see the Irish Probates Register or Anthony Camp, Wills and Their Whereabouts.
From 1858 there is a calendar or index of the grants of probate and letters of administration for the Principal Probate Registry and in the several district registries. Produced by the Principal Probate Registry, Dublin, this calendar is arranged alphabetically by the name of the testator. The Family History Library has a copy on 46 rolls of film. For each entry the calendar tells the testator's name; the executor's name; the court where the will was registered; and the deceased person's name, occupation, date & place of death. The calendars held at the National Archives, Dublin, only include the district registries of Armagh, Belfast & Londonderry to 1918.
For the years 1858-1877 there is a consolidated index to the calendars. Arranged by surname, the index gives the name of the deceased, the district registry where the probate was proved, and whether the probate involved a will or an admon. There existed a further consolidated index to the calendars for the period 1878 to 1900, but this was destroyed in 1922.
If you are searching for a will proved between 1858 and 1877, look first at the consolidated index. If you are looking for a will proved after 1877, go directly to the calendar(s). These sources will tell you the district registry where the will was proved. Once you identify the district registry, you can easily establish if a relavant will or admon books survives. (Source: FS Wiki)
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern and Western Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates San Marino and Vatican City. Italy covers an area of 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi) and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. With around 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth-most populous EU member state and the most populous country in Southern Europe. (Source: Wikipedia)
They include records of christenings (baptisms), marriages, and deaths (burials). In addition, church records may include confirmations, first communions, and church census records. Church records [registri ecclesiastici] are excellent sources for accurate information on names; dates; and places of births, marriages, and deaths.
In general, the church began keeping records in 1563 because of reforms proclaimed at the Council of Trent. Not all parishes conformed until much later. Most parishes have kept registers from about 1595 to the present. A few parishes kept records as early as the 1300s. The church records of Palermo, for example, start about 1350, and the baptistry in Firenze has records from the early 1400s.
Church records are crucial for research before the civil government started keeping vital records, which began about 1809 to 1820. After that, church records continued to be kept but often contain less information.
Although the Italian government recognizes other religions, the Roman Catholic Church is traditionally recognized as the state church because most Italians are Roman Catholic. All references to church records in Italy, unless otherwise specified, refer to Catholic records.
Unfortunately some Italian church records were destroyed in the various wars throughout Italy’s history. Other records were destroyed when parish churches burned down. Some were lost, and still others have been badly worn and destroyed by insects, vermin, and moisture.
In Italy the parish priest was often required to collect taxes for the state from his parishioners. He would sometimes record information about his parishioners and the tax in a special set of volumes, which were called church censuses. In Italian the church census is called the stato delle anime. In Latin it is status animarum. Both terms mean "state of the souls."
Church records were kept at the local parish church. The term parish refers to the jurisdiction of a church priest. Parishes are local congregations, usually in one town only, but sometimes they included other villages in their boundaries.
To find church records, you must know the town where your ancestor lived. You should also determine the parish that your ancestor’s town belonged to so that you will know which parish registers to search. Larger towns frequently have more than one parish. Your ancestor may have lived in one village and belonged to a parish in a nearby larger town. (Source: FamilySearch Wiki)
In southern Italy, civil authorities began registering births, marriages, and deaths in 1809 (1820 in Sicily). In central and northern Italy, civil registration began in 1866 (1871 in Veneto). After this date, virtually all individuals who lived in Italy were recorded.
The earliest vital records in Italy were kept by the churches. In 1806 Napoleon, Emperor of France, annexed large parts of Italy, including Roma, Venice, and the Piemonte region. He also initiated civil record keeping at that time. As he gained control of most of Italy, he enforced new laws that required local civil registration. After Napoleon’s defeat in 1815, many areas discontinued civil registration.
Birth, marriage, and death records are the most important civil registration records for Italian research. Most of these records retained the basic format introduced by Napoleon in the early 1800s. The registers are divided into separate volumes for each year. Records kept in the south used standardized forms. Many records in the north are handwritten, although they contain basically the same information.
The records were almost always kept in Italian, except for records kept during the rule of foreign powers such as France and Austria.
In the northern regions, many records are in French and German, and given names were often written in the "ruling" language even though the person’s name was Italian. For example, Giuseppina Bertaldo may have been recorded as Josephine Bertaldo.
Some church records were transcribed into civil registration records. This transcription usually happened to meet documentation requirements for marriages [processetti or allegati]. Transcribed church records are in Latin, and each volume is usually indexed.
A civil record unique to Italy is the stato di famiglia, or state of the family certificate. The comune keeps a record of each family and updates each change, including births, marriages, deaths, and emigration. All individuals in a household are included. Some households include more than one family. Historical states of the family [stato di famiglia storico] are kept at the provincial archive [ufficio dello stato civile]. These records document past generations of families. Not all areas have kept this record, but where they exist, they are a valuable research tool. (Source: FamilySearch Wiki)
In some regions, military records begin about 1792 and give information about the man’s military career, such as promotions, places served, pensions, and conduct. They also usually include information about his age, birthplace, residence, occupation, physical description, and family members.
Conscription of all males at the age of eighteen was instituted in 1865. Every Italian male—even those obviously disabled—was and still is required to report to the draft board for a physical exam. Therefore, draft records list every native Italian male who was born from about 1850 to the present and do who did not leave the country at an early age.
Italian military records are kept by military districts. The archive of the military district stores the records. Most military districts are within the geographical boundaries of a province. A province can have up to three military districts, and in rare cases a military district may encompass two provinces.
A copy of the records is held at the archive of the tribunale (court). After 75 years, this copy is moved to the provincial archives and made available to the public. Each provincial archive has the records of the military district within its provincial boundaries.
In order to research your family in Italy, it is essential that you have identified the place where they came from. You must know the city, town, or parish that they came from. A few records are indexed, but many records will require going directly to photocopied local records, which are only available by town name. it will be difficult to identify the place of origin by going directly to Italy sources. Therefore, you will need to search in United States (or other country of arrival) sources first. (Source: FamilySearch Wiki)
Jamaica is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi) in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the fourth-largest island country in the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 mi) west of Hispaniola (the island containing the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic). (Source: Wikipedia)
Jamaica was formerly a colony of Spain and Great Britain. The official language is English. (Source: FamilySearch Wiki)
Up to the year 1824, each parish had a separate book with baptisms, marriages and burials. In 1824 the Diocese of Jamaica was established. The system of recording changed. Many parishes are in the same volume, therefore an the same film, but there were separate volumes for vital events". It is advisable to look up the index volumes (there may be several) under each event list for your surname. The names are alphabetically divided but have to be searched under a given letter.
In Jamaica burials will be most likely close to death dates. Christenings, however, could be years apart from the actual birth, especially if a family had daughters only and then a son. It could well be that the sisters were christened together with their brother. (Source: FamilySearch Wiki)
Civil Registration for Jamaica was mandated in 1878 though actual registration began in isolated districts as much as five years later. Each parish was assigned a letter by the Registrar General, omitting J. Parishes are subdivided into registration districts, which are relevant only to vital-record registrations and have no other civil or fiscal authority. Districts continue to be added as the population grows, so the earliest registrations may have occurred much later than 1878.(Source: FamilySearch Wiki)
A published index to Jamaica testators is available online and in print. It covers wills proved both locally and in London.
A list of early Jamaican wills, taken from a manuscript at the British Museum (now the British Library), was published in 1910, and is now available online.
Indexes to early Jamaica wills proved locally and in London were also published in Caribbeana. (Source: FamilySearch Wiki)
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian continent and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea in the south. The kanji that make up Japan's name mean "sun origin", and it is often called the "Land of the Rising Sun". Japan is a stratovolcanic archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku, which make up about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area and often are referred to as home islands. The country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions, with Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one. The population of 127 million is the world's tenth largest, of which 98.5% are ethnic Japanese. 90.7% of people live in cities, while 9.3% live in the countryside. About 13.8 million people live in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world with over 38 million people.(Source: Wikipedia)
It was common practice for Japanese to adopt another male young adult or older children, if no male heirs were present in a family. Often a son who was not his family's heir would marry a daughter of a man with no male heirs. Upon their marriage, the groom would take the bride's maiden name as his and would become her father's heir. If they divorced, his rights to her family's estate would be returned, he would resume his own name and return to his family and again be recorded under the head of his household's koseki. It is important to distinguish between direct lineage and adopted lineage. Adoptions were very common and frequent in all families and for varied reasons. (Source: FamilySearch Wiki)
Death Registers (Kakocho) are kept for the purpose of ancestor veneration. The Japanese name, kakocho, means literally "book of the past." When a person dies, a Buddhist priest assigns him a ceremonial name, which he records in the kakocho. These records are used to find the death date and posthumous name of the person. Look for the records of other ancestors whose remains may have been kept at this same temple. These records contain the name, posthumous name, death date, and sometimes the household unit of the person. The content and format of Buddhist death registers vary depending on the sect and the priest who recorded the death. They are basically obituary records of deceased members of the temples. The posthumous name contains a suffix that identifies the sex of the deceased, and may help in determining whether the deceased was an adult, child, or infant. Death dates are not always complete. Some list only the day of the month or the day and month but not the year. Buddhist death registers are located in the majority of more than 41,500 individual Buddhist temples. You may need to go to the temple where your ancestor was from in Japan to get these records. Less than 2 percent of these records are in the Family History Library’s collection.
Religious Inquisition Census Records (Shumoncho) were taken periodically to classify people according to their religion and to detect illegal Christians. The government required that everyone register their religious affiliation with the local Buddhist temple or Shinto shrine. Temple priests were required to give this information to local authorities. They do not include samurai. Goningumi registers were compiled to control the population and to deter misconduct within the neighborhood groups. Time period of the records is 1640—1872. These records are used to find the names of the head of the household and family members. Because they were created before the time when surnames were used, they do not include surnames. About 30 percent of the still existing records are available at the Family History Library. Because they are scattered in archives, private collections, in the homes of descendants of village headmen, and even in some Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, you must search them out.
Pilgrimage Records (Dankaicho) are records of persons making pilgrimages to Buddhist temples between the years 1550 to about 1870. These records are used to find the surname of your ancestor in a reliable source. Dankaicho are the only known source for surnames of farmers, who made up 90 percent of the historic population of the Edo period. In the shumoncho these people are identified only by their personal name and village. You can find the names of collateral line relatives in these records. These names are not available on the koseki. These records should include the majority of head of households for the time period. The records can be found in the libraries of ten leading temples and shrines. If you go to Japan to use these records, you may use them at the temple or shrine only after negotiations with the priests, who may require the payment of fees.
(Source: FamilySearch Wiki)
Feudal Government Calendars (Daimyocho) are roughly equivalent to feudal court records. They cover the time period from 1543 to 1867. They contain birth, marriage, and death dates, and changes of samurai residences. (Source: FamilySearch Wiki)
Tombstone Inscriptions (Bohi-Mei) are compilations of tombstone inscriptions, in manuscript or published form. They cover the time period from 1600 to the present. A few are lost or destroyed. Since 1945, nearly 100 percent of deceased persons are cremated. Nevertheless, ashes are still buried and gravestones erected. These records contain the name of the individual, the posthumous name, and the death date of the ancestor. In Japan, you can go to local cemeteries and temples. Some of them were collected and published in book form, called Sotairoku. These would be in libraries and archives. (Source: FamilySearch Wiki)
Household Registration Records (Koseki) is a registration of the population, which is taken nationwide by the government in Japan. This is a compilation of information about each household, including names of all family members. They are regularly updated. When someone is born, marries, or dies, citizens are required to report it to the village, town, or city record office.
After a person has died or been otherwise removed from the koseki, the record is considered a joseki (expired koseki). Direct descendants can get these records from the records office in Japan.
Searching for your Japanese ancestors cannot be done the same way you would research for someone from non-Asian countries. The main reason is that Japan has very strict privacy laws and access to Vital Records is carefully protected. That being said, the Japanese are wonderful record-keepers and the koseki or Family Registration is the record on which births, deaths, marriages and divorces of Japanese nationals are kept and is a rich source of genealogical information. A child is listed on his or her parent's koseki until they create their own.
The koseki is kept and protected by the city hall in the hometown (honseki) or permanent address of the head of household. If your ancestor was listed on a koseki, you can get a copy of the record. This is the best resource for finding your ancestors, as often many generations are included. Obtaining your family's koseki requires some effort but it is worth every bit of it. Detailed instructions can be found here. (Source: FamilySearch Wiki)
Today, there are about 2.5 million Japanese emigrants and people of Japanese descent living in countries around the world. The modern waves of Japanese emigration began in 1868, when 153 Japanese journeyed to Hawaii to work on sugar plantations. But the Meiji government prohibited such emigration because these first Japanese migrants were treated like slaves. A new treaty with Hawaii in 1885 provided for better work conditions and three-year contracts and over the next nine years about 29,000 Japanese went to Hawaii to work on sugar plantations. In 1899, 790 people left for contract work in Peru, starting a wave of Japanese emigration to Latin America, particularly to Brazil. There are now roughly 1.5 million Latin Americans of Japanese ancestry, at least half of whom trace their ancestral origins to Okinawa prefecture. Brazil has the most: 1.3 million. Peru has about 100,000. Argentina has about 50,000. Mexico is estimated to have 30,000. Japanese emigration to the United States and Canada was subject to severe restrictions until after the Second World War. North America today has nearly 1 million Japanese immigrants and people of Japanese descent. (Source: FamilySearch Wiki)
Japanese villages were responsible for several types of records that can be of significant genealogical value, especially when the religious inquisition census records (shumoncho) are unavailable. They cover the time period from 1600 to 1868. The Family History Library has some of these records. You can also obtain them from public, university, and private libraries; Prefectural and municipal archives; Village offices; Homes of descendants of village headmen throughout Japan. (Source: FamilySearch Wiki)
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. Since its independence, Latvia has been referred to as one of the Baltic states. It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia has 1,957,200 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi). The country has a temperate seasonal climate. (Source: Wikipedia)
Latvia was formerly ruled by Russia and the Soviet Union. (Source: FS: Latvia Genealogy)
Local censuses or family lists are good for identifying family groups. Population enumerations were conducted after the revisions for the purpose of assessing a poll tax and identifying those for conscription into the military. Since there was no universal mandate as in the case of the revisions to create these records, they occur randomly at different times for different places. They are not completely reliable because of efforts to evade taxation or conscription by avoiding correct enumeration.
The All-Russian empire census was taken primarily for statistical purposes. The only 19th century general census in Latvia was conducted in the middle of winter, January 28, 1897, when the population was least mobile. A second census was anticipated in 1914 but World War I intervened. There is a separate list for each household. (Source: FS: Latvia Census)
Metrical Books are church records kept by parish priests of births/baptisms, marriages, and deaths/burials. The term is also used to refer to the records of denominations that had jurisdictions other than parishes.
The Church acted as both a religious and civil agent in recording vital events and church sacraments such as baptism and burial. The traditional Christian faith of Latvia is Lutheran. There were substantial groups of Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox; and smaller groups of Jews, Old Believers, and Baptists.
Evangelical/other Protestant cover from 1608 (transcripts begin in 1833); Orthodox cover from 1722; Roman Catholic cover from 1613 (transcripts begin in 1826); Jewish cover from 1835; Old Believers cover from 1874; Baptists cover 1879–all cover to 1949. (Source: FS: Latvia Church Records)
The Soviets implemented civil registration in 1940. Metrical book transcripts served this purpose previously. Registration offices are co-located with "marriage palaces" permitting the registration and performance of weddings to occur at the same place and time. (Source: FS: Latvia Civil Registration)
The State Archives of Latvia is placing digitized images of Jewish vital records at their genealogy website. They include the towns of Aizputes, Bauskas, Daugavpils, Glazmankas, Grīvas, Grobiņas, Ilūkstes, Jaunjelgavas, Jēkabpils, Jelgavas, Kuldīgas, Liepājas, Ludzas, Maltas, Piltenes, Rēzeknes, Ribinišku, Rīgas, Sabiles, Saldus, Sasmakas, Skaistkalnes, Subates, Tukuma, Varakļānu, Ventspils, Viļakas and Višķu.
To use the site requires that a user first register. Go to the home page at http://www.lvva-raduraksti.lv/en.html and click Register in the upper right corner. Once registered, a shortcut directly to the Jewish (Rabināti) records is http://www.lvva-raduraksti.lv/en/menu/lv/7/ig/7.html. Click on the town of interest and a list by year and record type is displayed. Records are identified by type: dzimušie (birth), laulātie (marriage), mirušie (death), šķirtie (divorce). Select an appropriate year/type which will then display a cover page for the record group. Browse the digitized images by clicking the arrows in the upper right corner. There is a facility to zoom in on an image. (Source: FS: Latvia Jewish Records)
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. Lithuania is considered to be one of the Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, to the east of Sweden and Denmark. It is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.8 million people as of 2019, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. Other major cities are Kaunas and Klaipėda. Lithuanians are Baltic people. The official language, Lithuanian, along with Latvian, is one of only two living languages in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. (Source: Wikipedia)
Lithuania was formerly united with Poland.
During the 14th century, Lithuania was the largest country in Europe: present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1569 Poland and Lithuania formed a new state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighboring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory. (Source: FS: Lithuania Genealogy)
Local censuses or family lists are good for identifying family groups. Population enumerations were conducted after the revisions for the purpose of assessing a poll tax and identifying those for conscription into the military. Since there was no universal mandate as in the case of the revisions to create these records, they occur randomly at different times for different places. They are not completely reliable because of efforts to evade taxation or conscription by avoiding correct enumeration.
The All-Russian empire census was taken primarily for statistical purposes. The only 19th century general census in Latvia was conducted in the middle of winter, January 28, 1897, when the population was least mobile. A second census was anticipated in 1914 but World War I intervened. There is a separate list for each household. (Source: FS: Latvia Census)
The church acted as both a religious and civil agent in recording vital events and church sacraments such as baptism and burial. The traditional Christian faith of Lithuania is Roman Catholic. There are small groups of Evangelical and Reformed Protestants, Russian Orthodox, Jews, and Old Believer Orthodox. The priests made a transcript of their records for the ecclesiastical court (dukhovnaia konsistoriia) having jurisdiction. Jewish transcripts were filed with the local town council (gorodskaia duma). Old Believer and Baptist transcripts were sent to the provincial administration (gubernskoe upravlenie).
Roman Catholic records cover from 1613 (transcripts begin in 1826); Orthodox records cover from 1722; Greek Catholic records cover from 1796; Evangelical/other Protestant records cover from 1641(transcripts begin in 1833); Jewish records cover from 1835; Old Believers records cover from 1874; Baptists records cover from 1879–all cover to 1949. (Source: FS: Lithuania Church Records)
The Soviet government implemented civil registration in Lithuania in 1940. Metrical book transcripts had served this purpose previously. Registration offices are collocated with "marriage palaces" permitting the registration and performance of weddings to occur at the same place and time. (Source: FS: Lithuania Civil Registration)
The Lithuanian population has been devastated throughout the centuries by war, disease, and emigration. After the abolition of serfdom in 1861, mass emigration began (mostly to the United States). Over 2.6 million ethnic Lithuanians live outside their homeland as well as hundreds of thousands of Lithuanian Jews.
Most expats are in the USA, Canada, and Australia, but there are also large numbers in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Germany, Great Britain, and Poland. More than 150,000 Lithuanians live in Russia and other former Soviet countries. (Source: FS: Lithuania Emigration and Immigration)
Before World war II, Lithuania had avery strong Jewish population. The Jewish population was about 150,000 people, which was more than 5% of the total population. Vilnius (Wilno) was home to a population of about 100,000 Jews which was nearly half of that cities population. This population was almost entirely wiped out during the Holocaust. Today the Jewish population is most likely less than 7,000 people. Many of those who survived the Holocaust have emigrated to other countries, such as Israel, United States, South Africa and Brazil, which all have communities of Jews of Lithuanian descent. (Source: FS: Lithuania Jewish Records)
Conscription lists are lists of those being called up for military service. Drafting of selected groups began earlier but as of January 1, 1874, all 21-year-old males were subject to military service. Conscription occurred each year in October. Initially, the term of service was 6 years active and 9 years reserve. The length of active duty was reduced to 5 years in 1876 and then varied between 3 or 5 years thereafter. Deferments were granted for only sons, sole breadwinners, etc. More than 50 percent of the draftees were not inducted. Lists include name of the draftee, birth date, religion, marital status, literacy; later lists include names of parents, siblings and their ages. (Source: FS: Lithuania Military Records)
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico. Covering almost 2,000,000 square kilometres (770,000 sq mi), the nation is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the 13th largest independent state in the world. With an estimated population of over 120 million people, the country is the eleventh most populous state and the most populous Spanish-speaking state in the world, while being the second most populous nation in Latin America after Brazil. Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states and Mexico City, a special federal entity that is also the capital city and its most populous city. Other metropolises in the state include Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, Toluca, Tijuana and León. (Source: Wikipedia)
To find tombstone or sexton records, you need to know where an individual was buried. The person may have been buried in a church, community, or private cemetery, usually near the place where he or she lived or died. You can find clues to burial places in funeral notices, church records, and death certificates.
The law of 31 July 1859 gave the Mexican civil government the right to inspect the dead and control burials. At the present time the civil government is responsible for cemeteries. Some municipio archives have information on private burial grounds and cemeteries. If you know the specific area where your ancestors lived, you may want to ask local societies or archives if any burial plots exist on nearby private land. (Source: FS: Mexico Cemeteries)
Under the Mexican government, national censuses were attempted in 1868 and 1878. They were not accepted by the people, who feared more taxation and military conscription. The 1895 census was more successful. After the 1900 census, additional censuses were taken every 10 years. Most of the census records are housed in the national archives, or in the case of the Spanish administration of colonial Latin America, in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville, Spain.
Where available, census records can provide a person’s age, birth year, religion, birthplace, and occupation. These records can also explain his or her relationship to family members, and provide other family information.
Census records are especially valuable because they list a large portion of the population. They can provide information about persons where church and civil records may be incomplete. However, use the information with caution, since it may contain inaccuracies. The informant (perhaps a member of the family or a neighbor) may have not known the facts or deliberately falsified the information.
The 1930 federal census is the only federal census available for public inspection. Some localities, including the Federal District, are missing. The Family History Library has what is available for the 1930 census. It is listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under: MEXICO, (STATE), (MUNICIPIO) - CENSUS (Source: FS: Mexico Census)
The vast majority of Mexicans were Catholic and registered in the records of the local parish or diocese, known as registros parroquiales (parish registers). Church records are excellent sources of sufficiently accurate information on names, dates and places of birth/baptism, marriage and death/funeral.
They contain records of births, baptisms, confirmations, marriages, marriage information documents, deaths and burials, marriage dispensations, account books, censuses, and communion lists. Often, two or sometimes even three generations are indicated in the registers.
The records were kept at the parish and a copy was sent to the diocesan archive for preservation.
Church records are crucial in Mexico since civil authorities did not begin registering vital statistics until after 1859. (Source: FS: Mexico Church Records)
Civil registration records (also known as vital records) are important for genealogical research in Mexico. Civil authorities began registering births, marriages, and deaths in 1859 and most individuals who lived in Mexico after 1867 are recorded. Because the records cover such a large percentage of the population, they are extremely important sources for genealogical research in Mexico.
Civil registration records are kept by all the states on a municipio level. The exceptions are the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, where the records are recorded by the municipio but are archived on a district level, and the Distrito Federal (Federal District), where they are kept in delegations. Because of this, it is difficult to obtain records from these two states and the Federal District. In these three instances, as well as in the rest of the nation, the populace still registered in their local civil registration offices, from which the records were sent to the municipio office, district office, or delegation office. If you know the town where your family lived, you should be able to find the local civil registration office.
Each state now has a central civil registration office to which you can write for information. Birth, marriage, and death records may be obtained by contacting or visiting local civil registration offices and state civil archives in Mexico. To protect the rights of privacy of living persons, most records with current information have restrictions on their use and access. The present location of records depends on whether local offices have sent their records to the higher jurisdiction. Most recent records will be found in the local civil registration offices. Older records may be found in the municipio or state archive. (Source: FS: Mexico Civil Registration)
After gaining independence, Mexico started to encourage more foreign immigration. The law of 1823 allowed foreigners into the country. In 1824 a law was passed that offered land and security to foreigners. In 1828 foreigners were given passports so that they could move about the country without problems. Mexico wanted the trade and industry that foreigners brought.
When the United States started limiting immigration quotas, some Europeans chose Mexico. Many who came to Mexico soon integrated into the community, accepting the culture and way of life. See Mexico Minorities for a listing of the different groups that immigrated into Mexico.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 and the Gadsden Purchase of 1853 set the boundaries between United States and Mexico. Since that period there has been a continual emigration from Mexico into the United States. With the beginning of the Civil War, the need for laborers was felt by the southern plantations. As the slaves were freed, Mexican laborers began to do the work previously done by them. There were neither regulations nor border patrols until the late 1890s.
In the early 1900s the system for obtaining migrant workers became more organized. Companies began setting up recruiters who arranged for the migrants’ travel and stay in the states. For example, in 1909 an official labor contract was issued for 1,000 immigrant workers in California.
In 1910 the United States set up Immigration Services in the border towns, although some of the border town records began earlier than this. During the Depression many of the Mexican migrant workers went back to Mexico. But as the economy later improved, the migrant workers returned to the United States.
Records created since the opening of the border around the turn of the century are found in the National Archives in Washington. These records include not only migrant workers but also permanent emigrants to the United States. These records are available to the public. You may write to: Old Military and Civil Records National Archives, Washington, D.C. 20408 (Source: FS: Mexico Emigration and Immigration)
Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The capital city is Chișinău. (Source: Wikipedia)
Metrical books uniquely identify individuals and connections of those in one generation to the next. Transcripts are difficult to research because generally all parishes in a district are filed together for each year. Consequently, a researcher must refer to many volumes to identify the entries for a single parish.
Church records are kept by parish priests of births/baptisms, marriages, and deaths/burials. The Church acted as both a religious and civil agent in recording vital events and church sacraments such as baptism and burial. The priest made a transcript for the ecclesiastical court (dukhovnaia konsistoriia) having jurisdiction. Jewish transcripts were filed with the local town council (gorodskaia duma). Baptist transcripts were sent to the provincial administration (gubernskoe upravlenie). The distinction between the original and the transcript is often ignored by Moldovan record keepers.
Time period: Orthodox, 1812; Evangelical/other Protestant, 1641(transcripts begin in 1833); Jews, 1835; Baptists, 1879-all to about 1930.
Content: ames of the person and other family members, residence, relationships, dates and place of birth and baptism, marriage, death and burial. Baptisms include names of godparents; marriages include the ages of the bride and groom; burials include the age of the deceased and cause of death.
Location: State Historical Archive in Kishinev for records through 1910 and civil registry offices for more recent records. (Source: FS: Moldova Church Records)
The Netherlands is a country located mainly in Northwestern Europe. The European portion of the Netherlands consists of twelve separate provinces that border Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, with maritime borders in the North Sea with Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean Sea—Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba—it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The official language is Dutch, but a secondary official language in the province of Friesland is West Frisian. The six largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Eindhoven and Tilburg. Amsterdam is the country's capital, while The Hague holds the seat of the States General, Cabinet and Supreme Court. The Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe, and the largest in any country outside Asia. (Source: Wikipedia)
Church records (DTB) are the main sources for births, marriages and deaths in the Netherlands between about 1550 and 1811.They recorded baptisms (or circumcisions), marriages and burials and sometimes confirmations, membership records and conversions.
In the late 1500s Churches began to mandate that registers of baptisms and marriages were kept. Burials were often not recorded at first. Records do not always exist for the period before 1700. Records kept by Catholics are written in Latin. Most other records will be written in Dutch.
The main types of Church records are Dopen (Baptisms), Trouwen (Marriages), Begraven (Burials), and Lidmaten (List of Parish Members).
Church records are crucial for pre-1811 Dutch research. Church records continued to be kept after the introduction of civil registration but are not kept by the Family History Library and are generally difficult to access. After 1811 they were mostly superseded by Civil Registration. (Source: FS: Netherlands Church Records)
On 6 January 1811 the French Imperial (Napoleon) decree served notice that by 1 March 1811 all births, marriages and deaths had to be recorded by the civil authorities of each municipality. The civil officers were made responsible for keeping vital records. Civil registration was accomplished by requiring the people to report all births, marriages, and deaths to a civil registration office [Burgerlijke Stand], located in the municipality [gemeente]. After Napoleon's defeat, the Dutch government continued the civil registration system.
In Limburg and parts of Zeeland, civil registration began as early as 1795, because they had already been conquered by France. They cover the entire population and have one year and 10 year indexes. Civil registration records are the most important source for genealogical research in the Netherlands and are easily accessible.
Access to Netherlands Civil Registration records online is excellent. There is no need to use microfilms or to visit archives. Nearly all records have survived, since two copies were made of each record and stored separately. The losses that have occurred are mostly Marriage Supplements, since they were not duplicated. (Source: FS: Netherlands Civil Registration)
The Dutch government compiled lists of emigrants leaving the country from 1845 to 1877. These give each emigrant’s name, age, occupation, religion, municipality of last residence, reason for leaving, and destination. They also list the number of women, children, and servants accompanying the emigrant. The lists are indexed. Only statistics were kept from 1831 to 1844.
Records of departures are called passenger lists. The information in these lists usually includes each emigrant's name, age, occupation, destination, relationship to traveling companions, and last residence. His or her birthplace may be given.
For the period before 1812, look at notarial records of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and other harbor towns such as Dordrecht. There are comprehensive indexes for most of these places. Immigrants often obtained notarized documents before leaving the country. Sometimes the best sources for information about your immigrant ancestor are found in the country he or she emigrated to. The records there may provide his or her place of origin and other information. To learn about these records, use available handbooks, manuals, and Wiki articles for that country. (Source: FS: Netherlands Civil Registration)
New Zealand is a sovereign island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui), and the South Island (Te Waipounamu)—and around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland. (Source: Wikipedia)
Due to the late date of settlement of New Zealand by Europeans, cemetery records are a valuable and readily available source for research. There are two major types of cemetery records in New Zealand: Information found on gravestones, and transcriptions of that information; and burial registers maintained by church or municipal cemetery officials.
Cemetery records may give more information than parish burial registers or civil certificates of death. They may include the name and age of the deceased, date of death, date and place of birth, names of parents and/or spouse, and marriage information.They may also provide clues about military service, religion, occupation, place of residence at time of death, or membership in an organization, such as a lodge.
Cemetery records are especially helpful for identifying ancestors who were not otherwise recorded, such as children who died young or women who were not named in records. Relatives may be buried in adjoining plots. When possible, examine the original record rather than relying solely on alphabetized transcripts. (Source: FS: New Zealand Cemeteries)
The keeping of church records in New Zealand generally began when representatives of each religious organization arrived in the islands. Records of the Church of England (Anglican) exist from 1814 while those for the Catholic church date from 1838, and the records of the Baptist church date from the 1850's. No one religion was ever predominant enough in New Zealand to be considered a "state church".
The different religious denominations have central offices in New Zealand, but for the most part they are not repositories for the church registers. In most cases the church registers are still in the hands of the individual minister and/or officers of the church, and some are held in libraries. However, the denominational archive offices should be able to provide information on the existence and availability of records. You must know both your ancestor's religion and the town where he or she lived in order to obtain the records by correspondence.
The main types of Church records are Dopen (Baptisms), Trouwen (Marriages), Begraven (Burials), and Lidmaten (List of Parish Members).
Church records are crucial for pre-1811 Dutch research. Church records continued to be kept after the introduction of civil registration, but are not kept by the Family History Library and are generally difficult to access. After 1811 they were mostly superseded by Civil Registration. (Source: FS: New Zealand Church Records)
In 1848, when the European population of New Zealand was becoming substantial, civil registration was began. As a British colony, the format and system was broadly similar to the system of civil registration that had been established in England in 1837. At first it was voluntary and no marriages were recorded. In 1854 marriages were included and it became compulsory for Europeans in 1856. Changes in 1875 and 1880 increased the detail recorded in the registers, making them very rich sources for genealogists. Specific Maori registration was introduced in 1911 for marriages and 1913 for births and deaths, but suffered from non-universal coverage.
New Zealand, like Britain, has a system where Indexes were created each quarter or year listing names only. These are easily accessible for free, but the original certificates must be ordered for a fee.
Immigration into New Zealand can be broken into the following time periods: Before 1839 (no passenger lists); 1839-1850 - Mainly New Zealand Company passengers and emigrants under government assistance; 1840-1843 - Government programs; 1853-1870 - Immigrants given assisted passage by provincial governments; 1870-1888 - Immigrants assisted by the national government, known as the "Vogel Scheme"; 1883-1973 - Lists of all passengers, not just assisted immigrants, and lists of departing passengers as well.
The information in these records may include the names of the emigrants, ages, occupations, destinations, and sometimes the place of origin or birthplace of the emigrant. Some records have been known to include the names of the parents of adult emigrants, whether living or deceased, their places of birth, and occupations. Where immigrants were sponsored, the information on the sponsor is included. These sponsors were either family members or future employers and provided information on the location of eventual settlement in New Zealand.
In addition to their usefulness in determining where an emigrant lived in the country before leaving their country of birth, these records can help in constructing family groups. Single adults sometimes emigrated with siblings, children usually came with parents, and as mentioned above, some records give even further family information. It was also a common practice to emigrate to a place a relative had already settled, so extended family members can also be found. If not going to a relative, many emigrants joined people from their home town, thus communities may be known for predominantly German, Danish, or English settlement. (Source: FS: New Zealand New_Zealand_Emigration_and_Immigration)
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northwestern Europe whose territory comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula; the remote island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard are also part of the Kingdom of Norway. The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land. Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres (148,747 sq mi) and a population of 5,312,300 (as of August 2018). The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden (1,619 km or 1,006 mi long). Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, and the Skagerrak strait to the south, with Denmark on the other side. Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. (Source: Wikipedia)
From the time of the Reformation in 1536, Norway became a Lutheran nation. From then until 1843 it was against the law to practice the Roman Catholic religion in Norway. The Norwegian government recognized only the state church prior to 1845, when it became legal to organize churches of other denominations. St. Olav's Catholic congregation in Oslo was organized that year. Its church building was completed in 1856, the same year Catholic missionary work was started in Northern Norway, with Alta as its seat.
As of 1688, record keeping was required by law, although some pastors began keeping records as early as 1623. Church records for the state church are available in most areas beginning about 1700.
In 1845, the Nonconformist Act recognized Christian dissenter churches; however, the act required that everyone from all denominations notify the pastor of their local Lutheran parish of all births and marriages. The Nonconformist Act did not apply to Jews until 1851, when a constitutional provision repealed the exclusion. Few Norwegians belong to nonconformist religions. In 1989, only six percent of the population listed their religion as other than Lutheran.
A uniform system for keeping church records was introduced by royal ordinance in December 1812. The use of a standard form began during the winter of 1814. This form was replaced by a new one in 1820, and another in 1870. The form adopted in 1870 is basically the same one still in use today. (Source: FS: Norway Church Records)
Between 1836 and 1920 an estimated 900,000 people left Norway. Most of them went to the United States and Canada. This wave of emigration was caused by the increase in Norwegian population and a desire to own land. While people of many occupations left Norway, most of these emigrants were farmers. The first emigrant ship left Norway in 1825, but the real wave of emigration started in 1836. Most who left Norway before 1825 first went to other European countries and then traveled to their destination.
1836 to 1865: An estimated 200,000 emigrants left Norway during this period. The emigration movement took root all over the country. Groups of emigrants came from every county and most communities. Every spring, ship left from ports all over Norway. In this early period the emigrants sailed to their various destinations, supplying themselves with food and commodities for a trip that could last as long as three months. Ninety-five percent of these went to the United States.
1866 to 1920: In the mid 1860s, large numbers of people began leaving Norway on steamships. Most emigrants sailed to Hull, England; then traveled by train to Liverpool, England. From there they sailed to the United States and Canada. Steamships took only two to three weeks instead of three months, so emigration increased. During this time period 700,000 people left Norway. However, emigration declined in the mid-1870s because of a recession in the United States. The numbers of emigrants to America had also been declining during the civil war years. (Source: FS: Norway Emigration and Immigration)
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Central America, bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital and largest city is Panama City, whose metropolitan area is home to nearly half the country's 4 million people. (Source: Wikipedia)
Civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths began in 1914. Civil registration in Panama officially began on April 15, 1914. At that time, the mayors of districts and villages recorded daily the births, marriages, and deaths occurring within their jurisdiction. In 1974, Civil Registry offices were created within each provincial capital. (Source: FS: Panama Civil Registration)
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the west by the Pacific Ocean. Peru is a megadiverse country with habitats ranging from the arid plains of the Pacific coastal region in the west to the peaks of the Andes mountains vertically extending from the north to the southeast of the country to the tropical Amazon Basin rainforest in the east with the Amazon river. (Source: Wikipedia)
In general, it is better to start with sexton records than with tombstones or niches. The record kept by the sexton often has more information about the deceased person and his or her family and will also give the location of the tomb. It is usually faster than searching for the grave itself. Because relatives may be buried in adjoining plots, it’s best to examine the original record rather than to rely on alphabetized transcripts.
Most people in the cities of Peru were buried in niches. The Catholic Church had exclusive jurisdiction over burials until 1808, when the earliest civil records began. Most civil cemetery records did not begin until after the establishment of civil registration in 1857. In 1825, the practice of burying in churches and on church grounds was outlawed.
Funeral homes and mortuaries will know the cemeteries of an area. The civil registrar can also provide information on private burial grounds and cemeteries. (Source: FS: Peru Cemeteries)
Children were generally christened within a few days of birth. Christening registers usually give the infant’s and parents’ names, status of legitimacy, names of witnesses or godparents, and the christening date. You may also find the child’s birth date, ethnic background, father’s occupation, and family’s place of residence. Marriage and death information are sometimes added as notes. Registers in larger cities may also give the street name or family’s address.
Marriage registers give the date of the marriage and the names of the bride and groom. They also give the names of witnesses and indicate if either the bride or the groom was widowed. They often include other information about the bride and groom, such as ages, residences, occupations, names of parents, and birthplaces. In cases of second and later marriages, they may include the names of previous spouses and their death dates. Often a note is made whether a parent or other party gave permission for the marriage. Marriage registers may also give the three dates on which the marriage intentions were announced. These announcements, called banns, gave opportunity for anyone to come forward who knew any reasons why the couple should not be married.
Burials were recorded in the church record of the parish where the person was buried. The burial usually took place within a day of the death, in the parish where the person died. Early death registers recorded the name of the deceased person, his or her parents or spouse, and the date and cause of death. Later records may also include the place of death or burial; the deceased person’s age, place of residence, and date and place of birth; and sometimes the names of survivors. (Source: FS: Peru Church Records)
Civil registration refers to the vital records made by the government. These include birth, marriage, and death records. Civil registration records (Actas del Registro Civil) are an excellent source for accurate information on names, and dates and places of births, marriages, and deaths. Because civil registration covers the entire population and generally provides more information than church records, civil registration records are one of the most important sources for genealogical research in Peru. Due to political situations, civil registration for some municipalities may have begun after 1886. Civil registration records may also be the only source of information about non-Catholic people.
From 1936 to the present, personal civil registers include naturalization, adoption, legitimization of children, declaration of mental competence, declarations of deaths not otherwise registered, marriage annulments, and divorces. Births, marriages, and deaths were written in the civil registration records as they occurred and thus are arranged chronologically. Some records are indexed to help you find your ancestor.
Birth registers give the document number, registration date, name, gender, and date and place of birth. Early birth records also include naturalization papers, adoptions, legitimizations of children, and acknowledgments of paternity. Separate books were kept for naturalization from 1912–1936. Birth records may include family information, such as the parents’ ages, birthplaces, residences, nationalities, marital status, professions, and the number of other children born to the mother. The records may also give similar information about the informant, who may be a relative, and the grandparents. Corrections to a birth record were usually added as a marginal note.
Peruvian law requires marriages to be recorded in civil records prior to a church marriage. Marriage registers give the marriage date and the couple’s names, ages, places of residence, and, sometimes, places of birth. These records also include the names of the parents and witnesses and information about the witnesses. Marriage information (Información matrimonial) in Peru from 1900 to the present includes certificates of birth, baptism, good conduct, marriageability, and a medical certificate and residence.
Early civil marriage records may give more information than church records. Early entries usually included the names and ages of the bride and groom and the marriage date and place. Later entries include the couple’s occupations, civil status, residences, and birthplaces. Some records also have the names of the parents and grandparents. Most couples were also married in a church wedding. If possible, search both the civil registration and church records of marriage. If you believe a marriage took place but cannot find a civil record of the marriage, search the church marriage information records or banns.
Death records are especially helpful because in addition to death and burial information, they provide important information about a person’s birth, spouse, and parents. Civil death records often exist for individuals for whom there are no birth or marriage records. Death records were usually registered within a few days of the death, in the town or city where the person died.
Early death records give the name, date, and place of death. Later death registers usually include the deceased’s age or date of birth (and sometimes the birthplace), residence or street address, occupation, cause of death, and burial information. These records also include the name of the informant (who is often a relative), spouse, and parents. The information in death records about the deceased's birth and parents may be inaccurate since the informant may not have had complete information. (Source: FS: Peru Civil Registration)
Ship arrivals and passenger lists provide the best documentation of immigrants who came to South America after the middle of the 19th century. These records are housed in the national archives of each of the countries in South America. Other important sources of information for your immigrant ancestors are the emigration records that may exist from the departure port city.
During the early period, most Spanish emigrants left through the ports of Seville, Cádiz, San Lucar de Barrameda, and Málaga in southern Spain. These records were housed in the cities of Cádiz and Seville. Later the ports of San Sebastián, Bilbao, Santander, and La Coruña in northern Spain were added as departure cities not only for Spaniards but also for other Europeans. These emigrants most always traveled first to Islas Canarias (the Canary Islands), where they resided for a short time, before continuing travel to the Americas. Currently these records are housed in the General Archive of the Indies in Seville. (Source: FS: Peru Emigration and Immigration)
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Situated in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of about 7,641 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part of Metro Manila. Bounded by the South China Sea on the west, the Philippine Sea on the east and the Celebes Sea on the southwest, the Philippines shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Vietnam to the west, Palau to the east, and Malaysia and Indonesia to the south. (Source: Wikipedia)
Philippine Catholic Church records have the following advantages: very few errors compared to other types of records; coverage of a large percentage of the population; accurate dates and places of christening, marriage, and burial; names of parents, spouses, and godparents (who are often relatives).
Philippine Catholic Church registers have these disadvantages: usually not indexed; must be searched chronologically by place; may have various languages in one record; are handwritten and often difficult to read; pages can be out of order.
The Roman Catholic Church remains the largest church in the Philippines, with 85 percent of the population belonging to it. Civil authorities did not consistently register vital events in the Philippines until the nineteenth century. Church records, on the other hand, were well kept from 1569 (in accordance with the directives of the Council of Trent), with some records dating even earlier. (Source: FS: Philippines Church Records)
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country located in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, covering an area of 312,696 square kilometres (120,733 sq mi), and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With a population of approximately 38.5 million people, Poland is the sixth most populous member state of the European Union. Poland's capital and largest metropolis is Warsaw. Other major cities include Kraków, Łódź, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk, and Szczecin. Poland is bordered by the Baltic Sea, Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast and Lithuania to the north, Belarus and Ukraine to the east, Slovakia and Czech Republic, to the south, and Germany to the west. (Source: Wikipedia)
The most important church records for genealogical research are christening, marriage, and burial registers. Some church books include confirmation records. The later records generally give more complete information than the earlier ones. Catholic records were generally kept in Latin, Protestant records in German, Orthodox records in Russian. Greek Catholic (Uniate) records were kept in Latin, Ukrainian, or sometimes Polish. Birth, marriage, and death records of minority groups such as Mennonites, Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Orthodox Schismatics, Independents, and others would be with those of recognized churches, such as the Catholic or Lutheran Church, until they had to prepare their own transcripts of vital records.
Original Catholic records are usually found in individual parish or diocesan archives. Protestant records are often in state archives; some are in the possession of Evangelical Church archives or officials. Civil transcripts are generally kept in the local civil registration offices (Urząd Stanu Ciwilnego) for 100 years; then they are transferred to state archives. (Source: FS: Poland Church Records)
People emigrated from Poland to places such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, and South America beginning in the 1820s. Most early emigrants came from areas under Prussian (German) rule to the United States and, to a lesser degree, France. These included both ethnic Poles and ethnic Germans. The earliest emigrants from Russian-governed Poland were from the districts of Suwalki and Łomża. A great many of these people were Jewish.
Most of the early emigrants to the United States settled in Texas; Hamtramck, Michigan; and the Chicago area. Emigration was minimal until 1854, when Poles from Silesia began settling in Texas. A great wave of Polish emigration started in the 1870s.
Most later emigrants left from Austrian-governed southern Poland (Galicia) and Russian Poland, destined largely for Illinois, Wisconsin, New York, Michigan, and other areas of the United States. From 1900–15, many Poles settled in Chicago, New York City, Connecticut, New York State, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. From 1870–1914, 3.6 million Poles left from the three empires that controlled Poland. The Russian Poles constituted 53%, those from Galicia 43%, and the Prussian Poles 4% of the total Polish immigration from 1895–1911.. (Source: FS: Poland_Emigration_and_Immigration)
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic is a country located mostly on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost sovereign state of mainland Europe. It is bordered to the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean and to the north and east by Spain. Its territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. (Source: Wikipedia)
Catholic church records are a vital part of Portuguese research. As part of the reforms carried out during the Council of Trent in 1562, parish priests were required to record the births, marriages, and deaths of every member of their parish. Prior to this, parish church books almost exclusively recorded the the births, marriages, and deaths of nobility, while only about seven percent of the common people's vital events were recorded.
Infants were usually baptized soon after their birth. Baptism records usually contain: Child's name, Father's name, Mother's name, but not usually her maiden name, Baptism date and birth date, Name of witnesses.
Couples usually married in the bride’s parish. Catholic parish register marriage records usually contain: Marriage date, Full name of the bride and groom. Residence of the bride and groom (more common after the mid 1800s), May list the dates that the marriage was announced (also called "banns published"). This normally took place on three separate occasions prior to the marriage and gave anyone with a valid reason a chance to object to the marriage.
A burial usually took place in the deceased’s parish a few days after the death. Parish register burial records usually contain: Burial date, Death date, Name of the deceased, Name of spouse, if married at time of death. Names of parents if deceased is a minor, Age, Sex.
(Source: FS: Portugal Church Records)
In 1832, the Portuguese government passed legislation requiring the births, marriages, and deaths of all residents to be recorded at the local civil registry. Before this legislation, only churches recorded such information.
Civil registers was first instituted as a way for non-Catholic individuals to register their births, marriages, and deaths, while Catholic priests acted as the civil register for the members of their parish. However, this system didn't come into effect until 1878.
With the formation of the First Portuguese Republic in 1910, Civil registration changed drastically. From 1911 onwards, all residents were required to have their vital events recorded in the civil registrar, regardless if this information was also recorded in their church's parish. (Source: FS: Portugal Civil Registration)
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the southeast, Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, and Moldova to the east. It has a predominantly temperate-continental climate. With a total area of 238,397 square kilometres (92,046 sq mi), Romania is the 12th largest country and also the 7th most populous member state of the European Union, having almost 20 million inhabitants. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, and other major urban areas include Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, Constanța, Craiova, and Brașov. (Source: Wikipedia)
Church records in Romania start as early as 1600 and go to the present. Church records in Transylvania began in the early 1600s, and in the Banat in the early 1700s. In Wallachia, Moldavia, and Bukovina most records began in 1775, and in Bessarabia and Dobruja in 1814. Transcripts of church records were made as early as 1784 in Transylvania, Banat, and Bukovina. In Wallachia and Moldavia they began officially in 1831, but in some areas transcripts were kept as early as 1806. 50-70% of the population can be found in these records.
Births and baptisms – names of child, father, and usually mother; date of christening; name and sometimes place of residence of godparents. Marriages – names of groom and bride, sometimes names of parents, date of marriage, places of origin or residence. Deaths and burials – name of deceased, date of death and/or burial, sometimes names of parents or spouse, and occasionally place of origin. (Source: FS: Romania Church Records)
Russia, officially the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and North Asia. At 17,125,200 square kilometres (6,612,100 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world by area, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area, and the ninth most populous, with about 146.77 million people as of 2019, excluding Crimea. About 77% of the population live in the western, European part of the country. Russia's capital, Moscow, is the largest metropolitan area in Europe proper and one of the largest cities in the world; other major cities include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both with Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait. (Source: Wikipedia)
Church records are vital records made by church officials. They are often called parish registers or churchbooks (Metricheskaja kniga, plural - Metricheskie knigi, Метрические книги in Russian). In 1722, Peter the Great mandated the recording of births, marriages, and deaths by the Orthodox Church. They consisted usually of 3 parts: a) births and christening; b) marriages; c) deaths and burials. Most remarkable was, that in the marriage part, like in the christening part, witnesses were mentioned, two from each side of the family.
Normally two copies were made, one (a transcript) sent annually to a central ecclesiastical or civil office. The transcript is the copy most likely to have survived the civil disruptions of Russia's past. Parish registers consist of forms filled out annually, filed, and then bound into books. Over time they were filed in any order imaginable. There are gaps in the years indicating that some materials were lost or misplaced. Quite often the records of churches in a district for a single year are bound in the same volume.
The keeping of metrical books was mandated by a 1722 decree of Peter the Great. A format of three parts, christenings, marriages, deaths, was established in 1724, a printed format in 1806, and in 1838 a format that prevailed until the revolution. The consistory copy was considered official record. A Russian diocese - епархия (eparkhia) was coterminous with a Russian state - губерния (guberniya). The registers of each parish - приход (prikhod) in an country- уезд (uyezd) were commonly filed together for a single year. Confession lists are often interfiled with parish registers. Each Orthodox Christian was to confess and partake of the sacrament at least once a year. The principal time for confession was Lent. Children of both sexes in obligatory fashion were taken to confession, beginning from their seventh year. The form of confession lists was established in 1737: the sequential number of the household, surname, given names of all children at least a year old, sex, ages, whether or not the person attended confession, and if not, why (rarely noted). (Source: FS: Russia_Church_Records)
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and, until 4 July 1997, known as Western Samoa, is a country consisting of two main islands, Savai'i and Upolu, and four smaller islands. The capital city is Apia. Samoa is a unitary parliamentary democracy with eleven administrative divisions. The country is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Western Samoa was admitted to the United Nations on 15 December 1976. The entire island group, which includes American Samoa, was called "Navigator Islands" by European explorers before the 20th century because of the Samoans' seafaring skills. (Source: Wikipedia)
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Sharing a border with England to the southeast, Scotland is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, by the North Sea to the northeast and by the Irish Sea to the south. In addition to the mainland, situated on the northern third of the island of Great Britain, Scotland has over 790 islands, including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides. (Source: Wikipedia)
Census records are a valuable source of genealogical information for Scotland because they list names, relationships, ages, places of birth, and marital statuses.
The Scottish government has taken a census every ten years since 1801 except in 1941 (due to WWII). The censuses before 1841 were taken strictly for statistical purposes. Starting in 1841, the census began listing valuable genealogical information, such as listing people by name. Census records are released 100 years after they are taken, meaning the 1921 census will be released to the public in 2021. Currently, the censuses from 1841 to 1911 are available for public use. Census records are one of the best ways to locate ancestors at a given place and time.
Although the 1841 census is of great genealogical value, it has some limitations. The census did not list relationships, marital status, or birth county and ages were rounded. The 1851 and subsequent censuses provide more detailed and accurate information, making it easier to find family members.
With each census in Scotland, pre-printed forms (known as schedules) were used. Census takers (enumerators) would hand these forms to the head of household, who would then fill out the form for their family. They were instructed to list only those persons who spent the night in the household when the census was taken. Therefore, people who were traveling, at boarding schools, or working away from home were not listed with the family, but were listed where they spent that night. After the head of household filled out the form, the enumerator would copy this data into census books for the parish or registration district. As a result, names are spelled as the family spelled them at the time. (Source: FS: Scotland Census Records)
The Church of Scotland (a Presbyterian church) has been the recognised national church of Scotland since 1690. The two main types of records are Old Parochial Registers (OPR) and Kirk Session Records. OPR's list baptisms, marriages and burials. Kirk Session records are the records of the Church Courts.
Churches which are not part of the Church of Scotland are often referred to as nonconformist. By the 19th century a majority of the population was non-Conformist. There were two categories of so-called nonconformist churches in Scotland: Seceders -- Those who seceded from the main church but were still Presbyterian in form; Dissenters -- Those who were not Presbyterian in form, such as Episcopal, Methodist, or Catholic.
Nonconformists had their own congregations, with different boundaries to the Church of Scotland and kept their own records. However, before 1834, nonconformist ministers were not authorized to perform marriages as clergyman; after 1834 they could perform marriages if the banns had first been read in the parish church. Total authority was granted in 1855. In the context of Scots Law as it applied until 1939, this affected, only in practice, the mode of marriage because until then any declaration of marriage in front of witnesses was valid although many might have failed to be recorded. (Source: FS: Scotland Church Records)
The government records of births, marriages, and deaths in Scotland are known as "Statutory Registers". These records are an excellent source of names, dates, and places of births, marriages, and deaths. Since they are indexed and cover most of the population, these records are important resources for genealogical research.
Prior to 1855, Church Records are the primary genealogical source for Scotland, recording baptisms, marriages and burials. These registers are often of limited detail.
On 1 January 1855 civil birth, marriage, and death registrations began, known as "Statutory Registers". The old civil parishes became Registration Districts by which the records were organised. Registrars were appointed in every parish in Scotland. The registrars sent one copy of the register to the General Register Office in Edinburgh annually. Divorces were not covered until 1984.
It was in 2002 that ScotlandsPeople (the primary website for Scotland research where you can search civil registration, census records, parish records, and probate indexes and view the images for a fee) went online, forever changing the method of locating and obtaining these records. Previous to this time it was necessary to use microfilmed indexes, correspond with the General Register Office, or hire a researcher at the General Register Office. There was also the option of using the microfilm collection of FamilySearch which has filmed records from 1855 to 1875. Now at ScotlandsPeople one can search the indexes and obtain a digital copy of the record for a small fee within minutes. (Source: FS: Scotland Civil Registration)
Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a country situated at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe in the southern Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans. The sovereign state borders Hungary to the north, Romania to the northeast, Bulgaria to the southeast, North Macedonia to the south, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west, and Montenegro to the southwest. The country claims a border with Albania through the disputed territory of Kosovo. Serbia's population is about seven million. Its capital, Belgrade, ranks among the oldest and largest citiеs in southeastern Europe. (Source: Wikipedia)
The primary religious heritage of the country is Serbian Orthodox. These constitute 65% of the population. The remainder of the population is 19% Muslim, living principally in the south, and 4% Roman Catholic, Living in the north.
The areas of Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Montenegro are predominantly Orthodox, although some Catholics are found in the mixed state of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Catholic parishes in Bosnia-Herzegovina introduced parish registers in the second half of the 18th century. Orthodox parishes in Serbia were instructed to keep records of christenings, marriages, and deaths in 1837. Yet, at least in some areas of central Serbia, it was not until the 1870's when there began to be reliable keeping of vital records.
Births and Christenings: Name of child, date of birth, and christening; occupation and residence of parents, witnesses; sometimes parents' marriage date. Marriages: Names and ages of bride and groom, occupation of couple, parents, marital status of couple, residence and places of origin. Death and Burials: Name of the deceased, date, place of death, marital status, names of parents, sometimes age and cause of death, sometimes occupation, place of burial, names of survivors, sometimes date and place of birth of the deceased. (Source: FS: Serbia_Church_Records)
Slovakia , officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi) and is mostly mountainous. The population is over 5.4 million and consists mostly of Slovaks. The capital and largest city is Bratislava, and the second largest city is Košice. The official language is Slovak. (Source: Wikipedia)
For statistical purposes the government of Hungary periodically took a census of the population. The results were used to follow and regulate various aspects of society particularly taxation and con¬scription. The first census of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Hungary took place in 1784-1785 conducted under the Emperor Josef. Some censuses were general. Others, such as the 1848 Hungarian census of the Jews, were taken of specific areas or for specific purposes.
The first official census was in 1784-1785. Other Hungarian censuses were conducted in 1808, 1828, 1848 (Jews only), 1850, 1857, 1869, 1880, 1890, 1900, and 1910. Under the Czechoslovak government Slovakia had censuses in 1921, 1930, 1940, 1950, 1961, 1970, 1980, and 1991. Future censuses will be conducted by the new Slovak government.
The contents vary according to census. Some censuses list only head of household, conscription number of house, and taxable property. Many census returns of the 1800s give house number, head of household, names of members of the household (including servants), ages, occupations, religions, and relationships to head of household; some also give date and place of birth. (Source: FS: Slovakia Census)
Catholic parishes in Europe were first required to record baptisms and marriages in 1563 by order of the Council of Trent. The requirement to record deaths was introduced in 1614. It took several years before the practice was established in all nations. The earliest register from Slovakia (Košice) starts in 1587. Few Catholic registers date from the early and mid 1600s, but most registers date from the early 1700s.
Protestant churches usually did not begin to maintain parish registers until the late 1600s. In 1730, Catholic priests were ordered to record Protestants in their books. Nevertheless, typically Protestant books continued to be maintained. A new format for the records was introduced in 1771. In 1781 the Emperor Joseph II issued the Toleration Patent which recognized Protestantism and Judaism throughout the empire. The Lutheran or Evangelical religion was the most common Protestant church. (Source: FS: Slovakia Church Records)
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a sovereign state located in southern Central Europe at a crossroads of important European cultural and trade routes. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and the Adriatic Sea to the southwest. It covers 20,273 square kilometers (7,827 sq mi) and has a population of 2.07 million. One of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, Slovenia is a parliamentary republic and a member of the United Nations, of the European Union, and of NATO. The capital and largest city is Ljubljana. (Source: Wikipedia)
The Catholic Church mandated the keeping of parish registers in the mid-1500s. In the early 1780s, Emperor Joseph II structured the parishes. He wished to limit the time required to get to the parish church and reduce the size of larger parishes. A tabular format for the registers was adopted in 1770 and modified in 1784. Evangelical registers were mandated in 1782, Jewish in 1779, Orthodox in 1864, Old Catholic in 1877, Baptist in 1905, and Muslim in 1927. Duplicate registers for civil authorities was mandated in 1835 for Roman Catholic and 1829 for Evangelical registers.
Parish registers include: the names, family members, residence, relationships, and dates and place of birth, baptism, marriage, death, and burial. Marriage and burial registers include ages; baptismal registers include the names of the godparents. Entries sometimes identify residence for those not in the parish. Mother’s maiden names were not included in baptismal entries until about 1770 and in marriage entries until about 1820.
An inventory of all parish registers was published 1972-1974. However, the disposition of records has changed significantly with records being transferred from governmental archives and local churches into diocesan and archdiocesan archives. (Source: FS: Slovenia Church Records)
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (Swaziland); and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and, with over 57 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European (White), Asian (Indian), and multiracial (Coloured) ancestry. (Source: Wikipedia)
The Dutch Reformed Church was introduced to South Africa by the Dutch East India Company's settlement in 1652 at Cape Town. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Dutch Reformed Church was the only officially recognized Church denomination in South Africa; many white residents belonged to it. In later years, especially during the 19th century, other church denominations were created, leading to a decline in the membership in the Church.
Baptism registers usually list: Name, Date and place of baptism, Date of birth, Names of parents, sometimes including mother's maiden name, Name of person performing baptism.
Marriage registers usually list: Date and place of marriage, Names and ages of bride and groom, Race of bride and groom, Country of birth and marital status of bride and groom, Occupation and residence of bride and groom, Marriage by license or banns, Names of persons giving consent, Names of witnesses, Name of officiant at ceremony.
Burial registers usually list: Date and place of burial, Name and age of deceased, Residence at time of death, Who performed burial ceremony. (Source: FS: South_Africa_Church_Records)
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and lying to the east of the Asian mainland. The name Korea is derived from Goguryeo which was one of the great powers in East Asia during its time, ruling most of the Korean Peninsula, Manchuria, parts of the Russian Far East and Inner Mongolia, under Gwanggaeto the Great. South Korea lies in the north temperate zone and has a predominantly mountainous terrain. It comprises an estimated 51.4 million residents distributed over 100,363 km2 (38,750 sq mi). Its capital and largest city is Seoul, with a population of around 10 million. (Source: Wikipedia)
Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country mostly located in Europe. Its continental European territory is situated on the Iberian Peninsula. Its territory also includes two archipelagoes: the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The African enclaves of Ceuta, Melilla, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country. The country's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean. With an area of 505,990 km2 (195,360 sq mi), Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe, the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, and the fourth largest country in the European continent. By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spain's capital and largest city is Madrid; other major urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Málaga and Bilbao. (Source: Wikipedia)
Parish and diocesan records created by the Catholic Church in Spain have long been considered some of the richest genealogical records in the world. The Catholic Church has created several different records. The most used in genealogical research include: baptisms (bautizos, bautismos), marriages (matrimonios), and burials (entierros, defunciones, fallecimientos). Other records include: confirmations (confimaciones), pre-marriage investigations (expedientes matrimoniales, información matrimonial). The vast majority of Spaniards are Catholic and so almost every Spaniard can be found in the records of the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church was the primary record keeper of births, marriages, and deaths, until civil registration started in 1869. If you are researching after 1869 when Civil Registration started in Spain both church and civil records should be searched since there may be information in one record that does not appear in the other. (Source: FS: Spain Church Records)
Spanish civil registration records (births, marriages, and deaths) began in 1871. Some municipios may have civil registration records beginning as early as 1837.
Birth records typically provide the following information: Place and date of child's birth (often times they provide the exact time of birth); Full name, profession and place of birth of the child's father; Full name and place of birth of the child's mother; Full name and place of birth of the child's maternal and paternal grandparents.
Marriage records are also very valuable in Spanish genealogical research. Marriage records provide the following information: Date when the marriage occurred; Full names, marital status (single or widowed) and places of birth for both the bride and groom; Full names, and places of birth for the parents of the bride and groom.
Death certificates often provide additional information about the deceased and his or her family. You can expect to find the following information in Spanish death records. If the deceased was single: Full name, age, occupation (if applicable), place of birth, and death date of the deceased; Full name of the deceased parents, and often times their places of birth; Cemetery where the deceased was buried. If the deceased was married or widowed: Full name, age, occupation (if applicable), place of birth, and death date of the deceased; Full name of spouse (whether deceased or living), and often their place of birth; Cemetery where the deceased was buried; Whether the deceased created a will and the name of the Notary that notarized the will; Sometimes living descendants (could include name of living children, and other heirs). (Source: FS: Spain Civil Registration)
Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north and Finland to the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund, a strait at the Swedish-Danish border. At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the largest country in Northern Europe, the third-largest country in the European Union and the fifth largest country in Europe by area. Sweden has a total population of 10.2 million of which 2.4 million has a foreign background. It has a low population density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre (57/sq mi). The highest concentration is in the southern half of the country. (Source: Wikipedia)
The church law of 1686 stated that the parish priest was to maintain: Birth and christening records (födelse och dop anteckningar); Engagement and marriage records (lysnings och vigsel anteckningar); Death and burial records (död och begravning anteckningar). These 3 records are often called Ministerial books.
In early times it is common that all 3 Ministerial records were kept in one book called the church book (kyrkboken). Often you will find other records there too such as the Sockenstämmoprotokoll (a record of parish decisions and affairs), and the Kyrkoräkenskaper (a parish financial record). In some parishes you might find a Konfirmationsbok (confirmation record) was kept. Eventually these records became separate books altogether.
All of the original church books before 1895 have historically been kept by the Regional archives (the Landsarkiv). When there are gaps in the record collections of a parish, it is most likely that the original records did not survive (although it is always good to check the parish records for the parishes in the same pastorat to be sure.) (Source: FS: Sweden Church Records)
Swedes who emigrated from Sweden between 1638 and the early 1800s usually traveled through other European ports. An estimated 1,300,000 people left Sweden between 1820 and 1920. Most of them were farmers, but some were craftsmen and others professionals.
Emigration was minimal until the 1850s, after which large numbers left Sweden. Emigration peaked in the 1880s. Swedes settled in every state, but most settled in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois.
The Swedish-American Line began carrying passengers directly from Sweden to America in 1915. Before that, ships left Swedish ports and went to other European countries where the passengers changed ships for their transatlantic voyage.
Swedish passenger lists record the people, including people from other countries, who departed from Swedish ports. The records were kept for the Swedish police authorities (Poliskammaren).
Most Swedish emigrants left from the port of Göteborg (Gothenburg). Emigrants from southern Sweden left from Malmö. Relatively few left from Stockholm and Norrköping. (Source: FS: Sweden Emigration and Immigration)
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a country situated in western, central and southern Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The sovereign state is a federal republic bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning a total area of 41,285 km2 (15,940 sq mi) (land area 39,997 km2 (15,443 sq mi)). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8.5 million people is concentrated mostly on the plateau, where the largest cities are to be found: among them are the two global cities and economic centres Zürich and Geneva. (Source: Wikipedia)
Generally church records exist for the following denominations: Reformed (Reformierte Kirche/Eglise réformée) 1525-; Roman Catholic (Katholische Kirche/Eglise catholique) 1565 (1481)-; Swiss Baptist/Mennonite (Wiedertäufer, Mennoniten/Eglise baptiste, Eglise mennonite) 1622-; Brethren (Brüder/Herrnhuter) 1661-; Jews (Jüdische Gemeinde/Congrégation Juive) 1759-; Free Churches (Freie Kirchen) 1817-; Russian Orthodox Church (Russisch-Orthodoxe Kirche) 1817-; Methodists (Methodisten) 1856-; Christian Catholic (Christkatholische Kirche) 1872-
Types of church records include: Baptisms, marriages, burials, confirmations; Lists of communicants; Family registers (soul registers); Lists of ministers in the parish; Church council minutes; Notations about those who have fallen away, i.e. Anabaptists; Church censuses, membership lists; Church consistory minutes; Annual masses for the dead. (Source: FS: Switzerland Church Records)
Civil registration is the government record of births, marriages, and deaths. These civil registers are kept by the Zivilstandesamt of each political community. Originally the Zivilstandesamt kept two separate sets of books: A-registers [records of births, marriages, and deaths occurring in the community] and B- registers [births, marriages, and deaths of community citizens that occurred outside the community]. In 1928, the B-registers were discontinued and replaced by Familienregister [family registers] kept by the civil registrar.
Birth Registers: Name; Date and place of birth of child; Names, residence and occupation of the parents.
Marriage Registers: Names, ages, residences, and occupation of bride and groom; Date and place of marriage; Names, residence, occupation of parents; Names of witnesses and person who performed the ceremony.
Death registers: Name of deceased; Age; Sometimes place of birth; Date and place of death; Occupation; Name of surviving spouse; Name and residence of informant; Cause of death; Sometimes names of parents; Sometimes names of children. (Source: FS: Switzerland Civil Registration)
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is a Polynesian country and archipelago comprising 169 islands, of which 36 are inhabited. The total surface area is about 750 square kilometres (290 sq mi) scattered over 700,000 square kilometres (270,000 sq mi) of the southern Pacific Ocean. The sovereign state has a population of 100,651 people, of whom 70% reside on the main island of Tongatapu. Tonga stretches across approximately 800 kilometres (500 mi) in a north-south line. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest, Samoa to the northeast, Niue to the east (which is the nearest foreign territory), Kermadec (part of New Zealand) to the southwest, and New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the farther west. It is about 1,800 kilometres (1,100 mi) from New Zealand's North Island. (Source: Wikipedia)
Ukraine, sometimes called the Ukraine, is a country in Eastern Europe. Excluding Crimea, Ukraine has a population of about 42.5 million, making it the 32nd most populous country in the world. Its capital and largest city is Kiev. Ukrainian is the official language and its alphabet is Cyrillic. The dominant religions in the country are Eastern Orthodoxy and Greek Catholicism. Ukraine is currently in a territorial dispute with Russia over the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014. Including Crimea, Ukraine has an area of 603,628 km2 (233,062 sq mi), making it the largest country entirely within Europe and the 46th largest country in the world. (Source: Wikipedia)
Research use: Uniquely identify individuals and connections of those in one generation to the next. Transcripts are difficult to research because generally all parishes in a district are filed together for each year. Consequently, a researcher must refer to many volumes to identify the entries for a single parish.
Record type: Church records kept by parish priests of births/baptisms, marriages, and deaths/burials. The term is also used to refer to the records of denominations that had jurisdictions other than parishes.
General: The Church acted as both a religious and civil agent in recording vital events and church sacraments such as baptism and burial. Peter the Great mandated the keeping of Orthodox books in 1722. The format was standardized in 1724. Printed forms were introduced in 1806. In 1838 a format was introduced that prevailed until 1920 when civil registration began. Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, and Evangelical Lutheran books may exist for earlier dates than Orthodox records. The priest made a transcript for the ecclesiastical court (dukhovnaia konsistoriia) having jurisdiction. Jewish transcripts were filed with the local town council (gorodskaia duma). Old Believer and Baptist transcripts were sent to the provincial administration (gubernskoe upravlenie). The distinction between the original and the transcript is often ignored by Ukrainian record keepers.
Time period: Orthodox, 1722; Greek Catholic, 1607; Roman Catholic, 1563 (transcripts begin in 1826); Evangelical/other Protestant, 1641(transcripts begin in 1833); Muslim, 1828; Jews, 1835; Old Believers, 1874; Baptists, 1879–all to about 1930.
Contents: Names of the person and other family members, residence, relationships, dates and place of birth and baptism, marriage, death and burial. Baptisms include names of godparents; marriages include the ages of the bride and groom; burials include the age of the deceased and cause of death.
The Bureau of Civil Status Acts (ZAGS) creates and maintains civil registration. The bureau is subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and is separate from the national archive system. Registration of births must be done within two months of birth and deaths within three days. Registration offices are collocated with "marriage palaces" permitting the registration and performance of weddings to occur at the same place and time. Time period: 1920-present.
Contents: Birth, marriage, and death records have the exact date of the event, including time of day for births; names of principal and parents; occupation and religious preference of parents; name of informant for births and names of witnesses for marriages; place of residence for parents of newly born, of the groom and bride for marriages, and of the deceased for deaths; age at death, cause of death, and place of burial in death records. In the Moscow regional office there is a card index to the registers. This suggests the possibility of other indexes existing in other registration bureaus.
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in the southeastern region of South America. It borders Argentina to its west and Brazil to its north and east, with the Río de la Plata (River of Silver) to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. Uruguay is home to an estimated 3.44 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the metropolitan area of its capital and largest city, Montevideo. With an area of approximately 176,000 square kilometres (68,000 sq mi), Uruguay is geographically the second-smallest nation in South America, after Suriname. (Source: Wikipedia)
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and a large number of small islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. The capital and largest urban agglomeration is the city of Caracas. It has a territorial extension of 916,445 km2 (353,841 sq mi). The continental territory is bordered on the north by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Colombia, Brazil on the south, Trinidad and Tobago to the north-east and on the east by Guyana. (Source: Wikipedia)
Parish registers are the documents kept by the Catholic Church since the year 1654 and contain books for registering church events: christenings, confirmations, marriages and deaths. Depending on when the parish was created, it is possible to find records beginning in 1550.
Baptismal Registers: Day, month, year, place (parish) where the baptism was performed; Sex of the child, name; names and surnames of the parents and the godparents.
Confirmation Registers: Name of the person; Date and place of the event; Age of the person; Parents or Godparents.
Marriage Registers: Names, surnames, date of birth, place and date of marriage; Residence, ages of the couple if it is a civil state; Names and surnames of the parents and sometimes of the grandparents.
Burial Registers: Day and where the death occurred; Name and surname of the deceased person; Age and sex of the person; Parents and/or marital status. (Source: FS: Venezuela Church Records)
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2 (8,023 sq mi). Wales has over 1,680 miles (2,700 km) of coastline and is largely mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), its highest summit. The country lies within the north temperate zone and has a changeable, maritime climate. (Source: Wikipedia)
The national census records are especially valuable because they list nearly the entire population and are readily available at many repositories, including the Family History Library. Using the national census is essential for Welsh genealogical research, especially in the industrial districts of south Wales, where most people were originally from a rural area. From 1851 onwards, census records give the parish of birth for each individual in a household.
The British government has taken censuses every ten years since 1801, except for 1941. The first census to list every person by name was taken in 1841. Earlier censuses contain only statistical information, but some parishes did compile lists of names while gathering information for the census, a few of which survive.
1841. This census lists each member of every household with their name, sex, address, occupation, and whether or not they were born in the county or out of the country. The census takers usually rounded the ages of those over 15 down to a multiple of 5 years. For example, a 59-year-old would be listed as 55.
1851 and later. These censuses list the names, ages, occupations, relationships to the head of the household, and parish and county of birth (except foreign births, which may give country only) of each member of the household.
1891 and later. These censuses also list the language spoken (English, Welsh or Both). (Source: FS: Wales_Census)
Before 1 July 1837, only churches recorded vital records in Wales (see Wales Church Records). Birth, marriage and death registration by a civil authority began on 1 July 1837.
Civil registration in Wales is administered locally by superintendent registrars in England and Wales and nationally by the Office of National Statistics (formerly the Registrar General) on-line certificate ordering. The registration district is the jurisdictional unit upon which civil registration is based. Each county is divided into districts, and each district has a superintendent registrar, who is responsible to register all vital events within the district, perform marriages, and send a copy of the certificates to the Office of National Statistics. The original registrations remain in the district offices. These registration districts crossed both county and national boundaries! For example the town of Llangollen, in the county of Denbighshire, was part of the Corwen registration district, even though Corwen was in the county of Merionethshire. Similarly, the town of Chirk, in Denbighshire, was in the Oswestry registration district, even though Oswestry was in the county of Shropshire in England.
Births and deaths are registered with the superintendent registrar by an individual who was present at the event. Marriages are registered by the minister or public official who performed the marriage. Quarterly, Church of England ministers send copies of their marriage records to the superintendent registrar. Quaker and Jewish marriages are registered by their own representatives directly with the Office of National Statistics. Until 1898 the superintendent registrars were accountable to see that marriages preformed by other nonconformist denominations were registered.
It has been estimated that 90 to 95 percent of births and nearly all deaths and marriages were recorded. There was no penalty imposed for failure to register until 1874. By 1875, 99 percent of all births, marriages, and deaths were recorded. (Source: FS: Wales Civil Registration)
