Bluefields, South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, Nicaragua Genealogy

Guide to Municipality of Bluefields ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, church records, parish registers, and civil registration.

History

 * Generally, it is accepted that the origin of the city of Bluefields is linked to the presence on the Nicaraguan Caribbean coast of European pirates, subjects of enemy powers of Spain, who used the Escondido River to rest, repair damages and get supplies.
 * In 1602 one of these soldiers of fortune chose the bay of Bluefields as the center of operations due to its tactical advantages, the Dutch Abraham Blauvelt or Bleeveldt, and from him the name of the city and by extension of the current municipality is derived.
 * The British subjects broke in in 1633 and from 1666 they were already organized into colonies, which had the consequence that by 1705 there were already constituted authorities and that in 1730 the colony of Bluefields became dependent on the British governorship of Jamaica.
 * In 1740 the Miskitos ceded sovereignty over the territory to England, and in 1744 the transfer of English settlers from Jamaica to La Mosquitia was organized, bringing black slaves with them; in addition, French citizens were also installed. The area was a British superintendency until 1786, when England had to recognize Spain's sovereignty over La Mosquitia through the London Convention; English subjects abandoned the islands, but the Spanish did not take firm positions on them.
 * With the independence of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, the Mosquito Coast area became part of Gran Colombia until its dissolution in 1831. Then it became part of the Republic of New Granada (present-day Colombia), until that through the Esguerra-Bárcenas treaty, the Colombian State formally ceded the territory to Nicaragua.
 * The Moravian church settled in 1847, and in 1860 the Mosquitia Reserve was created on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, by an agreement between the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States in which Nicaragua as a country had no part, and the British crown intervened again putting it under its protection. The city of Bluefields was declared the capital of that reserve.
 * In 1894 the Nicaraguan government incorporated the Mosquitia Reserve into the national territory, extinguishing the Miskito monarchy, and on October 11, 1903 Bluefields was elevated to the rank of city and head of the department of Zelaya.
 * The municipality of Bluefields was founded on October 11, 1903.
 * The municipality of Bluefields has a population of approximately 57,600 people.

Civil Registration

 * 1973-2012 (*) at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1999-2010 (*) at FamilySearch Catalog - images

Church Records

 * 1899-1990 (*) at FamilySearch Catalog — images

Census Records

 * There are no records online for Bluefields municipality.

Cemeteries
Indexes of burials in the cemeteries of the Bluefields municipality may be found at findagrave.com
 * 1922-2007 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * Cementerio San Juan de Dios
 * Campo Santo
 * Direction: 266H+5VG, Bluefields
 * Horas: Domingo a Sábado de 09:00–17:00
 * Cementerio de Greytown

Court Records

 * 1877-1978 (*) at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1911-1971 (*) at FamilySearch Catalog — images

Land and Property

 * 1890-1953 (*) at FamilySearch Catalog — images