Spain, Diocese of Lugo, Catholic Parish Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Records
Registros Parroquiales de la Iglesia Católica de la Diócesis de Lugo, España

Record Description
The Family History Library collection of the Roman Catholic Church parish records of the Diocese of Lugo, Spain covers the years from 1550 to 1930.

Indexed parish records from the diocese of Lugo, Spain. Most of the parish records from the Diocese of Lugo have been preserved well, but some earlier entries may have some damage.

Parish priests performed the baptisms, marriages, deaths, burials, and other holy sacraments in their assigned parish or parishes. All of the original parish records were kept in the parish archive; however, the older records were centralized into the diocesan archive. Usually separate registers were maintained for baptisms, marriages, and deaths, however, in localities with a small population the records of baptisms, marriages, and burials were recorded in the same register. Confirmations were usually recorded with the baptismal registers, but can also be found with deaths and/or marriages. Generally, entries were created in chronological order. Early registers may have some ecclesiastical wording written in Latin.Catholic Church parish records cover about 95 to 100% of the population. However, this collection only includes the parish records that have been centralized through the years into the diocesan archive.

Catholic Church parish registers were created to record the sacraments of baptisms, marriages, deaths, burials, and other ordinances that pertain to each Church’s jurisdiction.

Catholic Church parish records are a reliable source for doing Spanish genealogical research in Lugo.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.

Record Content
Most baptismal records contain:


 * Date and place of baptism
 * Name and gender of person being baptized
 * Date of birth or age at time of baptism
 * Legitimacy of person
 * Parents names, their residence, and place of origin
 * Names of paternal grandparents and their place of residence
 * Names of maternal grandparents and their place of residence
 * Name of godparents
 * Name of witnesses

Most marriage records contain:


 * Date and place of marriage
 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Name and age of groom
 * Civil status, residence and origin of groom
 * Names of groom's parents, their residence and place of origin
 * Name and age of bride
 * Civil status, residence and origin of bride
 * Names of bride's parents, their residence and place of origin
 * Names of witnesses

Most death records contain:


 * Date and place of death
 * Name and age of deceased
 * Civil status of the deceased (single, married, widow)
 * Name of spouse, if married
 * Residence and/or place of origin
 * Cause of death
 * Burial information
 * Sometimes, deceased may have left a testament
 * Sometimes, entries give the names of children

How to Use the Record
Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

The Catholic parish records are an excellent source for genealogical research in Spain. These may also be the only records available for Spanish research before civil registration was implemented in 1871.

Related Web Sites

 * Diocese of Lugo, Spain
 * Sorted By Name.com

Related Wiki Articles

 * Spain
 * Spain Catholic Church Records

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should also list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.