Ecuador, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Record
Ecuador, Registros Parroquiales de la Iglesia Católica.

Record Description
These records are in Spanish. This collection of Catholic Church parish records includes the years 1565 to 1996. It includes baptism, confirmation, marriage and death records from several parishes in dioceses and archdioceses of Ecuador. For a complete list all the parishes contained in this collection, see the Parishes of Ecuador coverage table.

All the records of the sacramental ordinances were created, registered, and kept by the priest in authority of his parish jurisdiction. The parish jurisdiction may have included sub-parishes in nearby localities. One register was generally kept at the parish archive and another copy sent to the diocesan archive for preservation.

Catholic Church parish registers are the primary source for finding genealogical information of birth, death, and marriage in Ecuador prior to 1900, when the civil registration was implemented. For the most part, the records are handwritten in narrative form; only in later years are the records handwritten in formatted registers. The text is in Spanish.

For a list of records by date or locality currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

Record Content
Baptism records may contain the following information:


 * Date and place of baptism
 * Name of child
 * Birth date of child
 * Gender of child
 * Parents’ names
 * Godparents’ names

Confirmation records may contain the following information:


 * Date and place of confirmation
 * Name
 * Parents' names
 * Godparents

Marriage records may contain the following information:


 * Date and place of marriage
 * Names of the groom and bride
 * Groom’s age
 * Bride’s age
 * Marital status of the groom and bride
 * Groom’s parents' names
 * Bride’s parents' names
 * Witnesses' names

Death and burial records may contain the following information:


 * Date and place of death
 * Name of deceased
 * Age and residence of deceased
 * Cause of death
 * Parents' names of deceased

How to Use the Record
To begin your search you should know the following:


 * the name of your ancestor
 * the place and approximate year of an event

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.

Compare the information in the record to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination.

These may be the only records available before the implementation of civil registration in about 1900.

Search the Collection
To search the collection by index: 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 look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

To search the collection by image: Follow this series of links: ⇒Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page ⇒Select the "Province" ⇒Select the "City or Town" ⇒Select the "Parish" ⇒Select the "Record Type and Years" which takes you to the images.

Look at the images one by one, comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

There are indexes available in these collections. The indexes are located at the beginning of a group of images. Each year has it's own index. Find your ancestor's name and look for the year, certificate number and page number. This will help you find the record you are looking for in the collection.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * The information in church records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800's.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one record to another.

Unable to find Your Ancestor?

 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Check for a different year in the index.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in Spanish. For help reading the records, see the following wiki articles:

Spanish Genealogical Word List

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites

 * Catholic Church-Hierarchy of Ecuador
 * Online maps
 * Online histories
 * Online genealogical resources

Related Wiki Articles
Ecuador

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
Citations for individual image records are available for this collection. Browse through images in this collection and click on the "Show Citation" box:Ecuador, Catholic Church Records, 1565-1996

When you copy information from a record, you should 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.

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.