Spain, Province of Valencia, Miscellaneous Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Spain Valencia

What is in the Collection?
The “Diputación de Valencia” is an institution composed of senators and other politicians, and is at the service of the provincial municipalities. This collection includes several types of records, which are housed at the Diputación Provincial de Valencia Archive. The original records are kept at the Archivo de la Diputación Provincial de Valencia, in Valencia, Spain. These records are the property of the Diputación de Valencia, ADPV.

Most of the types of records in this collection were created to record the historical events in the life of the people. Events were recorded in registers, which were to be kept for the history of civilians and for civilians’ and governmental benefits.

This collection includes various types of records, such as military drafts, censuses, and other miscellaneous records for the years 1251-1950 from the Valencia province in Spain. Each is reliable depending on the reliability of the person supplying the information and the person creating the record.

These records are written in Spanish; see the section "For Help Reading these Records" for access to translation helps.

This collection is being published as images become available.

Collection Content
Records created in earlier years may have some damage. The information in each record may vary by year.

Census records usually contain the following information:


 * Name of head of the household
 * Names of every person living in the house
 * Relationship to the head of the household of every person in the household
 * Age
 * Occupation
 * Residence
 * Nationality or place of origin
 * Parents
 * Parish of baptism
 * Municipality
 * Event year

How Do I Search the Collection?
Some record sets have indexes; these indexes were created at the end of the year. Copy errors could have been made in the index, so you want to find the actual record to verify the information is correct. Using the index is a helpful way to find the actual record.

See the sections below for tips and uses for searching and finding the record of your ancestor in this collection and using the information in the record.

If you are unable to find a record for your ancestor in this collection, see the corresponding section below.

The different types of records in this collection have different uses, but most can be used to search for information of ancestors that lived in the Valencia Province. Almost always, for any type of record, it is necessary to know the ancestor's complete name, and/or at least the surname, and some dates in the events of the life of your ancestor.

Searching the Collection
View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page ⇒Select the "Province" ⇒Select the "City or Municipality" ⇒Select the "Parish" ⇒Select the "Record Type and Years" which takes you to the images.

Search the collection by image, 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.

When searching: As you are searching, it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor's given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence, age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

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


 * Spanish Genealogical Word List
 * Reading Spanish handwritten records
 * Script tutorial for Spanish

What Do I Do Next?

 * Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church records Spain Catholic Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records).
 * Use the parents' birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * The name of a marriage officiator is a clue to their religion or area of residence in the province. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other provinces.
 * Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Use the marital status (whether a divorce or death dissolved a marriage) to identify previous marriages.
 * Witnesses often were relatives of the parents.

I Found Who I was Looking for, Now What?
When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

For death records, the information in records is usually reliable, but depends upon the knowledge of the informant (the person who reported the death).

Regarding marriage and death records, name changes, shortened names, or nicknames may have been used by your ancestors, so pay attention to other relationships (parents, spouse, siblings, children, etc.) that can confirm whether you have the right person/record.

Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.

Continue to search the indexes and records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have lived in the same area or a nearby area.

What If I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For?
A boundary change could have occurred and the record of your ancestor is now in a neighboring province.

Church records are also a good substitute when birth, marriage, and death records can’t be found or are unavailable.


 * Spain Baptisms
 * Spain Catholic Church Records

Or your ancestor immigrated to another country. Search the records of nearby areas or immigration/emigration records.

Spain Emigration and Immigration

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image. Collection Citation:

Image Citation: