Qeqertarsuatsiaat Parish, Greenland Genealogy

Background

 * Qeqertarsuatsiaat, formerly Fiskernæs or Fiskenæsset, is a settlement in the Sermersooq municipality in southwestern Greenland, located on an island off the shores of Labrador Sea.
 * Its population was 169 in 2020.
 * Kikertarsocitsiak or Qeqertarsuatsiaat has long been the local name for the island. It was first settled by the Danes as Fiskernæs in 1754. The name was often anglicized as Fisher's Inlet.
 * The trading post was founded by the merchant Anders Olsen on behalf of the Danish General Trade Company, which was granted a royal monopoly on trade in Greenland but only in and around its settlements. Like most Greenlandic trading posts, it was a location for the Danes to trade imported goods for seal skins and seal and whale blubber gathered by Kalaallit in the area.
 * In 1748, 1754, 1757, or 1758, the Moravian mission of Lichtenfels was established in another inlet of the same island by Matthias Stach and four families from New Herrnhut. The first conversions were not made until 1760 or 1761, but afterwards the population of the settlement rose to around 300 and was for a time the largest village in Greenland. The mission was surrendered to the Lutheran Church of Denmark in 1900 and has since been abandoned.

Place Names
Farm names or small village names within this parish include these place names and variations:
 * Fiskenæsset
 * Kikertarsocitsiak
 * Lichtenfels
 * Qeqertarsuatsiaat

Census Records

 * 1834-1870 Greenland, Denmark, Censuses, 1834-1870 (in Danish) at Ancestry - index & images ($)
 * 1834-1921 Greenland Censuses, 1834-1921 (in Danish) - incomplete indexes
 * Dansk Demografisk Database - incomplete indexes

Church Records

 * 1749-1900 Evangelische Brüdergemeinde Kirchenbuch (Lichtenfels, Grönland), 1749-1900, images
 * 1758-1900 Qeqertarsuatsiaat/Lichtenfels Church Records - at Greenland National Archives Kirkebóger, images only, complete.
 * 1758-1886 Church books in Qeqertarsuatsiaat (Fiskenæsset) parish - at Danish Family Search, index and images, incomplete.
 * 1834-1850 Greenland Kirkebøger, 1752-1861 at FamilySearch Catalog - index and images.Includes born and baptized, confirmed, married, dead and buried and communions for most parishes. Fiskernæsset 1834-1850 vol. 2

Reading the Records
Because the Faroe Islands were under the jurisdiction of Denmark, many research resources relating to Denmark will be helpful in using Faroe Islands records.
 * Help Reading Danish Records:


 * Denmark Parish Register Headings provides translated examples of parish headings. You will be able to interpret much of what is in the records using these headings. Danish Word List covers typical  terms found in the records. Fixed and Moveable Feast Days for: Denmark will help you translate dates written in feast day form. Denmark surnames are patronymic and change every generation, so carefully study Denmark Names, Personal.


 * Help Reading Old Handwriting: 


 * Scandinavian Handwriting
 * Scandinavian Handwriting, part 3 - No part 2 available
 * Gothic Script and examples (Danish)
 * Gothic script help links (Danish)


 * Knowing What to Look for Next:


 * To understand the best research strategies for these records, see Denmark Church Records Christenings Guide.