Bahamas Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This collection will include records from 1850 to 1959.

The records include births, marriages, and deaths from civil registration in different districts of the Bahamas. Earlier records are handwritten in narrative style; later records are handwritten in formatted records. The text of the records is in English. Records are listed in chronological order.

The earliest reference to public registration of records in the Bahamas was in 1764. By 1862, a separate office named the Registry of Records was created to record the civil events; later, the name was changed to Registrar General’s Department in 1914. At that time, there were a few registrars legally appointed to record the events of birth and death, or marriages, or other life event. Before 1914, each registration form was to be filled as accurate as possible and subsequently returned to the Registry of Records, now the Registrar General’s Department, where all the records are properly archived.

These records were created to keep track of the vital events happening in the lives of the citizens and to safeguard their legal interests.

Civil records of birth, marriage, and death are the best records for family history research after 1862.

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
Birth records may contain the following information:


 * Child’s name
 * Birth date
 * Child's gender and race
 * Birth place
 * Parents' names
 * Father’s title or occupation

Marriage records may contain the following information:


 * Marriage date
 * Marriage place
 * Full names of bride and groom
 * Ages of bride and groom
 * Civil status, age and residence of bride and groom
 * Occupation
 * Name of fathers of bride and groom
 * Witnesses

Death records may contain the following information:


 * Name of deceased
 * Date of death
 * Place of death
 * Age, gender and race of deceased
 * Occupation of deceased
 * Cause of death

How to Use the Record
To begin your search for baptisms in this collection, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Name of parents
 * Approximate year and place of baptism

To begin your search for marriage records, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Names of bride or groom
 * Approximate year and place of marriage
 * Name of parents

To begin your search for death records, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Name of deceased
 * Approximate year and place of death

Search the Collection
To search 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 compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

To search by image: To search the collection image by image select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page: ⇒ Select the appropriate "Record Type and Years" which will take 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.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.


 * Use the parents' birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * The name of the officiator is a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other counties.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Use the marriage number to identify previous marriages.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800.
 * 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.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities.

General Information About These Records
There are indexes available for the marriage records in this collections. The indexes are found in the Marriage Index 1910-1955 folder. Find your ancestors name and look for the year, number, page number and book letter located next to their name. This will help you find the record you are looking for in the collection.

There are no indexes for the birth and death records. Consider finding a marriage record first and then look for birth and death records.

Related Websites

 * The Government of the Bahamas – Registrar General’s Department
 * Bahamas Gen Web

Related Wiki Articles

 * Bahamas
 * Bahamas: Ethnic Groups

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: Bahamas, Civil Registration, 1850-1959

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.

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