Finland, Turku-Pori, Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Record
Swedish: Finnish:

Record Description
This collection consists of church records for the county of Turku-Pori, Finland. It covers the years 1667 to 1900.

Record Content
Christening records usually contain:
 * Names of the infant and parents.
 * The baptism date (later registers also contain the birth date).
 * The child’s legitimacy status.
 * Names of godparents and witnesses.
 * Father’s occupation.
 * The family’s place of residence.
 * The records may also contain:
 * Death information if the child died very young.
 * The street name or family’s address if they lived in a larger city.

Marriage records usually contain:
 * Names of the bride and groom.
 * Marriage date.
 * The residences of the bride and groom before the marriage.
 * The occupations of the bride and groom.
 * Marital status (single or widowed).
 * The names and residences of witnesses and possibly the parents.
 * The three dates on which the marriage intentions were announced in addition to the marriage date.

Burial records usually contain:
 * Name of the deceased
 * Burial date and death date
 * Age of the deceased
 * Place of residence
 * Cause of death

More information about these records and addition church records is available in the wiki article Finland Church Records.

How to Use the Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know


 * Name of your ancestor
 * Identifying information such as residence and event date

Help with the Language
These records are in Swedish so you will need to be able to understand written Swedish. Records were not kept in Finnish until after 1863, when Finnish was made an official language in Finland. The transition from Swedish into Finnish was gradual, and about 30 Finnish parishes still use Swedish as their primary language.

For help with reading the records, please see the following wiki articles:


 * Sweden: Language and Languages
 * Swedish Genealogical Word List

Search the Collection
To search the collection ⇒ Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the "_______" ⇒ Select the "_______" ⇒ Select the "_______" ⇒ Select the "_______" ⇒ Select the "_______" which takes you to the images. .

Look at each 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. 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.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Save a copy of the image or transcribe the information. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors. For example:

For example, use the name and parish of residence to search for baptism, confirmation, marriage and death records in the church records

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby parishes and communities.

Related Websites
Finland Family History Association

Related Wiki Articles
Finland Church Records

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:

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.