Portugal, Portalegre, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Image Visibility
Whenever possible, FamilySearch makes images available for all users. However, ultimate rights to view images on our website are granted by the record custodians. The Portugal, Portalegre, Catholic Church Records collection is available to the Family History Library, FamilySearch Centers, and to members of the supporting organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The images can be viewed at a FamilySearch Center near you.

Title in the Language of the Record
Registros Paroquiais da Igreja Católica do Distrito de Portalegre, Portugal.

Record Description
This Collection will include records from 1859 to 1911.

This is a collection of baptisms, marriages, and deaths for the year of 1911 from parishes in the District of Portalegre, which is divided into 15 municipalities (municípios):


 * Alter do Chão (Vila)
 * Arronches (Vila)
 * Avis (Vila)
 * Campo Maior (Vila)
 * Castelo de Vide (Vila)
 * Crato (Vila)
 * Elvas (Cidade)
 * Fronteira (Vila)
 * Gavião (Vila)
 * Marvão (Vila)
 * Monforte (Vila)
 * Nisa (Vila)
 * Ponte de Sôr (Cidade)
 * Portalegre (Cidade)
 * Sousel (Vila)

This collection includes records for two municipalities that are currently under Spanish rule. The municipality of Olivença (Olivenza) and its parishes of Santa Maria do Castelo (Santa María del Castillo), Santa Maria Madalena (Santa María Magdalena), São Bento da Contenda (San Benito de la Contienda), São Domingos de Gusmão (Santo Domingo de Guzmán), São Jorge da Lor (San Jorge de Alor), and Vila Real (Villarreal) together with the municipality of Talega (Táliga) and its parish of Nossa Senhora da Assunção (Nuestra Señora de la Asunción) used to be under Portuguese rule. The records published in this collection corresponding to the parishes mentioned above were handwritten in Portuguese while the parishes were under Portuguese rule.

Parishes in the District of Portalegre are part of the Portalegre-Castelo Branco Diocese. Each parish priest kept the original register in the parish archive and a duplicate copy was later sent to the Diocesan Archive to keep the records centralized and kept at a higher state of preservation. However, this collection of records is housed at the Portalegre District Archive.

Additional images will be published as they become available.

For a list of records by localities and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browselink from the collection landing page.

Record Content
Baptismal records usually contain the following information:


 * Date and place of baptism
 * Child's name and gender
 * Child's date and place of birth
 * Father name, occupation and origin
 * Mother's maiden name and origin
 * Names of paternal grandparents
 * Names of maternal grandparents
 * Names of godparents, their civil status and occupation
 * Sometimes, a spouse's name appears in the margin
 * Sometimes, a death date appears in the margin

Marriage records usually contain the following information:


 * Date and place of marriage
 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Groom's age, civil status, occupation and origin
 * Names of groom's parents
 * Bride's age, civil status and origin
 * Names of bride's parents
 * Names of witnesses

Death records usually contain the following information:


 * Date and place of death
 * Name, age and gender of deceased
 * Marital status, occupation and origin of deceased
 * Parents' names and their origin if deceased is a minor child
 * Name of spouse, if married
 * Sometimes, a note if there is a testament (will)
 * Burial information

How to Use the Record
To search the collection, ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the “District” ⇒Select the “Municipality” ⇒Select the “Civil Parish” ⇒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 which one is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination.

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 and 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 Portuguese. For help reading the records, see the following wiki articles:

Portuguese 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

 * District of Portalegre Archive (Portuguese)
 * Diocese of Portalegre-Castelo Branco (Portuguese)

Related Wiki Articles
Portugal Catholic 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: Portugal, Portalegre, Catholic Church Records, 1859-1911

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.