Cook Islands Church Records

Pacific Cook Islands

Parish Registers
Research use: Uniquely identifies individuals and connects those in one generation to the next.

Record type: Church records kept by religious authorities of births/baptisms, marriages, and deaths/burials.

General: The compilation and preservation of church records is random.

Time period: 1838-present.

Contents: Names of the person and other family members, residence, relationships, dates and place of birth and baptism, marriage, death and burial. Sometimes, baptisms include names of godparents; marriages include the ages of the bride and groom; burials include the age of the deceased and cause of death.

Location: Churches and ecclesiastical archives. These locations need to be more fully investigated.

Population coverage: 10% coverage for early periods; 50% coverage for the 20th century.

Reliability: High.