Spain, Diocese of Albacete, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Records
Registros Parroquiales de la Diócesis Católica de Albacete, España.

Collection Time Period
This collection of Catholic Church records of baptisms, marriages, and burials for the province of Albacete, Spain, covers the years 1504–1979.

Record Description
Digital copies of baptisms, marriages, and burials of the parishes in the Diocese of Albacete, Spain. This collection includes an index of records of several parishes in the diocese. Additional indexed data will be added as they become available. Usually separate registers were maintained for baptisms, marriages, and deaths. However, in localities with a small population, the entries for these events may have been recorded in the same register. Confirmations were usually recorded with the baptisms. The earlier records may have some words or entries written in Latin. In general, the records were created in chronological order. Includes some separate indexes. The text of the records is in Spanish.

Record Content
Key genealogical information found in baptismal records: 


 * Date and place of the baptism
 * Name of the person being baptized
 * Date and place of birth or age at the time of baptism
 * If illegitimate
 * Parents’ names, residence, and/or place of birth
 * Names of grandparents and godparent

Key genealogical information found in marriage records:


 * Date and place of the marriage
 * Complete names of the bride and groom (including the bride's maiden name)
 * Civil status (single, divorced, widowed) at the time of the event
 * Birth dates and places for the marriage partners
 * Occupation
 * Parents’ names and residence or place of birth
 * Sometimes the parents’ civil status
 * Names of the witnesses

Key genealogical information found in death records:


 * Date and place of the death
 * Name and age of the deceased or date and place of birth
 * Cause of death (illness, accident, senility, and so on)
 * Residence of the deceased
 * If the person left a testament, the record will list the children’s names, the civil status of the deceased (single, divorced, widowed), the name and birthplace of the spouse, and sometimes the parents’ names and where they are from.

How to Use the Records
Begin your search by finding your ancestors in the index. Name indexes to baptisms, marriages, and death or burials make it possible to access a specific record quickly. Remember that these indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

When searching the index it is helpful to know the following:


 * The place where the event occurred
 * The name and surname of the person
 * The approximate date of the event
 * The name of the parents or spouse

Use the locator information found in the index (such as page, entry, or certificate number) to locate your ancestors in the records. Compare the information in the record to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination.

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. Add this new information to your records of each family.

For example:


 * Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to other types of records such as employment records or military records.
 * 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.

Keep in mind:


 * The information in church records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.
 * 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.

If you are unable to find the ancestors you are looking for, try the following:


 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Check for a different index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities.

Record History
Priests performed the baptisms, marriages, deaths, burials, and other holy sacraments in their assigned parish or parishes. All the original parish records were kept in the parish archive; however, the older records were sent to the diocesan archive, as it is done today. Some earlier records may have been recreated, because the originals may have been destroyed during the Spanish wars. Catholic parish records cover 95 to 100 percent of a city’s population. This collection includes only the parish records that were centralized into the diocesan archive.

Why the Record Was Created
Catholic parish registers in Spain were created to record the church sacraments of baptism, marriage, death, burial, and other ordinances.

Record Reliability
Catholic Church parish records are a reliable source for doing Spanish genealogical research.

Related Websites

 * Hispanic Genealogy - Spanish Catholic Church Marriage Records
 * Guía de los Archivos de la Iglesia en España

Related Wiki Articles
Spain Catholic Church Records

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from the record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find th record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you do 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 in found in the Wiki Article: How to Create Source Citations for FamilySearch Historical Records Collections.

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in this Collection

 * “Delaware Marriage Records,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed 4 March 2011), entry for William Anderson and Elizabeth Baynard Henry, married 23 November 1913; citing marriage certificate no. 859; FHL microfilm 2,025,063; Delaware Bureau of Archives and Records Management, Dover.


 * “El Salvador Civil Registration,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org: accessed 21 March 2011), entry for Jose Maria Antonio del Carmen, born 9 April 1880; citing La Libertad, San Juan Opico, Nacimientos 1879-1893, image 50; Ministerio Archivo Civil de la Alcaldia Municipal de San Salvador.

Sources of Information for This Collection
Spain. Diocese of Albacete, Spain. Various Catholic Church parish archives in the Province of Albacete, Spain. Catholic Church parish records, 1504-1979. Albacete Diocesan Historical Archive, Spain.

Original records are housed in different parishes throughout the Province of Albacete, Spain.

Detailed instructions for adding citations are also listed in the wiki article: How to Create Source Citations for FamilySearch Historical Records Collections.