Portugal, Aveiro, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This is a collection of digital copies of baptism, marriage, and burial records from the Aveiro District Archives in Portugal. It covers the years 1550-1911. Most of the records are handwritten in narrative style; only in later years do the records appear handwritten in formatted registers. These records are written in Portuguese and can help you with your genealogy.

These Catholic Church parish registers were created to record the church sacraments of baptism, marriage, death, and burial, and other ordinances that were performed by the authorized priest in his area of jurisdiction. All the original parish records were kept in the parish archive under the custody of the priest. However, a duplicate of these registers was regularly sent to the diocesan archive, where the records were centralized and kept at a higher state of preservation.

Reading These Records
For help reading these Portuguese records, see the following guides:
 * Portuguese Genealogical Word List
 * Portuguese Letter-writing Guide

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Baptism
 * Date and place of the baptism
 * Name of the person baptized
 * Gender and date of birth or age
 * If legitimate or illegitimate
 * Parents’ names and residence or places of origin
 * Names of the paternal and maternal grandparents
 * Names of the godparents

Marriage
 * Date and place of the marriage
 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Names of the groom's parents
 * Names of the bride's parents
 * Names of the witnesses

Death
 * Date and place of death
 * Name, age and gender of deceased
 * Marital status and occupation of deceased
 * Name of the spouse, if married
 * Parents' names and their place of origin
 * Burial information

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Your ancestor's given name and surname
 * Identifying information such as residence
 * Estimated marriage or birth year

How Do I Analyze The Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

What Do I Do Next?

 * Catholic Church parish records are a reliable source for doing genealogical research in Aveiro, Portugal, before 1911 when the civil registration was implemented. For records after 1911, it is suggested that you research both the civil registry and the church records to verify information
 * When you have found your ancestors original record, it is a good idea to make a copy of it or cite where you found it for future reference
 * It's always a good idea to keep your citation on a Research Log. This is an important tool to help keep track of what you have and have not found.  FamilySearch has a [[Media:Research_Log.pdf|Research Log]] that you can download and use.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Add any new information to your records
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct
 * Titles may be clues to property ownership, occupations, rank, or status within the community
 * Use the estimated age to calculate a birth date
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate civil records

I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * Check for variant spellings of the names
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. In addition local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records
 * Search the records of nearby localities (or military unties, counties, parishes, etc.). Portugal Genealogy has a clickable  map the shows you the districts surrounding Aveiro.

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in Portugal.
 * Record Finder
 * Portugal Research Tips and Strategies

Other FamilySearch Collections
These collections may have additional materials to help you with your research.

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

Portugal, Aveiro, registros parroquiales (Registros históricos de FamilySearch) Portugal, Diocese de Aveiro, Registros da Igreja Católica (Registros Históricos do FamilySearch)