Peru, Lima, Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

Peru Lima

What is in the Collection?
This collection includes birth, marriage, and death records from 1874-1996 for the city of Lima and other surrounding municipalities.

These records are written in Spanish; see the section For Help Reading these Records for translation helps.

The earlier records are all handwritten in a narrative format. The later records are also handwritten but on a printed format. Some of their text may also vary slightly.

Additional information about these records can be found in the wiki article Peru Civil Registration.

The Family History Library’s collection includes civil registers from the following municipalities:


 * Lima o Cercado de lima
 * Ancón
 * Barranco
 * Chorrillos
 * Lurigancho
 * Magdalena del Mar
 * Magdalena Vieja
 * Miraflores
 * San Miguel (previously known as San Miguel del Mar)
 * Santiago de Surco (previously known as San José de Surco)

General Information about These Records

Civil registration in Peru started on June 21, 1852. Before the government instituted civil registration in Peru, the Catholic Church was the only institution tracking the births, marriages, and deaths of the population. In 1852, during the Republican Era, the government instituted civil registration. This was first done by political authorities, such as prefecture, subprefecture, and state. In 1856, this responsibility was given to municipalities. Currently, civil registration is in the hands of RENIEC, which delegates the registration process to municipal registrars.

Civil registration in Peru identifies all its residents and issues certificates regarding their identity. The registration of births, marriages, and deaths documents the civil status of the residents. In 1876, Peru’s census counted a population of 2.6 million residents, with just over 100,000 of those living in Lima. By 1900, Peru’s population numbered 3.8 million, with 223,807 in Lima.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Birth records may include the following information:


 * Date and place of the registration
 * Child's name and gender
 * Child's date and place of birth
 * Legitimacy
 * Parents’ names, their age and residence
 * Names of witnesses

Marriage records may include the following:


 * Date and place of the registration
 * Date and place of marriage
 * Groom's full name and age
 * Groom's marital status, occupation, nationality, and residence
 * Names of groom's parents and their residence
 * Bride’s full name and age
 * Bride's marital status, occupation, nationality, and residence
 * Names of bride's parents and their residence
 * Couple's statement of religious affiliation
 * Names of witnesses

Death records may include:


 * Time, date, and place of registration
 * Name, age, and gender of deceased (keep in mind that death records for women may be under their married name)
 * Date, place, and time of death
 * Cause of death
 * Parents' names of deceased
 * Sometimes, name of spouse
 * Names of witnesses their age(s) and residence
 * Name of person registering death and their relationship to the deceased

Maps

 * Peru in the early 21st century
 * Part of Lima in 1983 (see Broer Map Library for more parts)
 * Southern South America in 1891, with a closeup of Lima
 * Peru in 1871

How Do I Search the Collection?
As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s first name or 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 relative and that your relative may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page:

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: ⇒ select "Browse" link in the initial collection page ⇒ Select the "Province" category ⇒ Select the "District or Municipality" category ⇒ 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.

For help reading these records:

These records are in Spanish. For help reading the records see the following guides:


 * Spanish Genealogical Word List
 * Reading Spanish handwritten records
 * Script tutorial for Spanish

To learn more about using the information in civil records, view these lessons for free:

What Do I Do Next?
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. 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.

I Found Who I Was Looking for, What Now?
For death records, the information in records is usually reliable, but depends upon the knowledge of the informant.

For marriage and death records, name changes, shortened names, or nicknames may have been used by your ancestors, so pay attention to other relationships (parents, spouse, siblings, children, etc.) that can confirm whether you have the right person/record.

Witnesses were sometimes relatives of the deceased or the deceased's parents.

When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

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.

Continue to search the indexes and records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have lived in the same area or a nearby area.

The birth, marriage, and death records contain important information for at least two and sometimes three generations of ancestors in one document.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?
A boundary change could have occurred and the record of your ancestor is now in a neighboring region. Your ancestor may have also immigrated to another country. Search the records of nearby areas or immigration/emigration records:
 * Peru Emigration and Immigration

Church records are also a good substitute when birth, marriage, and death records can’t be found or are unavailable. Before the government instituted civil registration in Peru, the Catholic Church was the only institution tracking the births, marriages, and deaths of the population.


 * Peru Baptisms (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Peru Catholic Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Peru Deaths (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Peru Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Peru Church Records

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached 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.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation: