Portugal, Setúbal, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

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Foreign Language Title
Registros Paroquiais da Igreja Católica de Setúbal, Portugal.

Collection Time Period
This collection of Catholic Church parish records from Arrentela and Seixal in the municipality of Setubal covers the period of 1581 to 1910.

How to Use the Records
Some records have indexes at the end of the volume. Frequently, these indexes are arranged by the given name of the individual and sometimes use the Latin form of the name. Those volumes without indexes need to be searched chronologically for the individuals sought.

Begin your search by finding your ancestors in the index. Use the locator information 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 ancestor to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination. Be aware that as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about other people listed in the record. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

For example:


 * Use the baptism date and place to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate civil and land records.
 * The father’s occupation can lead you to employment records or other types of records such as military records.
 * The parent’s origin places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * Marriage date and place may help find their children
 * Burial place may also help to know of their migration pattern

It is often helpful to extract the information on all children with the same parents. If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile baptism entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families based on the names of the parents. Continue to search the baptism records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who were born, married and died in the same place or nearby.

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 1800s.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from record to record.

Record Description
The records included in this collection are those of baptisms, marriages, and deaths from the parishes of Nossa Senhora da Consolação (a patrimony building) in the city of Arrentela in Seixal, Setubal, Portugal and Nossa Senhora da Conceição in the city of Seixal in Seixal, Setubal, Portugal.

These parish records have been preserved relatively well. Some of the older registers appear to have some physical damage; therefore, some data may be difficult to read or some even may be lost. However, in general, they are in good condition for extracting genealogical information.

Record Content
This is the key genealogical information found in most baptismal records:


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

This is the key genealogical information found in most marriage records:


 * Date and place of the event
 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Sometimes their civil status (widowed, single, divorced) at the time of the event
 * Places of origin or residence of the bride and groom
 * Parents’ names and their civil status
 * Names of the witnesses

This is the key genealogical information found in most deaths records:


 * Place and date where the person died
 * Name of the deceased
 * Civil status and name of the spouse, if married at the time of death
 * Place of burial
 * Parents’ names
 * Cause of death

Record History
Parish priests performed the ordinances for baptisms, marriages, deaths, and burials, and the other holy sacraments in the jurisdiction of their assigned parish or parishes. 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.

Why This Collection Was Created?
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.

Record Reliability
Catholic Church parish records are a reliable source for doing genealogical research in Setubal, 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.

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Related Wiki Articles
Portugal Catholic Church Records

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
It is recommended that you cite the sources of information as you search genealogical records. When you copy information from a record, you should also 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. Citing sources will allow you to avoid duplicate searches later and share your sources with other researchers. A citation with specific details about the source document should allow yourself or others to easily find the source document at a later time. You should cite all sources searched, whether new information is found, to avoid duplicating searches without findings. Click here to learn how to create your own citations.

Please add sample citations to this article following the format guidelines found in the wiki article "How to Create Source Citations For FamilySearch Historical Records Collections"

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Style Guide
For guidelines to use in creating wiki articles that describe collections of images and indexes produced by FamilySearch, see: FamilySearch Wiki: Guidelines for FamilySearch Collections pages

Sources of Information for This Collection:
“Portugal, Setubal Catholic Church Records,” database, FamilySearch (http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html), 2010; from Archivo Distrital de Setúbal, São Sebastião, Setúbal, Portugal. “Portugal, Setubal Catholic Church records”. Archivo Distrital de Setúbal, São Sebastião, Setúbal, Portugal. FHL microfilm. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

Instructions for creating these sources, including how to add information about individual archives is found in the wiki article: “How to Create Bibliographic Source Citations for FamilySearch Historical Records Collections"