Finland, Turku-Pori, Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Record
Swedish: Finland, Åbo och Björneborg, Kyrokoböcker, 1667-1900 Finnish: Suomi, Turun ja Porin, Kirkonkirjat, 1667-1900

Record Description
This collection consists of church records for the county of Turku-Pori, Finland. It covers the years 1667 to 1900.

Record Content
Communion records list the inhabitants of a parish by village, farm, and household. The head of the household appears first and other household members next. The records generally list the following information:


 * Each person’s name and occupation or his or her relationship to the head of the household
 * Each person’s birth date and birthplace and possibly marriage date and death date
 * The place to or from which a person moved and the moving dates
 * Circumstances such as poverty, illness, illegitimacy, and committed offenses

Earlier records have less information than later ones.

More information about these records and addition church records is available in the wiki article Finland Church Records.

How to Use the Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know


 * Name of your ancestor
 * Identifying information such as residence and event date

Search the Collection
To search the collection ⇒ Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the "Archive" ⇒ Select the "Series and Title" ⇒ Select the "Volume and Year" which takes you to the images.

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in Swedish so you will need to be able to understand written Swedish. Records were not kept in Finnish until after 1863, when Finnish was made an official language in Finland. The transition from Swedish into Finnish was gradual, and about 30 Finnish parishes still use Swedish as their primary language.

For help with reading the records, please see the following wiki articles:


 * Sweden: Language and Languages
 * Swedish Genealogical Word List

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Save a copy of the image or transcribe the information. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors. For example:

For example, use the name and parish of residence to search for baptism, confirmation, marriage and death records in the church records. Search all available communion books for the place where and time when the person lived. Verify all birth, marriage, and death dates in the respective original records.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby parishes and communities.

Related Websites
Finland Family History Association

Related Wiki Articles
Finland Church Records

Citations for This Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. 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. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection citation:

Image citation: