Cape Verde, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Cape Verde

What is in the Collection?
This collection includes baptism, marriage, and death records from Catholic Church parishes on the islands of Cape Verde and date from 1787-1957. These records are housed at the Arquivo Nacional de Cabo Verde.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
Baptismal Records may contain:
 * Name of child
 * Name of parents
 * Birthdate of child
 * Birthplace of child

Marriage Records may contain:
 * Name of groom
 * Name of bride
 * Marriage date
 * Marriage place

Death Records may contain:
 * Name of deceased
 * Place of death
 * Date of death

How Do I Search the Collection?
Before beginning a search in these records, it is best to know the following information:
 * Full name of the individual in question
 * General location of the event
 * Date range for record

When entered into the search box on the Collection Page, these pieces of information are the most likely to find the correct person, though other information may be substituted if the name, location, and date are not all known.

Search by Name by Visiting the Collection Page
Fill in the requested information in the initial search page to return a list of possible matches. Compare the individuals on the list with what is already known to find the correct family or person. This step may require examining multiple individuals before a match is located.

View Images in This Collection by Visiting the Browse Page
If granted the rights to view the digitized records in this collection (see below), the images may be found by following this series of links: ⇒ Select Browse through images on the initial collection page. You may also follow the link in the To Browse This Collection section above to reach the same page. ⇒ Select the appropriate Island ⇒ Select the appropriate Civil Parish ⇒ Select the appropriate Record Type and Years  to go to the images

Compare the information found on the images with what is already known determine if a particular record relates to the correct person. This process may require examining multiple records before the correct person is located.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in Portuguese. For help reading the records, see the following resources:
 * Portuguese Genealogical Word List
 * Portuguese Letter-writing Guide
 * Learning Center Resources:
 * Portuguese Handwriting Tutorial: Portuguese Letters
 * Portuguese Handwriting Tutorial: Date, Words, and Names
 * Portuguese Handwriting Tutorial: Reading Portuguese Records

Tips to Keep in Mind
Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

For women, burial records may be filed using their maiden name, so they may not be found by searching the married name.

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:

Image citation: