Bahamas Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

Bahamas

What is in This Collection?
This collection includes records from 1850 to 1959. The records include births, marriages, and deaths from civil registration in different districts of the Bahamas. These records were created to keep track of the vital events happening in the lives of the citizens and to safeguard their legal interests. Earlier records are handwritten in narrative style; later records are handwritten in formatted records. The text of the records is in English. Records are listed in chronological order. There are indexes available for the marriage records in this collection. The indexes are found in the Marriage Index 1910-1955 folder. Find your ancestor's name and look for the year, number, page number, and book letter located next to their name. This will help you find the record you are looking for in the collection. There are no indexes for the birth and death records. Consider finding a marriage record first and then look for birth and death records.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The information in these records usually include the following:

Birth
 * Child’s name
 * Birthdate
 * Child's gender and race
 * Birthplace
 * Parents' names
 * Father’s title or occupation

Marriage
 * Marriage date
 * Marriage place
 * Full names of bride and groom
 * Ages of bride and groom
 * Civil status, age, and residence of bride and groom
 * Occupation
 * Name of fathers of bride and groom
 * Witnesses

Death
 * Name of deceased
 * Date of death
 * Place of death
 * Age, gender, and race of deceased
 * Occupation of deceased
 * Cause of death

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Name of at least one person involved in the event (child, parents, spouse, etc.)
 * Approximate year and place of event

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?
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.

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

 * Use the parents' birthplaces to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family
 * The name of the officiator can be a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other counties
 * Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual
 * Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have lived 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
 * Use the marriage number to identify previous marriages

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

 * Check for variants of given names and surnames. It was not uncommon for an individual to be listed under a nickname, middle name, or abbreviation of their given name
 * Search the records of nearby locations. In the period of this collection, few individuals ever lived more than 20 miles from their place of birth, though smaller moves were common
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800s
 * You may need to search using a nickname or alternate name
 * Check for variant spellings of names

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.

Bahamas, Registro Civil (Registros Históricos do FamilySearch)