Lesotho, Evangelical Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Lesotho

What is in the Collection?
This collection contains records kept by the Lesotho Evangelical Church from 1874-1983. There is a possibility that a few records may be dated as early as 1839.

The church was previously named the Paris Evangelical Mission or the Church of the Basutoland. Church records include births, baptisms, marriages, and membership lists. The original documents are kept in the Morija Museum and Archives in Morija, Lesotho.

The collection is written in both English and Southern Sotho, also known as Sesotho. See the section For Help Reading these Records for translation helps.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Membership lists generally include:
 * Name of the member
 * Birth date
 * Baptism date
 * Age
 * Church branch name
 * Names of close relatives

Marriage records generally include:
 * Date of marriage
 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Ages
 * Parents’ names on both sides
 * Witnesses names

Birth and Baptism records, often combined, generally include:
 * Name of child
 * Date of birth
 * Place of birth
 * Parents’ names
 * Place of baptism
 * Date of baptism
 * Name of the person who performed the baptism

For Help Reading these Records
Some of these records are in Sesotho. For help reading the records, see the following articles:


 * South Africa Language and Languages
 * Sesotho Online

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒ Select the appropriate "District and parish" ⇒ Select the appropriate "Record type and year range" which takes you to the images.

Look at the images one by one 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.

I Found Who I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * When looking through the baptismal records, look for other children with the same surname or relatives on the list
 * Use the church records to help identify additional family members
 * Use the church records to help identify places where your family may have moved
 * Use the church records to help identify unknown dates and places

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For, Now What?
Try checking South African records. Lesotho is a small country landlocked by South Africa, and your ancestor may have spent time there.
 * Check the birth and baptismal records for variant spellings of the names.
 * Be aware that errors may have occurred in recording information and may not match what you know
 * Witnesses listed on the marriage record may be relatives of the bride and groom

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found it. This will help you or others to find the same record again.

Keep track of records where you did not find information about your ancestor so you and others will not waste time looking through these records in the future.

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