Belgium Civil Registration

From the seventeenth and eighteenth century onwards, baptisms, marriages and burials were recorded in Church Records. Most people were Catholic, but a small majority were Protestant.

After Napoleonic conquest, Belgium was directly incorporated into the French Empire. In 1795-1796, Civil Registration was introduced as a replacement for Church Records. Births, Marriages and Deaths were now recorded by the state.

As for the more recent records, the locality keeps one copy and the other copies are turned over to the State Archives (Algemeen Rijksarchief/Archives Générales du Royaume in Brussels, or Rijksarchief in de Provinciën/Archives de l'État in the provinces). Researchers can access them by writing to:

Algemeen Rijksarchief Ruisbroekstraat 2 Brussels 1000 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 2 513 76 80 Fax: 32 2 513 76 81 Internet: http://www.ica.org/en/member/archives_generales_du_royaume

Contents
Births: Child’s name, birth date and place; parents’ names, residence, and occupation, witnesses’ ages, relationships, residences; yearly indexes.

Marriages: Bride and groom names, ages, residences, occupations; sometimes ages and/or birth dates and places, parents' names, marriage date and place, residences, occupations, witnesses and officer who performed ceremony, former spouses, yearly indexes.

Marriage proclamations: Names of prospective marriage partners, intentions, residences, parents, etc.

Marriage supplements: Names of marriage partners, documents showing proofs of births, parents, deaths, prior marriages or divorces, proclamations, consents, contracts, etc.

Death registers: Name of deceased, age, death date and place, occupation, name of surviving spouse, informant’s name and residence, cause of death, sometimes birth dates and places, parents’ names, children’s names, yearly indexes.

Divorces: Listed on the back of the marriage registers in the municipality where the marriage took place. Includes names, ages, dates and places, occupations, residences.

Multi-Year-Indexes: Additional two, three, five and ten year indexes to births, marriages, divorces and deaths. Some are alphabetical, others chronological, by first letter of the surname, all letters, given names, etc.

The records are organized in different ways, depending on the time frame and location of the record. The records will be either in Dutch, French, or German.

Some towns record all the events in chronological order, regardless of the type of event. However, the records are numbered according to their type. Other places use a “chapter format” for every year: One chapter for the births, one for the marriages, and one for the the deaths.

If the records are not numbered, look for a page number. Be aware that pages are sometimes numbered on one side only (right side). Therefore, they are found in the index as “Recto” (Front) and “Verso” (Back).

Yearly indexes are available in most cases, but sometimes you have to work with ten-year indexes. These will either precede or follow the actual records. Yearly indexes changed over time, especially the Marriage ones. At first the clerk only alphabetized the grooms. In this case it may be necessary to read each entry so as not to miss the bride. Later, however, all spouses are alphabetized in one list, which greatly simplifies research.

If the records are combined, you will find them indexed in categories at the end of the year. These indexes make it much easier to sift through the records, but be mindful of multiple spellings. This is especially important with your emigrant ancestors, whose names were often changed either on purpose or through the emigration process.

Accessing the Records
Civil Registration records were traditionally accessed from the archives in person, but now most(but not all) can be found on FamilySearch/Zoekakten, or online at the website of the Rijksarchief in België. Note that free registration is required for the Rijksarchief's website. It is still possible to access records in person from archives are listed in the section 'Provincial Archives"

FamilySearch has recently began indexing some records. Aside from this, there is no central database to search all Belgium civil registration at the same time.

Geneaknowhow is a site that provides links to various local genealogical sites for Belgium and the Netherlands, including many containing civil registration records.

Provincial Archives
For the more recent records, the locality keeps one copy and the other copies are turned over to the State Archives (Algemeen Rijksarchief/Archives Générales du Royaume in Brussels, or Rijksarchief in de Provinciën/Archives de l'État in the provinces). Researchers can access them by writing to:

Algemeen Rijksarchief Ruisbroekstraat 2 Brussels 1000 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 2 513 76 80 Fax: 32 2 513 76 81

Algemeen Rijksarchief Brussel / Archives Générales du Royaume

Rijksarchief te Antwerpen Door Verstraeteplein 5 Antwerpen B-2018 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)3 236 73 00 Fax: 32 (0)3 236 73 00 Email: Rijksarchief.Antwerpen@arch.be

Rijksarchief te Leuven
College van Villers Vaartstraat 24-26 Leuven B-3000 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)16 31 49 54 Fax: 32 (0)16 31 49 61 Email: Rijksarchief.Leuven@arch.be

Brussels Capital Region
Rijksarchief te Anderlecht / Archives de l'Etat à Anderlecht Demetskaai 7 Anderlecht B-1070 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)2 524 61 15 Fax: 32 (0)2 520 93 21 Email: Rijksarchief.Anderlecht@arch.be

Rijksarchief te Beveren
Kruibekesteenweg 39/1 Beveren-Waas B-9120 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)3 750 29 77 Fax: 32 (0)3 750 29 70 Email: Rijksarchief.Beveren@arch.be

Rijksarchief te Gent
Geraard de Duivelstraat 1 B-9000 Gent Telephone: 32 (0)9 225 13 38 Fax: 32 (0)9 225 13 38 Email: Rijksarchief.Gent@arch.be

Rijksarchief te Ronse
Van Hovestraat 45 Ronse B-9600 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)55 21 19 83 Fax: 32 (0)55 21 19 83 Email: Rijksarchief.Ronse@arch.be

Archives de l'État à Mons (Bergen)
Avenue des Bassins 66

Mons B-7000 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)65 40 04 60 Fax: 32 (0)65 40 04 61 Email: Archives.Mons@arch.be

Archives de l'État à Tournai (Doornik)
Place Paul-Emile Janson 3 Tournai B-7500 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)69 22 53 76 Fax: 32 (0)69 54 54 83 Email: Archives.Tournai@arch.be

Rijksarchief te Hasselt
Bampslaan 4 Hasselt B-3500 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)11 22 17 66 Fax: 32 (0)11 23 40 46 Email: Rijksarchief.Hasselt@arch.be

Staatsarchiv Eupen
Kaperberg 2-4 Eupen B-4700 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)87 55 87 77 Fax: 32 (0)87 55 87 77 Email: Staatsarchiv.Eupen@arch.be

Archives de l'État à Huy
Ancien Couvent des Frères Mineurs rue Vankeerberghen 20 Huy B-5200 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)85 21 53 95 Fax: 32 (0)85 21 53 95 Email: Archives.Huy@arch.be

Archives de l'État à Liège
Rue du Chéra 79 Liège B-4000 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)4 252 03 93 Fax: 32 (0)4 229 33 50 Email: Archives.Liege@arch.be

Archives de l'État à Arlon
Parc des Expositions Arlon B-6700 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)63 22 06 13 Fax: 32 (0)63 22 06 13 Email: Archives.Arlon@arch.be

Archives de l'État à Saint-Hubert
Ancienne Abbaye - Quartier Abbatial Place de l'Abbaye Saint-Hubert B-6870 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)61 61 14 55 Fax: 32 (0)61 61 14 55 Email: Archives.Saint-Hubert@arch.be

Archives de l'État à Namur
Rue d'Arquet 45 Namur B-5000 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)81 22 34 98 Fax: 32 (0)81 65 41 99

Rijksarchief te Brugge
Academiestraat 14-18 Brugge B-8000 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)50 33 72 88 Fax: 32 (0)50 33 72 88 Email: Rijksarchief.Brugge@arch.be

Rijksarchief te Kortrijk
Guido Gezellestraat 1 Kortrijk B-8500 BELGIUM Telephone: 32 (0)56 21 32 68 Fax: 32 (0)56 20 57 42 Email: Rijksarchief.Kortrijk@arch.be

Online Records

 * 1798-1906 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1800-1912 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Wiki articles describing these collections are found at:


 * Belgium Births and Baptisms (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Belgium Deaths and Burials (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Belgium Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Belgium National Civil Registration (FamilySearch Historical Records)