Portugal, Aveiro, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Foreign Language Title
Registros Paroquiais da Diocese de Aveiro na Igreja Católica do Portugal.

Collection Time Period
This collection of Catholic Church parish records from Aveiro covers the years 1550 to 1911.

Record History
Parish priests performed the ordinances for baptisms, marriages, deaths, and burials, and other holy sacraments in the jurisdiction of their assigned parish or parishes. All the original parish records were kept in the parish archive under the custody of the priest. However, a duplicate of these registers was regularly sent to the diocesan archive, where the records were centralized and kept at a higher state of preservation.

Why this Record Was Created
These Catholic Church parish registers were created to record the church sacraments of baptism, marriage, death, and burial, and other ordinances that were performed by the authorized priest in his area of jurisdiction.

Record Reliability
Catholic Church parish records are a reliable source for doing genealogical research in Aveiro, Portugal, before 1911 when the civil registration was implemented. For records after 1911, it is suggested that you research both the civil registry and the church records to verify information.

Record Description
This is a collection of digital copies of baptism, marriage, and burial records from the Aveiro District Archives in Portugal. Most of the records are handwritten in narrative style; only in later years do the records appear handwritten in formatted registers. The text of the records is in Portuguese.

Record Content
Key genealogical information found in most baptismal records:


 * Date and place of the event
 * Name of the person baptized
 * Gender and date of birth or age
 * If legitimate or illegitimate
 * Parents’ names and their residence or places of origin
 * Names of the paternal and maternal grandparents
 * Names of the godparents

Key genealogical information found in most marriage records:


 * Date and place of the event
 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Sometimes their civil statuses (widowed, single, divorced) at the time of the event
 * Places of origin or residence of the bride and groom
 * Parents’ names and their civil statuses
 * Names of the witnesses

Key genealogical information found in most deaths records:


 * Place and date where the person died
 * Name of the deceased
 * Civil status and name of the spouse, if married at the time of death
 * Place of burial
 * Parents’ names
 * Cause of death

How to Use the Record
Some records have indexes at the end of the volume. Frequently, these indexes are arranged by the given name of the individual and sometimes use the Latin form of the name. Those volumes without indexes need to be searched chronologically for the individuals sought.

Begin your search by finding your ancestors in the index. Use the locator information in the index (such as page, entry, or certificate number) to locate your ancestors in the records. Compare the information in the record to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination. Be aware that, as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about other people listed in the record. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. For example:


 * Use the baptism date and place to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate civil and land records.
 * The father’s occupation can lead you to other types of records such as employment records or military records.
 * The parents' origin places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * Marriage date and place may help find their children.
 * Burial place may also help to show their migration pattern.

It is often helpful to extract the information on all children with the same parents. If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile baptism entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families based on the names of the parents. Continue to search the baptism records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who were born, married, and died in the same place or nearby.

Keep in mind:


 * The information in church records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800s.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from record to record.

Related Web Sites
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Related Wiki Articles
Portugal Catholic Church Records

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

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Examples of Source Citations for a Record in This Collection:

 * "Delaware Marriage Records," index and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org) : accessed 4 March 2011, entry for William Anderson and Elizabeth Baynard Henry, married 23 November 1913; citing marriage certificate no. 859; FHL microfilm 2,025,063; Delaware Bureau of Archives and Records Management, Dover.
 * “El Salvador Civil Registration,” index and images, FamilySearch ([https://www.familysearch.org) : accessed 21 March 2011, entry for Jose Maria Antonio del Carmen, born 9 April 1880; citing La Libertad, San Juan Opico, Nacimientos 1879-1893, image 50; Ministerio Archivo Civil de la Alcaldia Municipal de San Salvador.

Sources for This Collection
Portugal. Various parishes in the District of Aveiro. Registros paroquiais, 1550 to 1911. Arquivo Distrital de Aveiro, Portugal.

Original records are housed in different parish archives throughout the Diocese of Aveiro, Portugal.

Detailed instructions for adding citations are also listed in the wiki article: How to Create Source Citations For FamilySearch Historical Records Collections.