Canada, Prince Edward Island Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Image Visibility
There are a few images which are totally unreadable, specifically the first 25 relating to the Births and Baptisms for Church of Scotland, Canoe Cove, Cape Traverse, DeSable in Kings, Queens, Prince Edward Island.

Record Description
This collection will include records for the years 1777-1985.

This collection contains baptisms, marriages, burials and other records from several churches from the following denominations:


 * Anglican Church of Canada
 * Catholic
 * Church of Christ
 * Church of England in Canada
 * Church of Scotland
 * Free Church
 * Methodist
 * Presbyterian
 * United Church of Canada

The Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church kept more detailed records than some other religions. Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, and other groups, especially those that did not baptize infants, often did not keep church registers unless required by law. You can find a person’s religious affiliation in Canadian censuses beginning in 1851.

Children were generally christened within a few days of birth. Christening registers usually give the infant’s and parents’ names, names of godparents or witnesses, and the christening date. You may also find the child’s birth date, father’s occupation, and the family’s place of residence. Death information has sometimes been added as a note.

Burials were recorded in the church record of the parish where the person was buried. The burial was usually a day or two after the death in the parish where the person died. However, many burials were not conducted by clergy and were not recorded by the church.

Early French Catholic records are usually quite detailed, but Protestant marriage records and civil records often give little information about the parents of the couple until mid-19th century. In Upper Canada the names of the bride’s and the groom’s parents began to be recorded in the county marriage registers in 1858.

For a list of records by localities, document type and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browse.

Record Content
Birth records may contain the following information:


 * Name and gender of child
 * Child's date and place of birth
 * Date and place of baptism
 * By whom baptized
 * Name of father and his occupation
 * Maiden name of mother

Confirmation records may contain the following information:


 * Name of ancestor
 * Age
 * Date and place of baptism
 * Date of confirmation

Marriage records may contain the following information:


 * Names of the bride and groom
 * Residence of groom
 * Residence of bride
 * Date and place of marriage
 * Names of witnesses

Death records may contain the following information:


 * Name of deceased
 * Age of deceased
 * Date of death
 * Date of birth
 * Date of funeral
 * Date and place of burial
 * Name of officiating minister

How to Use the Record
To begin searching, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Name of ancestor
 * Ancestor's Religion
 * An approximate year when your ancestor married, died, or immigrated, or when he or she would have been recorded in records, such as a census.

Search the Collection
To search the collection image by image select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page: ⇒Select the appropriate “County” ⇒Select the appropriate “City/Town” ⇒Select the appropriate “Denomination/Parish” ⇒Select the appropriate “Record Type and Year Range” category which will take 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.

As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. 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.

Using the Information
The information that you have found is very reliable. This collection can help you with the following:


 * If you have a baptism record, the record could reveal your ancestor's parents names and their residence at the time of your ancestor's baptism.
 * Using the residence can help you with researching the census collections
 * Marriage records can provide the maiden name of the bride. They sometimes will reveal the parents names, but not often.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Look for brothers, sisters, uncles, and aunts. Often previous research on relatives gives information or clues about your ancestor as well, including where he or she lived.
 * People sometimes went by nicknames or translated names from French to English.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites

 * Canada History Links
 * Canada Historic Maps
 * Mary’s Genealogy Treasures

Related Wiki Articles

 * Prince Edward Island Church Records
 * Canada Church Records

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
Citations for individual image records are available for this collection. Browse through images in this collection and click on the "Show Citation" box. Prince Edward Island, Church Records, 1777-1985

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.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.