Chile, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Chile

What is in This Collection?
These records were created by Catholic parishes in Chile. The records include baptisms, marriages, burial records, pre-marriage investigation files, confirmations, and indexes. Some of these records have been indexed and are searchable as part of this collection. The images of the original records are available through FamilySearch Family History Centers.

Reading These Records
These records are written in Spanish. For help reading them see: FamilySearch Learning Center videos:
 * Spanish Genealogical Word List
 * Spanish Records Extraction Guide
 * Script Tutorial for Spanish
 * Reading Spanish Handwriting
 * Paleogra-what?! Deciphering Spanish Handwriting

What Can These Records Tell Me?
Birth Marriage Death and Burial
 * Birth day, month, year
 * Country
 * Parish
 * Parent's names
 * Sex
 * Sex
 * Groom's age
 * Groom's birth year
 * Groom's Parents
 * Date of marriage
 * Bride's age
 * Bride's birth year
 * Bride's parents
 * Death day, month, year
 * Sex
 * Age
 * Spouse's surname
 * Spouse's given name

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * Name of the person you are looking for
 * Approximate date of the 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.

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

 * Add any new information to your records
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate other church and land records
 * 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 entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families based on the names of the parents
 * Continue to search the death records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who died nearby

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

 * Civil registration records are also a good source of genealogical information. See Chile Civil Registration for further information. You should obtain copies of both church records and civil registration, when possible, since they do not necessarily provide the same information. For example, baptismal registers sometimes provide the names of the fathers of illegitimate children when the civil registration does not
 * There may be more than one person with the same name
 * You ancestor may be using a nickname or alias
 * Even though this is an index there may still be inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned
 * A boundary change could have occurred and the record of your ancestor is now in a neighboring area. Search the records and indexes of neighboring cities, provinces, and regions
 * Your ancestor may have immigrated to another country. Search the records of nearby countries or immigration/emigration records: Chile Emigration and Immigration

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in Chile.
 * Chile Record Finder
 * Chile Research Tips and Strategies

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.