Portugal, Guarda, Catholic Church Records, 1459-1982

What is in This Collection?

This collection of church records includes the years 1459 to 1911. The records included in this collection are those of baptisms, marriages, and burial/deaths from parishes in the in the Diocese of Guarda, Portugal. These parish records have been preserved relatively well. Some of the older registers appear to have some physical damage; therefore, some data may be difficult to read or some even may be lost. However, in general, they are in good condition for extracting genealogical information. These records are written in Portuguese. Earlier records were handwritten in narrative style; newer records are handwritten in formatted registers.

Parish priests performed the ordinances for baptisms, marriages, deaths, and burials, and the 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.

Catholic Church parish registers were created to record the church sacraments of baptism, marriage, death, burial, and other ordinances performed on parishioners by an authorized priest in his area of jurisdiction.

Catholic Church parish records are a reliable source for doing genealogical research in Guarda, 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.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

Reading These Records

These records are written in Portuguese. For help reading them see:

• Portuguese Genealogical Word List
• Portuguese Letter-writing Guide
• Brigham Young University: Portuguese Script Tutorial

To Browse This Collection

You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for Portugal, Guarda, Catholic Church Records, 1459-1911.

Collection Content

Sample Images

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  1879 Birth Record

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  1743 Marriage Record

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  1885 Death Record

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

Birth records Date and place of the baptism Child's name and gender Date, time and place of birth Parents’ names, occupation and origin Paternal grandparents names, occupation and origin Maternal grandparents names, occupation and origin Names of godparents

Marriage records Date and place of marriage Groom's name and age Groom's civil status and origin Names of groom's parents, their residence and origin Bride's name and age Bride's civil status and origin Names of bride's parents, their residence and origin Names of witnesses

Death or burial records Name, age and gender of deceased Date and place of death Occupation, marital status and origin of deceased Spouse's name, if married Parents' names and residence if deceased is a minor child Sometimes, burial information