Portugal, Viana do Castelo, Catholic Church Records, 1537-1912

What is in This Collection?

This is a collection of church records from parishes in the Diocese of Viana do Castelo for the years 1537 to 1911. It includes baptisms, marriages, and deaths or burials. These parish records are housed at the Braga District Archives at the University of Minho in Braga, Portugal. Some of the older registers may have some physical damage due to natural causes; 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.

The original parish records were kept in the parish archive under the custody of the priest and a duplicate register was regularly sent to the diocesan archive where the records were centralized and kept at a higher state of preservation.

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, Viana do Castelo, Catholic Church Records, 1537-1911.

Collection Content

The following information may be found in these records:

Baptism Date and place of baptism Child's name and gender Child's date, time, and place of birth Parents' names Names of paternal and maternal grandparents Godparents' names, their civil status, occupation, and residence

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

Death or burial Date and place of death or burial Name, age, and gender of deceased Legitimacy of deceased Civil status of deceased Name of spouse, if married Sometimes, parent’s name if deceased is a minor Sometimes, a note regarding a testament (will) Burial information