South Africa, Dutch Reformed Church Registers (Cape Town Archives) - FamilySearch Historical Records

South Africa

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This collection dates from 1660 through 1970.

The Dutch Reform Church records have been maintained in good condition. Baptisms and marriages are found in different registration formats; most are written in Dutch, though others are in Afrikaans, Dutch, or English. Deaths records are not found among these registers.

When South Africa was settled by the Dutch in the 16th and 17th centuries, they transplanted their Dutch Reformed theology into the African continent. The Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa was formally established in 1652 and became the only official church in South Africa until 1778, when freedom of public worship was given to other churches. The history of the Dutch Reform Church has been very much bound up with the politics of the Afrikaner community of South Africa. The baptism and marriage records are recorded in bound registers, which are kept at the local churches archive in care of the registrar. Since 1928 the registrar sends the registries to be archived at the Central Archive of the Dutch Reformed Church in Cape Town, South Africa.

The Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa consists of three separate churches: the Nederduitse Gereformeede Kerk (the largest and usually called the Dutch Reform Church; the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk (largely restricted to the Transvaal); and the Gereformeede Kerk in Suid Afrika (the Doppers). During the 17th and 18th Centuries the Dutch Reform Church (Nederduitse Gereformeede Kerk) was the only officially recognized Church denomination in South Africa and many white residents of the Cape belonged to it. In later years other churches denominations were created in Cape, leaving a decline in the membership of the Dutch Reform Church.

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