Peru, Arequipa, Civil Registration - FamilySearch Historical Records

Peru

What is in the Collection?
This collection includes records of births, marriages, deaths, indexes and other records created by civil registration offices in the department of Arequipa, Peru between the years 1860-1976. Some of these records have been indexed and are searchable as part of this collection. Additional images and indexed records will be published as they become available.

These records are written in Spanish; see the section For Help Reading these Records for translation helps.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Birth records may contain the following information:


 * Name and gender of child
 * Date, place and time of birth
 * Declarant's name, age, civil status and occupation
 * Declarant's origin, nationality and residence
 * Father's name, age, civil status and occupation
 * Father's origin, nationality and residence
 * Mother's name, age, civil status and occupation
 * Mother's origin, nationality and residence
 * Names of witnesses
 * Witnesses' age, occupation and residence

Marriage records may contain the following information:


 * Full names of the groom and bride
 * Date and place of the marriage
 * Groom's age, origin, civil status, occupation and residence
 * Names of groom's parents, their nativity and current residence
 * Bride's age, origin, civil status, occupation and residence
 * Names of bride's parents, their nativity and current residence
 * Names of witnesses, their age, civil status, occupation and residence

Death records may contain the following information:


 * Date and place of death
 * Name and gender of deceased
 * Race, age and civil status of deceased
 * Presenter's name, age, civil status, occupation, residence and origin
 * Place of origin of deceased
 * Cause of death
 * Parents’ names and their place of origin
 * Burial information

How Do I Search the Collection?
Some record sets have indexes; these indexes were created at the end of the year. Copy errors could have been made in the index, so you want to find the actual record to verify the information is correct. Using the index is a helpful way to find the actual record.

When searching: As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor's given name and surname, some identifying information such as an estimated event date, residence, age, and family relationships.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person with the same name.
 * You ancestor may be using a nickname or alias.
 * Even though there is an index there may still be inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒ Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page ⇒ Select the "Province" category ⇒ Select the "District or Municipality" category ⇒ Select the "Record Type and Year" category which takes you to the images

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in Spanish. For help with reading the records, see the following resources:


 * Spanish Genealogical Word List
 * Reading Spanish handwritten records
 * Script tutorial for Spanish

To learn more about using the information in civil records, view these lessons for free:


 * Documentos esenciales para buscar a sus antepasados - Spanish

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?
For death records, the information in records is usually reliable, but depends upon the knowledge of the informant.

For marriage and death records, name changes, shortened names, or nicknames may have been used by your ancestors, so pay attention to other relationships (parents, spouse, siblings, children, etc.) that can confirm whether you have the right person/record.

Witnesses were sometimes relatives of the deceased or the deceased's parents.

When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Continue to search the marriage records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives of the bride and groom who may have married in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.

Continue to search the indexes and records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have lived in the same area or a nearby area.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?
If you are unable to find your ancestor(s) in these civil registers, then try searching in the areas surrounding Arequipa. These regions neighbor Arequipa:


 * Ica, Ayacucho, Apurimac, and Cusco on the North,
 * Puno on the East,
 * Moquegua on the South, and
 * Pacific Ocean on the West

Church records are also a good substitute when birth, marriage, and death records can’t be found or are unavailable. Before the government instituted civil registration in Peru, the Catholic Church was the only institution tracking the births, marriages, and deaths of the population.


 * Peru Church Records
 * Peru Baptisms (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Peru Catholic Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Peru Deaths (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Peru Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Or your ancestor immigrated to another country. Search the records of nearby areas or immigration/emigration records.

Peru Emigration and Immigration

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image. Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation: