Canada, Manitoba Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection contains church records for the years 1800-1959.

These records contain baptisms, marriages, deaths and other records from some Catholic, Lutheran, and Unitarian parishes in Manitoba. The Lutheran records from Bifrost, Gimli, and Winnepeg are written in English but consist mainly of people from Iceland and an understanding of Scandanavian naming conventions is helpful in researching your ancestors. The Catholic records from Brochet, St. Eustache and St. Francis Xavier are mainly written in French and an understanding the naming patterns will be helpful in researching your ancestors. The Winnepeg Unitarian records are partially written in English and partially in the Icelandic language.

Canadian church records began in the 1620s in Quebec with French Catholic Records. These early records were kept according to a 16th-century French law. English-language church records begin in 1749 in Nova Scotia with Church of England records. Canada had French citizens until 1763, so most Protestant records begin much later. Church records were kept at the local parish of the church. A parish is a local congregation that may include many villages. Your ancestor may have lived in a village and belonged to a parish in a nearby larger town.

Reading These Records
Many of these records are in French. For help with reading the records, see the following resources:


 * French Handwriting
 * French Wordlist
 * France Language and Languages
 * BYU French Records Extraction – An Instructional Guide
 * Icelandic Word List
 * Scandinavian Given Names

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Birth
 * Date of birth
 * Place of birth
 * Full name
 * Gender
 * Name and maiden name of mother
 * Name and surname of father
 * Occupation of Father
 * When baptized

Marriage
 * Name of Groom and Bride
 * Groom's place of birth
 * Groom's Occupation
 * Full name of parents
 * Age
 * Residence when married
 * Place of Birth
 * Maiden name of bride with parents
 * Names of witnesses
 * Date and place of marriage
 * By whom married
 * License or Ban
 * Place of birth of father

Death
 * Name of deceased
 * Date and place of death
 * Age at death
 * Occupation
 * Place of birth
 * Cause of death
 * Name of Physician
 * Date of funeral service
 * Signature of Clergyman or Minister

How Do I Search This Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The name of a relative or 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.

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

 * Copy the citation below, in case you need to find this record again later
 * Use the age or estimated birth date to find other church and vital records such as birth, baptism, marriage, and death records
 * Use the information found in the record to find land, probate and immigration records
 * Use the information found in the record to find additional family members in censuses. Witnesses were usually family members
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family

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

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby town or county
 * Try different spellings of your ancestor’s name
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names

Research Helps
The following articles will help you in your research for your family in Manitoba.
 * Record Finder
 * Canada 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.