Argentina, Catamarca, Catholic Church Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Argentina Catamarca

Title in the Language of the Records
Registros Parroquiales de la Provincia de Catamarca, Argentina

What is in the Collection?
These records are in Spanish. This Collection will include records from 1724 to 1971. This collection of church records includes baptism, confirmation, marriage, and death records for the Immaculada Concepción, San Francisco de Asís, Nuestra Señora de Belén, Catedral Nuestro Señora del Valle, Nuestro Señora de Luján, Nuestra Señora del Rosario, San Roque, San José, Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria and Tinogasta parishes in the Catamarca Province.

Earlier registers are handwritten in narrative style, and later records were handwritten on printed forms. Catholic Church parish registers are the major records available to identify individuals, parents, and spouses before 1930. After this date, civil authorities began registering vital statistics, which by law includes people of all religions. For genealogical purposes, the information in civil sources confirms and supplements the information in church records. Records from some of these parishes have been indexed and are searchable as part of this collection. Additional indexed records will be published as they become available.

These records are written in Spanish.

For a list of localities currently published in this collection, select the Browse link from the collection landing page.

Sample Images
Birth records usually include the following information:


 * Date of event
 * Place of event
 * Name of child
 * Child's birth date
 * Spouse and marriage date
 * Parents' names and place of residence
 * Godparents' names and place residence

Marriage records usually include the following information:


 * Names of the groom and bride
 * Date of event
 * Place of event
 * Declaring witnesses' name, civil status and residence
 * Groom’s name, civil status and age
 * Groom's parents' names and civil status
 * Bride's name, age and civil status
 * Bride's parents' names and their residence
 * Witnesses' names, civil status and residence

Death records may include the following information:


 * Date of event
 * Place of event
 * Name of deceased
 * Age of deceased
 * Names of Parents
 * Civil status of parents

Confirmation records may include the following information:


 * Date and place of confirmation
 * Name of individual
 * Parents' names
 * Gender
 * Godparents

How Do I Search the Collection?
As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.


 * The information in church records is usually reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one record to another.

To browse this collection by image: ⇒ Select the "Browse" link in the initial search page ⇒ Select the “City or Town” category ⇒ Select the “Parish” category ⇒ Select the “Record Type and Years” that takes you to the images.

Search the collection by image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination.

What do I do Next?

 * Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth of each partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the place of birth to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to other types of records such as employment or military records.
 * Use the parents' birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * The name of the officiator is a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county. However, ministers may have reported marriages performed in other counties.
 * Compile the marriage entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * 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.
 * Use the marriage number to identify previous marriages.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

What if I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For?
If you are unable to find the relatives you are looking for, try the following:


 * Check for variant spellings of the last names.
 * Search the records of nearby localities.

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


 * Spanish Genealogical Word List
 * Argentina Language and Languages

Related Websites

 * Province of Catamarca Maps
 * Province of Catamarca History
 * Province of Catamarca Genealogy

Related Wiki Articles

 * Argentina
 * Province of Catamarca
 * Argentina Church Records
 * Argentina Church History

Citing this Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually. Collection Citation:

Image Citation:

Known Issues with This Collection
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