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A Brief Look at the Spanish Civil
Archival System
By Lynn Turner
Understanding archival systems in your country of interest will help
you become a better genealogist. Knowing where records are archived can
be one of the biggest obstacles many researchers encounter. This
article will briefly explore the oft-confusing archival system of
Spain.
The
civil archival system in Spain can be divided into three levels:
1. Municipal
Archives
2. Provincial Historical Archives
3. National Archives
The
first level of archives in Spain is Municipal. Municipal archives house
local records. These records include, but are not limited to, business
licenses, town censuses, immigration records, draft records or anything
pertaining to the local city.
Included
in this same level are juzgados or courts of first instance. These
courts are important to know. They usually are found in larger cities
or a designated central town of several smaller towns. If a town has a
juzgado, the civil registers in the town will be kept in the local
courthouse. If the town does not have a juzgado, the civil registers
will be stored in the ayuntamiento or city hall. Larger cities may be
divided into districts, which are in charge of keeping and maintaining
their own civil registers. Spain’s civil registers system began in
1870. Each book should have an index in the back, making them easier to
search. Civil register records include birth, marriage, and death. They
have proved to be excellent alternatives when parish records do not
exist. They also act a verifying tool to church or oral records.
The
next level is Provincial. Notary records demand the attention of the
genealogist at the provincial level. All notary records kept within a
particular province were ordered to be centralized in the provincial
archives located in the capitol of the province. The records are
organized chronologically under each notary. Notary records include
marriage contracts, wills, real property sales, lawsuits, power of
attorney and others. Our ancestors’ lives become more real with the
help of these invaluable records. In death inventories and wills an
individual’s belongings are listed, allowing us to peek into their
world for a brief moment. Notary records often serve as better gap
fillers than civil registers. Civil registers are often complete, but
limit your search to after 1870; whereas notary records often date back
into the 1500s.
The
final level of the Spanish archival system is that of National. Spain’s
national archival system is separated into different entities such as
geographical location or time period. National archives include records
pertaining to the national government, royal chancelleries, military,
and the American colonies. Some of these archives have searchable
indexes or inventories on the Internet, making their repositories more
accessible to the public and more valuable to the genealogist. The best
Web site for Spanish provincial and national archives is
www.mec.es
.
Lynn
Turner is a senior at Brigham Young University. He will graduate with a
bachelor’s degree. in genealogy and family history in August 2004. His
areas of specialty include Latin America, Spain, and the United States.
He provides research services and consultations and can be reached at
lynnturner@...
.
Genealogy News & Events
Come see us at the National Genealogical Society
Conference May 19-22 in Booth #443!
New York City Death Index Online
Researchers
with roots in New York City will be pleased to learn that a death index
for the city from in online for the years 1891-1911. This comprises
more than 1,400,000 records of people of all nationalities. The
database may be used without cost at
www.italiangen.org
. The
Italian Genealogical Group with their many volunteer hours deserve
thanks for the project. The database will grow as later years are added
periodically.
The
organization is also indexing brides for Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx
and grooms for all boroughs of New York City.
Summit of African American Genealogy Held in San
Diego
San
Diego African American Genealogy Research Group is hosting The Fourth
Annual West Coast Summit on African American Genealogy.
Theme: "Looking to the Past to Create the Future"
Date: Fri.Oct. 15 - Sat. Oct. 16, 2004, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Place: Marina Village Conference Center on San Diego's Beautiful
Mission Bay 1936 Quivira Way, San Diego, California 92109
Cost $60 for early registration
Deadline
for early registration is September 17, 2004 After September 17, 2004
the registration fee is $75 September 30, 2004 deadline to register. No
registration at the door.
Keynote Speaker: Author William B. Gould IV
Topic: Diary of Contraband: The Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor
The
heart of this book is the remarkable Civil War dairy of the author's
great-grandfather, William Benjamin Gould, an escaped slave who served
in the United States Navy from 1862 until the end of the war. The
diary records Gould's activity as part of the North Atlantic Blockading
Squadron.
For more information, contact Marti Lewis at
ibemarti@...
Boston States Migration Weekend Next Month in
Waltham, MA
The
Boston States Migrations Family History Weekend will be held Friday,
June 11 – Sunday, June 13, 2004 in Waltham, Massachusetts.
The
"Boston States Migrations" includes more than 400 years of circular
migrations between eastern Canada, New York and New England for a whole
array of ethnic, religious, occupational and family groups. Many folks
went west only to return to this circle of families that still go "over
home", even if the homefolks say they are "from away"!
The
push/pull factors for chain migrations included politics, war, trade,
famine, disease, shipping practices, land, rivers, turnpikes, canals,
railroads, timber, mining, the Industrial Revolution, and the growth of
both urban and farm
communities.
Space
is limited for the June 11 video replay of the 1999 Boston States Fair
migration patterns, ships and railroad resource talks, as well as the
June 13 Family and Group table reservations.
Visit
http://bostonstates.rootsweb.com/
and register on-line at
http://www.GenealogyFair.com/2004BSFHF.htm
.
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you have any comments, questions, suggestions, or concerns, or if you
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it to
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