South Africa, Dutch Reformed Church Records (Stellenbosch Archive) - FamilySearch Historical Records

	This article describes a collection of historical records available at FamilySearch.org.
Access the records: South Africa, Dutch Reformed Church Records, Stellenbosch Archive 1660-2011 . CID1392488 {{{CID2}}} {{{CID3}}} {{{CID4}}} {{{CID5}}} {{{CID6}}} {{{CID7}}} {{{CID8}}} {{{CID9}}}

Title in the Language of the Record

Zuid-Afrika, Nederlands Gereformeerde Kerk Records

Record Description

The collection of records covers the years 1660 to 2011.

The records include images of baptisms, confirmations, marriages, deaths, and memberships of the Dutch Reformed Church (Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk In Afrika) housed at the Genealogical Institute of South Africa (Genealogiese Instituut van Suid-Afrika) Archive at Stellenbosch, South Africa. Communities from the entire country of South Africa are represented. Includes records from the current African nations of Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This collection is being published as images become available.

The Dutch Reform Church records have been maintained in good conditions. Records are found in different registration formats, most written in Dutch and others in Afrikaans, and English.

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.

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 practically all the whites in the Cape belonged to it. In the following Centuries, several other churches denominations were created in Cape, leaving a decline in the membership of the Dutch Reform Church.

For a list of records by date and event currently published in this collection, select the Browselink from the collection landing page.

Record Content and Use

• South Africa,Dutch Reformed Church Records, Stellenbosch Archive DGS 005378461 35.jpg

  Birth Record

• South Africa, Dutch Reformed Church Records, Stellenbosch Archive DGS 005128783 4.jpg

  Church Meeting Minutes

• South Africa, Dutch Reformed Church Records, Stellenbosch Archive 005362893 18.jpg

  Marriage Record

For details about the contents of these records, their history, and help using them see the wiki article: South Africa, Dutch Reformed Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Search the Collection

To search the collection image by image, select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page:
⇒Select the appropriate "Country"
⇒Select the appropriate "Province"
⇒Select the appropriate "Municipality or Town or Province"
⇒Select the appropriate "Record Type, Years and Alphabetical Section" which takes you to the images.

Search the collection by image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

For Help Reading These Records

These records are in Dutch, Afrikaans, and English. For help reading the records, see the following wiki articles:

• Dutch Genealogical Word List
• Afrikaans Word List

Don't overlook FS Library Place South Africa, Cape Province, Stellenbosch items or FS Library Keyword South Africa, Cape Province, Stellenbosch items in the FamilySearch Library Catalog. For other libraries (local and national) or to gain access to items of interest, see South Africa Archives and Libraries.

Known Issues with This Collection

	Problems with this collection? See a list of known issues, workarounds, tips, restrictions, future fixes, news and other helpful information.

For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to support@familysearch.org. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites

• Africa Websites
• Africa Historic Maps
• Genealogical Institute of South Africa

Related Wiki Articles

• Afrikaans Word List
  
• South Africa Vital Records Index (FamilySearch Historical Records)
• South Africa, Cape Province, Civil Deaths (FamilySearch Historical Records)
• South Africa

Citations for This Collection

When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information (often called citing 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:

Collection Citation: The citation for this collection can be found on the Collection Details Page in the section Cite This Collection.

Image citation:
This template has been deprecated and is no longer used.

When looking at an image, the citation is found on the Information tab at the bottom left of the screen. You can browse through images in this collection by visiting the browse page for South Africa, Dutch Reformed Church Records, Stellenbosch Archive 1660-2011.

DGS stands for Digital Genealogical Society also known as an Image Group Number. Each set of digital images is assigned a DGS number for identification purposes.