South Africa, Dutch Reformed Church Registers (Cape Town Archives) - FamilySearch Historical Records: Difference between revisions

== Collection Time Period<br> ==

This collection dates from 1660 through 1970.

== Record Description<br> ==

=== Record Content<br> ===

*Name of principal  

*Date of birth  

*Date of baptism  

*Father and mother’s names and sometimes their address  

*Complete witness’s names and sometimes their address  

*Registration place

*Names of groom and bride  

*Date of marriage  

*Age at time of marriage  

*Country of birth  

*Civil status at time of marriage  

*Occupation  

*Residence at time of marriage  

*Race  

*Place of marriage

When you have located your ancestor’s in the records, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family.  

*Use the marriage date and place as the basis for compiling a new family group or for verifying existing information.

*Use the parents’ birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.

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

*Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1900.

*There is also some variation in the information given from one marriage record to another record.

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.  

*[http://southafricanfamilyhistory.wordpress.com/2006/08/04/genealogical-institute-of-south-africa/ South African Family History and Genealogy]  

*[http://www.gisa.org.za/site/node/3 The Genealogical Institute of South Africa]

*[[South Africa Websites]]  

*[[South Africa, Cape Province Civil Registration (FamilySearch Historical Records)]]  

*[[South Africa]]

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When you copy information from the record, you should also list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find th record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you do not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the Wiki Article: [[How to Cite FamilySearch Collections|How to Cite FamilySearch Collections]].

"South Africa, Cape Province Dutch Reformed Church Registers, 166-1970." index and images, ''FamilySearch&nbsp;''<span>([https:// https://]</span>[http://www.familysearch.org www.familysearch.org]: accessed 7 April 2011). entry for Johannas Fredrick Jansen and Marie Elise Van Rooyen Rix, married, 26 May 1951; citing Church Records, FHL microfilm. 2,214,043; Genealogical Institute of South Africa, Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa.  

<!--bibdescbegin-->“South Africa, Cape Province Dutch Reformed Church,” index and images FamilySearch Historical Records, 2010; from Genealogical Institute of South Africa. “Dutch Reformed Church Records.” Genealogical Institute of South Africa, Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa. FHL microfilm, 52 reels. Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.<!--bibdescend--> <br>