Belgium Civil Registration: Difference between revisions

From the seventeenth and eighteenth century onwards, baptisms, marriages and burials were recorded in Church Records. Most people were Catholic, but a small majority were Protestant.  

After Napoleonic conquest, Belgium was directly incorporated into the French Empire. In 1795-1796, Civil Registration was introduced as a replacement for Church Records. Births, Marriages and Deaths were now recorded by the state.

As for the more recent records, the locality keeps one copy and the other copies are turned over to the State Archives (Algemeen Rijksarchief/Archives Générales du Royaume in Brussels, or Rijksarchief in de Provinciën/Archives de l'État in the provinces). Researchers can access them by writing to:

'''Algemeen Rijksarchief''' Ruisbroekstraat&nbsp;2<br>Brussels 1000<br>BELGIUM<br>Telephone: 32 2 513 76 80<br>Fax: 32 2 513 76 81<br>Internet:&nbsp; http://www.ica.org/en/member/archives_generales_du_royaume

== Contents  ==

'''Births:''' Child’s name, birth date and place; parents’ names, residence, and occupation, witnesses’ ages, relationships, residences; yearly indexes.  

 

'''Marriage proclamations:''' Names of prospective marriage partners, intentions, residences, parents, etc.

 

 

'''Death registers:''' Name of deceased, age, death date and place, occupation, name of surviving spouse, informant’s name and residence, cause of death, sometimes birth dates and places, parents’ names, children’s names, yearly indexes.

 

'''Divorces:''' Listed on the back of the marriage registers in the municipality where the marriage took place. Includes names, ages, dates and places, occupations, residences.

 

'''Multi-Year-Indexes:''' Additional two, three, five and ten year indexes to births, marriages, divorces and deaths. Some are alphabetical, others chronological, by first letter of the surname, all letters, given names, etc.<ref name="profile">The Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Family History Record Profile: Belgium,” Word document, private files of the FamilySearch Content Strategy Team, 1987-1999.</ref>

 

 

Some towns record all the events in chronological order, regardless of the type of event. However, the records are numbered according to their type. Other places use a “chapter format” for every year: One chapter for the births, one for the marriages, and one for the the deaths.

 

If the records are not numbered, look for a page number. Be aware that pages are sometimes numbered on one side only (right side). Therefore, they are found in the index as “Recto” (Front) and “Verso” (Back).

 

Yearly indexes are available in most cases, but sometimes you have to work with ten-year indexes. These will either precede or follow the actual records. Yearly indexes changed over time, especially the Marriage ones. At first the clerk only alphabetized the grooms. In this case it may be necessary to read each entry so as not to miss the bride. Later, however, all spouses are alphabetized in one list, which greatly simplifies research.

 

If the records are combined, you will find them indexed in categories at the end of the year. These indexes make it much easier to sift through the records, but be mindful of multiple spellings. This is especially important with your emigrant ancestors, whose names were often changed either on purpose or through the emigration process.  

Civil Registration records were traditionally accessed from the archives in person, but now most(but not all) can be found on FamilySearch/[[Zoekakten]], or online at the website of the [http://search.arch.be/nl Rijksarchief in België]. Note that free registration is required for the Rijksarchief's website. It is still possible to access records in person from archives are listed in the section 'Provincial Archives"

FamilySearch has recently began indexing some records. Aside from this, there is no central database to search all Belgium civil registration at the same time.

[http://geneaknowhow.net/digi/bronnen.html Geneaknowhow] is a site that provides links to various local genealogical sites for Belgium and the Netherlands, including many containing civil registration records.  

 

'''[http://www.ica.org/en/member/archives_generales_du_royaume Algemeen Rijksarchief]''' <br>Ruisbroekstraat&nbsp;2<br>Brussels 1000<br>BELGIUM<br>Telephone: 32 2 513 76 80<br>Fax: 32 2 513 76 81

 

'''[http://www.arch.be/ Algemeen Rijksarchief Brussel / Archives Générales du Royaume]'''

 

Rijksarchief te Antwerpen<br>Door Verstraeteplein 5<br>Antwerpen B-2018<br>BELGIUM<br>Telephone: 32 (0)3 236 73 00<br>Fax: 32 (0)3 236 73 00<br>Email: Rijksarchief.Antwerpen@arch.be

 

 

 

College van Villers<br>Vaartstraat 24-26<br>Leuven B-3000<br>BELGIUM<br>Telephone: 32 (0)16 31 49 54<br>Fax: 32 (0)16 31 49 61<br>Email: Rijksarchief.Leuven@arch.be

 

 

Rijksarchief te Anderlecht / Archives de l'Etat à Anderlecht<br>Demetskaai 7<br>Anderlecht B-1070<br>BELGIUM<br>Telephone: 32 (0)2 524 61 15<br>Fax: 32 (0)2 520 93 21<br>Email: Rijksarchief.Anderlecht@arch.be

==== East Flanders / Oost-Vlaanderen / Flandre Orientale  ====

 

Van Hovestraat 45<br>Ronse B-9600<br>BELGIUM<br>Telephone: 32 (0)55 21 19 83<br>Fax: 32 (0)55 21 19 83<br>Email: Rijksarchief.Ronse@arch.be