South Africa, Netherdutch Reformed Church Registers (Pretoria Archive) - FamilySearch Historical Records

	This article describes a collection of historical records scheduled to become available at FamilySearch.org.
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Title in the Language of the Record[edit | edit source]

Suid-Afrika, Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika, Kerk Rekords

Record Description[edit | edit source]

This collection will include records of christenings, marriages, and membership records of the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa located in Pretoria for the years 1838-1991. These records are from various areas of South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.

The Dutch East India Company sent a crew to create a Dutch settlement in the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. Many of the members of the crew belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church, and created a community in Cape Town. The church group suffered from several divisions, most notably the Doppers.

These records are in Afrikaans and English. For translation help, see the Afrikaans Word List

You will be able to browse through images in this collection when it is published.

Record Content[edit | edit source]

South Africa Netherdutch Church Records Christenings DGS007499344 20.jpg

Christening Record
South Africa Netherdutch Church Records Marriage DGS007499286 35.jpg

Marriage Record

Christening Records generally contain the following information:

Name of the child
Gender
Names of the parents
Birth date
Birthplace
Christening date

Membership records may contain the following information:

Name of child or adult
Date of birth
Place of birth
Date and place of baptism
Name of father
Name of mother
Child’s gender

Marriage records may contain the following information:

Name of bride and groom
Date of marriage
Age of bride
Age of groom
Bride and groom’s marital status
Bride and groom’s residence
Bride and groom’s birth year
Names of witnesses

Search the Collection[edit | edit source]

To search by index:
Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

To browse by image:
To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links:
⇒ Select the appropriate 'Province'
⇒ Select the appropriate 'Town/Municipality'
⇒ Select the 'Event Type' category 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.

Tips for Finding and Using the Information[edit | edit source]

Christenings and Membership Records

Use the birth record as a source for your ancestor’s parents. This record is proof of the relationship.
Try searching for the parents’ marriage record in the same locality as your ancestor’s birth place. A marriage record can provide more information about your family, especially the mother’s maiden name—which is frequently unknown.
Remember that a Christening date is not always the same as a birth date.
Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
Perhaps other records used to determine the birthdate of your ancestor were incorrect. Try searching several years before and after the supposed birth of your ancestor to locate his or her birth record.
Note individuals listed as witnesses or godparents. Witnesses and godparents were often relatives.

Tips to Keep in Mind[edit | edit source]

There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

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How You Can Contribute[edit | edit source]

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Citations for This Collection[edit | edit source]

Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

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

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

The citation for a record will be available with each record once the collection is published.

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

The image citation will be available once the collection is published.