to Genealogy?
Historical Circumstances & Customs
Spain's parish records are among the oldest in the world, thanks to the Council of Trent in 1560, which made such records mandatory throughout the Catholic world. Many parishes had already been recording baptisms, marriages and deaths for over half century prior to the Council of Trent.
Unfortunately, not all of these documents have survived. But then, to the seasoned genealogist, I'm sure this is no surprise. To those new to genealogy, take heart - as George R. Ryskamp says in his book, "Tracing Your Hispanic Heritage", "Fortunately, even where records have been destroyed, gaps can usually be bridged by using other records such as civil registers, notarial records, military records, censuses, and purity-of-blood records."
When you correspond to Spain requesting copies of documents, it has been advised that you do so in Spanish. How do you do that, if you don't speak or write Spanish? Mr. Ryskamp suggests you take a semester or two of Spanish. But if that is not possible, you can purchase a program that will not only take what you've written and translate it for you, it can also translate web pages and eMail (both send and received.) It's called Multi Language Easy Translator CW. The company, Transparent Language, is located at 22 Proctor Hill Road, PO Box 575, Hollis, NH 03049 Phone: (603)465-2230 or Fax: (603)465-2779. I am not sure of the cost, but heard it was under $50. Unfortunately, it's only available for the pc.
In the future we should be able to offer translations - Anyone interested in applying for the position? (Hint - Hint)
The Spaniards as well as most Hispanic Countries have a unique naming system whereby every person has two surnames. The first surname, being the paternal; the second is the mother's maiden name. Therefore, the name might look like this: Juan Lopez Canels. Lopez is the father's surname and Canels, the mothers. The good news for all us rooters is that the Spanish woman never changed her name.
I highly recommend you obtain a copy of the above mentioned book, "Tracing Your Hispanic Heritage", by George R. Ryskamp and use as a resource and guide to searching your Spanish roots. Dr. Ryskamp is a well seasoned pro, who spent a few years in Spain working for the LDS on genealogy, before he got his law degree and then returned to Spain with his family to do further research.
SEE Resource page for more books by Dr. Ryskamp.
Ed Notes: Information in this section was abstracted from "Tracing Your Hispanic Heritage" This section will be updated periodically, so please check back from time to time.
