The Missing Parish Records

In the dark of the night three of us boarded a train headed for the province (provincia) of A Coruña, located in the autonomous community (ayuntamiento) of Galicia, Spain. With our luggage stowed we settled into our sleeping compartments for the all-night journey. The steady clickity-clack sound of the iron wheels against the rails soon lulled us into a deep slumber. The next thing we knew it was morning, and the train slowed to a stop at the station in Santiago de Compostela. Our driver soon met us at the station to take us to our hostel. We had just enough time to freshen up before we headed to church. Sunday was a day to rest a bit and do a little investigative exploration in our new area. 

It was still dark when we pulled into the train depot!

The year was 2006, and I headed the research team for this unusual project. Initially, our task required us to locate the parish church records for a small hamlet just outside of the city. My preliminary research indicated that the records, though in existence, were not stored at the parish church, or at the diocesan archive. The mystery remained unsolved until our arrival. Our inquiry not only led to the records we desired, but also introduced us to some wonderful people. As an added bonus, my associates and I met and interviewed a branch of the family related to the ancestor I sought. Their kindness and hospitality will always remain a treasured highlight of my first research trip in Spain. I attribute our success, in part, to flexibility and teamwork. As it turned out, the parish records had just been sent to the Diocesan archive the week before we arrived in Santiago de Compostela. Civil registration for births, marriages, and deaths began in 1871, so access to the parish records was crucial to my research project. Would the records be available for research?

The Research Team - Spain 2006