Birth, Marriage and Death Records

Canadian Provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador

Whether you are locating a copy of your own birth certificate or tracing your family tree, the search for a birth, marriage or death record is not always straightforward. This step-by-step guide should help you in your quest to find birth, marriage and death certificates issued in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, both in the recent and more distant past.

Birth, Marriage and Death Records Prior to 1892

Civil registration became compulsory in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1891. However, some records, mainly church records, prior to that year exist. It should be noted that these records are incomplete, since it was not a legal requirement to register births, marriages and deaths.

For church records, an online finding aid is being developed. The database consists of indexes of registers of baptisms, marriages and burials, as well as other church-related events such as confirmations, from around 200 parishes in the province. Records from the following denominations are included:

� Church of England or Anglican
� Roman Catholic
� Congregational
� Presbyterian
� Moravian
� Salvation Army
� United Church or Methodist

It should be noted that the records are incomplete, since only records relating to specific periods of time released by the churches in question can be included. In order to search the online finding aid for church records, follow these steps:

1. Go to http://www.tcr.gov.nl.ca/ and select the denomination whose records you would like to search by clicking on the relevant link. It also possible to search cemetery records and the earliest records for certain areas.
2. You will see a list of the available records arranged alphabetically by the name of the parish, with the following headings for each column:
a. Parish
b. (Type of) records
c. Photocopies
d. Microfilm copies
3. In most cases, you will be able to find out only the period for which birth, marriage, death and other records exist, although some names are included if specific documents are mentioned.
4. The online finding aid allows you to determine the existence of records for the specific area and time frame that you are researching, but it does not allow you to search through those records online. In order to do this, you will need to visit the Provincial Archives at:

The Rooms Provincial Archives Division
9 Bonaventure Avenue
P.O. Box 1800, Station C
St. John�s, NL, A1C 5P9
Telephone: (709) 757-8030
Fax: (709) 757-8031
Website: www.therooms.ca

The Rooms Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador maintains an index of births and baptisms that were recorded in the province from 1840 to 1915. Records prior to 1892 are compiled from the following types of information sources:

� Church baptism records
� Delayed birth registrations
� Sworn affidavits verifying the age of certain people
� Copies of birth and baptism certificates
� Lists with information on several family members (such as those extracted from family bibles)

The index, which also includes several marriage records and one death record, can only be consulted in person by visiting:

The Rooms Provincial Archives
9 Bonaventure Avenue
P.O. Box 1800, Station C
St. John�s, NL, A1C 5P9
Telephone: (709) 757-8030
Fax: (709) 757-8031
Website: www.therooms.ca

There are other sources of information at the Provincial Archives that may assist you in your family history research, including:

� The Gertrude Crosbie Collection of birth, marriage and death announcements from newspapers published in the nineteenth century
� Birth, marriage and death announcements published in newspapers in the Conception Bay area of Harbour Grace and Carbonear from around 1850 to 1900
� Census records from 1675 to 1945

If you are unable to visit the Provincial Archives to carry out the research in person, you can ask a member of staff to search for a specific birth, marriage or death record from the pre-1892 period. In order to request a search, follow this procedure:

1. Only one record can be requested at a time, so indicate whether you require a birth, marriage or death record
2. In your written request, ensure that you include all of the following information on the individual concerned:
a. Full name
b. Date or year of the record. The search will begin with the year given and, if that is not successful, each of the five earlier and later years will be searched.
c. The city, town or village in which the person lived at the date the record was issued
d. The religious denomination of the person
It is important to give all of this information, otherwise the search cannot go ahead.
3. Add your contact details, including your full mailing address, and enclose a money order or check for C$23 per search, made payable to �The Rooms Corporation.� If the record can be located, you will receive a typed extract. If you wish to receive a certified true copy of the record, you will need to enclose an extra fee of C$23 per certified copy.
4. Send your request and payment to:

The Rooms Provincial Archives
9 Bonaventure Avenue
P.O. Box 1800, Station C
St. John�s, NL, A1C 5P9

5. Alternatively, you may wish to engage the services of a private researcher, who would be able to carry out specific research on your behalf for an agreed fee. A list of private researchers can be consulted on this webpage: www.therooms.ca/archives/

Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates from 1892 to the Present Day

If you wish to apply for a birth, marriage or death certificate issued in Newfoundland and Labrador at any time from 1892 to the present day, follow these steps:

1. Go to this wepage: www.gs.gov.nl.ca/gs/  and download the application form for birth, marriage and death certificates
2. If you are requesting a birth certificate, decide whether you wish to receive a long or wallet-sized certificate. The wallet-sized certificates do not include the names of the child�s parents. Only long-format marriage and death certificates are available. The second page of the application form gives details of the information included on the certificates.
3. Consult this webpage: www.gs.gov.nl.ca/gs/vs/fees.stm  and find out the relevant fee
4. Enclose a money order or check payable to the Newfoundland Exchequer Account for the applicable fee
5. You may apply either in person or by mail. If applying in person, you may visit any one of the eleven government service centers, whose contact details are given at the foot of the second page of the application form. If applying by mail, send your completed application form and the relevant fee to:

Vital Statistics
Government Service Centre
Department of Government Services
5 Mews Place
PO Box 8700
St. John�s, NL A1B 4J6
Telephone: (709) 729-3308

With these resources available, it should not be long before you locate the birth, marriage or death record that you are seeking in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

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