Need help understanding the format of a set of Sri Lankan sinhalese records
Hello all,
I'm doing some research on Sri Lankan sinhalese family records and I am confused about the way these records are formatted. I do understand sinhalese so I have no trouble reading the records. But don't let it discourage you from reading the rest of the post. I will post english translations of the records on this message. And I am happy to translate any additional records as needed.
The records in question are;
Birth records, 1822-1848; ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSN1-2LY8?cat=403347
Specifically the records from 1067/2610 to 1122/2610
The records were written down somewhere between 1822 to 1835. I know this because the paper used has 1822 embossed on it with a crown and "GR" written. I'm guessing this is a British Ceylon seal of some sort. On the last page(1122/2610) in sinhalese it is written "Finished on 1835-July-28".
This is important because the people mentioned in these records are from the 1740s to the 1820s, meaning that these records are from people recalling about their family events rather than the events being recorded at the time of the events.
The records seems to be a combination of marriage and birth events and the general format followed is;
Bridegroom's father's name, bridegroom's name. Then bride's father's name, bride's name.
Then date of marriage. Then a list of the children's names along with what I assume is the date of birth of the children. The past that confuses me is the there is a additional bit of information between the child name and the supposed date of birth.
For example the very first record on page 1067/2610 is;
(dead)Juwan Fernando's Louis Fernando
(dead)(Wife) Catherina Gomes married 1781-Feb-24
(married)(dau) Helena 3 months 1793-May-3
(son) Daniel 4 months 1797-Oct-18
(son) Hendrick 5 years 1801-Sep-21
(dau) Maria 1 year 1804-Oct-17
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The next two records for context are;
Juwan Silva's Jasentu Silva married Maria Perera
(married)(dau) Louisa
(married)(son) Rapiel
(son) Daniel 1 year 1782-Jun-4
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(dead) Jasentu Silva's Rapiel Silva
(dead)(Wife) Livina Fernando came from Kalutara, married 1779-Feb-2
(son) Miguel 8 months 1782-Mar-13
(son) Abraham 1 year 1787-Apr-7
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The confusing bits are the inclusion of months/years between the child's name and the supposed date of birth. Throughout all the records this inclusion varies between 1 month to about 8 years. My guess is that this might be the age of the child when baptised.
I hope I explained my problem in a clear manner. Any information or insight is greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Devon Joseph
Answers
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I am not connected with FamilySearch.
The actual link for the film mentioned above is https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSN1-2LY8?cat=403347 and the link for image 1067 is https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSN1-25YM?i=1066&cat=403347
If you look at image 1066 you will see that this is the image for the commencement of item 6.
The catalogue entry for the film 8088367, item 6 is https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/403347, and the catalog title is "Birth and marriage records prior to 1822". The description says "Registration was based on the Dutch thombo system until 1822 when the system was reformed and made to follow British patterns of civil registration", however I don't know what the Dutch thombo system was.
Perhaps you will need to write to the Registrar-General's Office in Colombo, where the original records are held, in the hope of finding out more details. However I have seen in the past that institutions such as churches in Sri Lanka do not respond to emails. I do not know whether this practice would also apply to the Registrar-General's Office.
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Hello Maureen,
Thank you for your reply. Maybe I'll write to the Registrar-General's Office in Colombo.
Thanks
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