Have the baptism records not been digitized yet? (Spain)
My genealogical research stops at 1702, as I cannot find records for either the son(Juan) or the father (Diego). However, I recently found some records of children belonging to a brother of my ancestor(Juan), but these appear in Granada, which is a large city (I found the records of the birth of both my ancestor(Juan) and his brother's children in the same city). In those records, it is mentioned that their parents, Diego and Francisca, were from a small but old town called “Alcaudete.”
My question is whether I cannot find any records of them because they simply do not exist, or because FamilySearch has not yet digitized them. I found on the town council’s website that there are 71 baptismal record books spanning several centuries. I imagine that if even the town council has not digitized them, FamilySearch may not have been able to either.
I would like to know if this is the reason why I cannot find anything about them, it would give me some peace of mind to know that I just need to wait. I assumed that, since Spain is a European country, FamilySearch would already have all records digitized, but seeing that a small town has more than 71 books, I suppose it is a process that takes time.
Is there any way on FamilySearch to check which records from specific towns have been digitized and which have not?
Thank you in advance.
Answers
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Subject to the limitations of indexing, the catalogue should tell you what's been indexed - enquire by placename under normal circumstances.
I suggest that you post in the research group for Spain to see if anyone there can say what is outstanding, and even, perhaps, why
Do not make any assumption about coverage in Europe of the type you suggest. Many churches, for instance, will absolutely not allow Family Search anywhere near their records. (And I would take a guess that access is determined at the church level, by the way).
There are also commercial considerations as some record custodians have given access to commercial companies for cash, and such access will normally be exclusive for a while.
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As a point of definition, several processes are required for us to find a record online, and digitization is just one. A record may have been microfilmed or digitally photographed, but not online. And it may be online, as a digital image, but not indexed to enable a search for it by name.
Edit to add: In my experience with Roman Catholic records, it is often the Diocese or Archdiocese (rather than an individual parish) that cooperates (or does not) with online genealogy organizations such as FamilySearch, Ancestry, FindMyPast, or MyHeritage.MyHeritage has a sizable collection of Spanish Catholic records.
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@Áine.ní.Donnghaile - thanks for the extra points.
Interesting that your experience with RC records points to decision making being at diocesan or archdiocesan level. My experience with Anglican records in England suggests decision making there at the parish level - e.g. Devon has most of its CofE parish records on FindMyPast apart from a small number of parishes where the incumbent refused permission. As they say, there's nothing like consistency and that's nothing like… 😉
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@Adrian Bruce1 Brian Donovan of Find My Past has negotiated individually with various Dioceses and Archdioceses in the USA and England to bring many RC records online. The Archdiocese of Boston independently contracted with the NEHGS to have its records preserved and brought online. The records of the Archdiocese where I was baptized are on Ancestry.
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Well, this is what I found in the catalogue:
I’m not very experienced in this topic, so based on the results in this link, does it mean that the books from the parish of Alcaudete have not yet been indexed or photographed?
If any of you has an account on MyHeritage or Ancestry, could you please do me the favor (if it’s not too much trouble) of searching for “Juan Manuel de Leyva,” born around 1702 in Alcaudete, Jaén, son of Diego and Francisca de Aguilera? Maybe those platforms have records from that town that will eventually be added to FamilySearch.
Fortunately, I found that in 2021 a book about the genealogy of that town was published, and “Leyva” has an entire chapter. I’ll see how I can get a copy. Thanks!
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