Registers of Vital Statistics Community Index

Registers of Vital Statistics (pre-1892)

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the government registry of births, marriages and deaths begins in 1891. Prior to that, the only vital records of baptisms, marriages or burials were those that were kept by the churches.

In the 1940’s the Department of Public Health and Welfare asked the churches to transcribe their existing pre-1891 records of baptisms and marriages so that the Government could have some form of early civil registration records. These volumes of transcribed records became known as the Registers of Vital Statistics.

The pre-1891 Registers of Vital Statistics are available for research in the Archives Reference Room. An indexed and digitized version of these records is also available at www.familysearch.org.

Vital Statistics Division records of Births, Marriages, and Deaths (post-1891)

The Vital Statistics Division started the government registry of Newfoundland births, marriages, and deaths in 1891.

Birth records from 1891 to 1919, marriage records from 1891 to 1922, and death records from 1891 to 1949 are available for research in the Archives Reference Room. An indexed and digitized version of these records is also available at www.familysearch.org .

A continuation of the Newfoundland and Labrador death records from the years 1950 to 1967 is also available on The Rooms website [possibly link here?]

All Newfoundland Births

This is a collection of documents that were submitted to the Newfoundland government in the 1940’s by individuals who were required to provide proof of their birth.

The All Newfoundland Births collection is made up of a variety of records which include sworn affidavits attesting to the age of relatives or friends, copies of information from family bibles, photocopies of baptism or birth certificates, and extracts by clergy from old parish registers.

This unique collection contains records which may not be found elsewhere. This is especially true of records provided by individuals who were from areas where the churches and records had been destroyed by fire.

The All Newfoundland Births collection is available for research in the Archives Reference Room. An indexed and digitized version of these records is also available at www.familysearch.org.

The Finding Aid for the Registers of Vital Statistics Collection is arranged alphabetically by PLACE name.

Helpful notes about the Registers of Vital Statistics Collection:

Some places may be noted under more than one parish for the same religious denomination.
This is because the clergy of early parishes in Newfoundland and Labrador were responsible for large geographical areas which included numerous communities. The boundaries of some these parishes changed considerably through the years, and as more clergy became available, parishes were subdivided to include fewer places.

Sometimes a place is noted under a parish name which is a considerable distance from the actual place.

The reason for this is that visiting clergy sometimes performed baptisms and marriages and took the records back to their own parishes. As well, people may have visited or worked seasonally in other areas of Newfoundland and Labrador. If they married there, for example, the record would have been recorded there and not in their home parish.