Records Extraction Guide

About the Guide

If you are interested in learning how to read old Spanish handwriting for the purpose of extracting parish records, you may consult the Spanish Records Extraction Guide. This resource provides basic principles, examples, and practice exercises which will enable you to identify specific parts and characteristics of christening and marriage record entries. The Spanish Records Extraction Guide was first published in 1981 by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is now available for download on this website in PDF format.

Here is the Spanish Records Extraction Guide in its entirety (65MB). To view individual chapters, click on the links below.

	Chapter 1: Old Spanish Records Introduction
	Chapter 2: Christening, Marriage, and Other Entries Section 1 - Christening Entries Section 2 - Marriage Entries Section 3 - Other Entries
	Chapter 3: Spanish Handwriting and Spelling Section 1 - Easily Confused Letters Section 2 - Elements of Spanish Handwriting Style Section 3 - Variations in Word Spelling
	Chapter 4: Name Identification Section 1 - Identifying Names Section 2 - Deciphering Personal Names Section 3 - Distinguishing between Given Names and Surnames
	Chapter 5: Gender Section 1 - Sex Determiners
	Chapter 6: Dates Section 1 - Months, Days, Years Section 2 - Variations in Dates
	Chapter 7: Putting It All Into Practice Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Section 4 Section 5 Section 6 - Answers
	Glossary Section 1 - Spanish and Latin Terms Section 2 - Christening and Marriage Entry Phrases
	Appendices Appendix A1 - Given Names Appendix A2 - Common Surnames Appendix B - Common Abbreviations Appendix C - Common Occupations Appendix D - Racial Designations Appendix E - Titles and Descriptive Terms