Interactive guide to portal resources

Research on an ancestor should always start with some known information, possibly at least the first or last name. The more knowledge you have (birth, death, marriage, places, dates, etc.), the better your chances of finding what you are looking for.

Before embarking on a search on the Ancestry Portal, ask yourself what information you have:

• – a first name and surname? or just a surname? or just a first name? > Try the Search by Name function;
  
• a particular event: birth, death, marriage > try the function Search registers;
  
• a territorial reference: the name of a municipality or that of a province? > see the Explore the Archives page;
  
• an exact date (day, month, year)? an approximate date (month and year; year only)? a vague chronological reference such as a range of years (from … to … )? > Both the Search by Name and the Search registers functions allow you to search by yearor chronological range.
  

Guide to consulting documents

Once you have found the document you are interested in, to guide you through the consultation process, here are a few examples of documents in which the key elements have been highlighted to help you read them.

Example of birth certificate

Example of death certificate

Marriage certificate example

Example annual index