And in many areas of Europe the official papers for birth, death and marriage were held by churches for a long time before being taken over by the state. On th

And in many areas of Europe the official papers for birth, death and marriage were held by churches for a long time before being taken over by the state. On the other side of my family, a family member made a records request re: ancestor born say around 1880 and the official government response was that the papers had been at a church long burned down and paperwork lost.