Archives: Archivi

Civil registry

The State Archives in Florence hold the Civil Status of Tuscany fund containing the papers produced by the Civil Status Office in the period 1808-1865.
The archive contains both the series of extracts sent by the parish priests, the series of registers and directories useful for research, as well as the numerous accompanying papers useful for drawing up civil status documents. There is also documentation on the life of the Office and other tasks with which it was entrusted, such as the production of periodic statistics and the population census.
Some units are missing (175 pieces) or flooded (23 pieces). Specific indications on the number of missing pieces are given in the inventory notes and the individual series cards.
The papers follow a unique numbering system determined by a progressive “order number” which was assigned, for reasons of management simplicity, when the State Archives took charge of the Civil Status papers.
Unique string numbering for the whole fund: 1-12,548
The following series, the most significant and consulted of the Civil Status of Tuscany, are available on replacement microfilm and, therefore, cannot be requested in original:

• Index of deeds by community for the period 1808-1814;
• Alphabetical decennial indexes for the years 1808-1837;
• General alphabetical indexes for the period 1818-1865;

The following series are available on microfilm or online at the Antenati portal:

• Birth registrations for the years 1808-1865;
• Records of marriages and deaths for the years 1808-1838.

Army census

The fund of the Florence Conscription Office contains documentation from the 1842 conscription class onwards (Conscription lists, Draught lists, Summary registers of Conscription Council decisions) and also includes material from the Conscription Offices. Pistoia, Rocca San Casciano and San Miniato, già circondari della provincia di Firenze, rispettivamente per le classi 1842-1879, 1842-1851 e 1842-1891.

With the reform of conscription offices and the establishment of a single office for the whole of Tuscany, the State Archives of Firenze began to receive conscription lists from all the provinces.

Since 1992, the documentation provided therefore concerns the entire male population subject to compulsory military service in the Tuscan provinces. The archives are organized as follows: Firenze conscription office (conscription lists from the class 1842 to 1945); Arezzo (draft lists from the class of 1921 to 1945); Grossetto (for the classes of 1921 to 1945); Livorno(for the classes between 1924 and 1945); Lucca (dalla classe 1924 al 1945); Massa Carrara (dalla classe 1924 al 1945); Pisa (dalla classe 1924 al 1945); Pistoia (classi 1842-1879, e dalla classe 1915 al 1945); Siena (dalla classe 1921 al 1945).

The conscription registers do not have directories and are on a municipal basis, which is why a search can only be carried out if you know the municipality of residence of the person sought.

The collection is described up to the class of 1939 in a summary inventory that can be consulted online on the Archive website.

Recruitment number and military draw number

The rolls of troop soldiers and non-commissioned officers from the former military districts of Arezzo (from the class of 1875 to 1940); Firenze (from the class of 1860 to 1945, with headings starting from the class of 1866); Pistoia (from the class of 1871 to 1935).

The registers, subdivided by conscription class and sorted according to the serial number assigned to each soldier at the time of enlistment, are accompanied by alphabetical headings that make it possible to identify the names. Due to their poor state of preservation, the rubrics are not directly accessible to scholars, so searches are carried out by the staff of the State Archives.

Other Sources In The Archive

The Papiani Ceramics Collection, Established over the course of many years by Enrico Ceramelli Papiani (1896-1976), this fund is kept in the Firenze State Archives and consists of almost 8000 files, in the name of Tuscan families of ancient origin, which provide genealogical and heraldic information taken from archival sources kept in the Florentine Archives or in other archival institutions or libraries in the region.

Based on the information on the coats of arms of Tuscan families described in the Collection, a database has been created and digital reproductions of images of noble arms have been associated with the card of the coats of arms. Searching the database is facilitated by a friendly search mask and a dictionary of heraldic terms with explanatory images. The database also provides information about theCollection and the person who set it up.

Civil registry

The Civil Registry archive holds the duplicates of the birth, marriage, death and citizenship certificates (most of them are residence changes from 1866 on), instituted by the Bourbon Reform and maintained by the Kingdom of Italy between 1820 and 1930.

Army census

The Recruitment Lists of many generations are held in the archive of the Caltanisetta Military District. These lists include young males born in the district between 1840 and 1945. The Historic Archive of Caltanisetta (1813-1849), in the registries sub-series, holds the military records of soldiers of the National Guard.

Recruitment number and military draw number

Caltanissetta Military District preserves the series of Sheets (1858-1920) and Matriculation Rolls (1880-1897).

Civil registry

LThe Alessandria State Archive holds the Civil Registry files (1804 – 1814) issued by the towns of the Marengo Department, an old Napoleonic division. issued by the towns of the Marengo Department, an old Napoleonic division: Alessandria (and locality Cantalupo, Casalbagliano, Cascinagrossa, Castelceriolo, Castelferro, Lobbi, Mandrogne, Orti/Jardins, Portanuova, Retorto, San Giuliano Nuovo, San Giuliano Vecchio, Piana di San Michele, Spinetta Marengo, Valle delle Grazie/Valmadonna, Valle San Bartolomeo, Villa del Foro); Alluvioni Cambiò (today Alluvioni Piovera); Annone (today Castello d’Annone); Basaluzzo; Bassignana; Borgoratto; Bosco Marengo; Capriata d’Orba; Casal Cermelli; Cassine; Castelferro; Castellazzo Bormida; Castelspina; Cerro Tanaro; Felizzano; Frascaro; Fresonara; Frugarolo; Guazzora; Isola S. Antonio; Masio e Redabue; Montecastello; Oviglio; Pasturana; Pavone; Pecetto; Piovera e Rivellino (today Alluvioni Piovera); Predosa; Quargnento; Quattuordio; Sezzè (today Sezzadio); Solero; Valenza.

The file has an attached inventory, which is available for consultation at the study room.

The Historical Archives of the City of Alexandria, containing the series, is also preserved:

• Napoleonic civil status (1803 – 1814)
• Parish registers (1838 – 1865)
• Birth Lists (1790 – 1865)
• Population states (1726 – 1828)
• Population registers (1864 – )

Army census

The Leverage Office fund for the province of Alexandria. (1792 – 1945) mainly includes conscription lists, extraction lists, alphabetical lists (sometimes bound in a large volume, others sometimes consisting of fascicles or small registers each relating to a single municipality grouped in envelopes and divided by year) and summary registers of conscription board decisions relating to municipalities in the province of Alexandria. The Recruitment Lists available in the Archive include data from recruits until the class of 1945.

Recruitment number and military draw number

The Alessandria Province Draft Cards and military records is composed of military records, Draft Cards and lists from the former circumscriptions and military districts of Alessandria, Acqui Terme, Asti, Casale Monferrato e Tortona. All of them cover the classes of 1840-1945. These files are divided in several groups, sometimes subdivided by district (please note that the Acqui and Asti districts reach only the 1870 class), and sometimes by type of file or by military class (the date of birth). Most of the files, despite the absence of a serial number, have some information on the back about the military class, the district and sometimes the draft card number.

Civil registry

The Naples State Archive holds the Naples Province Civil Registry from 1809 to 1865.

For the period between 1865 and 1900 there is a second inventory of Civil Registry that includes the citizenship certificates (most of them were residence changes), but there were many gaps in this archive.

Army census

The Napoli Province Recruitment Office archive holds the Recruitment Lists of the young males born between 1842 and 1949 called to draft examination.

Recruitment number and military draw number

The Naples Military District (classes of 1853-1910); Aversa Military District (classes of 1853-1910); and Nola Military District(classes of 1853-1910) hold the Draft cards, in which we can find information about the military service and campaigns, the Army corps in which the privates and non-commissioned officers served until their discharge.

Online Sources

The institute has created an internal database –which is available for consultation- of the draft cards of the three military districts from 1901 to 1910.

Other Sources in the Archive

Among the archives of special interest for genealogical research we can point out the following:

• Catastro onciario : (Late 18th century, inventory 0451) this census allow us to reconstrut the family trees of the residents on Southern Italy.
• Catastro Provisional of the Ciudad de Nápoles: the Catastro muratiano (of Murat) is divided in different sections and it comprises census books and supplements (changes and sections).
  The census books contain information about the owners, the description of the properties and its value in ducats, along with a column for transactions. The new owner inscriptions were done following a chronological order at the attached files.
  Each ‘state of the section’ is organized by areas that subdivide the territory: the census units are put in progressive order in a list, called “articles of the state of the section”, which was part of the so-called “Islands”, numbered and ordered by name and place. Several Islands together formed a neighborhood.
  Since the early 19th century Napoli was divided in 12 neighborhoods and several villages. The digitalized Databases from the Napoli State Archive includes Avvocata, Chiaia, Mercato, Montecalvario and Pendino encompassing both the volumes of the State of Section and the actual cadastral system i.e., the cadastral books, in alphabetical order, listing all lots.
• the Avvocata, Chiaia, Mercato, Montecalvario and Pendino neighborhoods, which contain the states of the sections, the Census and the census books, in alphabetical order, along with the list of all districts. The database “Passports and Emigration”, subseries of the Administrative Police Division of the General Archives of the Napoli Police Headquarters, for the years 1888-1901, allows us to navigate through 22,000 files entitled to persons who were variously involved in the great migratory movements of the late 19th century: passport applicants and emigrants under the surveillance of the public security authorities.
  The nominal files that we are proposing to file trace the outlines of permanent or temporary emigration from the city and the surrounding area of Napoli, mainly of professional, artisan and working class people; at the same time, through the active surveillance carried out by the Naples Police Headquarters and the public security delegation dependent on it and active in the bustling city port, they paint a picture of the exodus from the countryside of Southern Italy, which exploded at the end of the century.
  The user will be able to search among an approximately estimated number of more than 30000 names, registered by the Questura of one of the three most important port cities in Italy.

Civil registry

The State Archives of Milan preserves the civil status (1866 – 1946) paid by the Court of Milan.

Army census

The fund of the Milan Provincial Conscription Office contains the conscription lists (1874-1928 from 1874 to 1882 with gaps).

Recruitment number and military draw number

The fonds Military District of Lodi (1832-1924), Military District of Milan (1838-1924) and Military District of Monza (1875 -1924) preserve matriculation rolls, matriculation sheets and alphabetical rubrics.

Civil registry

L’Archivio di Stato di Cremona conserva i seguenti fondi:

Civil Status Records and Ten-Year Indexes (1866-1905) and (1906-1925) of the Cremona Mandate, Civil Status Records and Ten-Year Indexes (1866-1905) and (1906-1925) of the Casalmaggiore Mandate, Civil Status Records and Ten-Year Indexes (1866-1905) and (1906-1925) of the Soresina Mandate pertaining to the Cremona Court;

Civil status records and decennial indexes (1866-1905) and (1906-1925) pertaining to the Crema Court;

Cremona Archive in the series called Napoleonic civil status-from 1797, the year in which the civil status office was established, to 1866-includes registers of births (1797- 1810), marriages (1806 -1812), and deaths (1797-1865); the series is completed by the register devoted to “Daily Population Movement ” dated 1866.

Army census

The draft lists are present for the classes (1840,1842-1854, 1858-1882, 1888-1939,1945) and refer to the young men who, upon reaching the age of 20, are called to the draft, and the draw lists for the classes (1840-1844, 1848-1882, 1888-1890).

Recruitment number and military draw number

The institute also holds the collection of matriculation rolls (classes 1844-1945), rubrics (classes 1867-1943) and personnel files (classes 1890-1943), records produced by the former Cremona Military District.

Online Sources

This institution is connected to the portal “Genealogical research for Lombards across the world”, which is financed by the Lombardy Region and which facilitates the research of a forefather through structured databases of names taken from different sources.

Civil registry

The Civil Registry files were sent to the institute from the Saluzzo and Mondovì Courts and are gathered in the “Civil Registry” archive in two sections: Saluzzo and its circumscription (most of those files are from 1803 to 1813) and Mondovì and its circumscription (from 1864 to 1899). These files are birth, marriage and death certificates and, for the Kingdom of Italy Era in Mondovì, also citizenship certificates (most of all residence changes). The Mondovì section gathers Parish Books (1853-1865). The Restoration Era files at the Ancestry portal are only available for Bonvicino (citizens born in 1853). The birth certificates of Mondovì between 1864 and 1899 include an attached name index.

Army census

The Cuneo Recruitment Office holds the Recruitment Lists of the male residents born in the Alba, Cuneo, Mondovì (classes of 1792-1942) and Saluzzo circumpscriptions (classes of 1806-1918).

Recruitment number and military draw number

In the fund named Cuneo Military District are collected the matriculation rolls referring to male citizens, born between 1843 and 1947 in the municipalities of the Cuneo and Saluzzo districts , serving in the military. The Mondovi Military District fund contains matriculation rolls for those born from 1843 to 1935 in the municipalities of the Mondovi and Alba districts. The series Personal fasciclesof the privates (classes of 1915-1935) and non-comissioned officers (classes of 1869-1924) contains original documents summarized in the draft cards that give us detailed information about the discipline, illnesses, punishments, etc.

Civil registry

The fund called the Civil Status (1820 to 1960) collects second copies of birth, marriage, death, and citizenship records since 1866 (mostly changes of residence), produced by municipalities in the Piazza Armerina district (Aidone, Barrafranca, Calascibetta, Enna, Piazza Armerina, Pietraperzia, Valguarnera Caropepe, Villarosa) and by those in the Nicosia district (Agira, Assoro, Catenanuova, Centuripe, Cerami, Gagliano Castelferrato, Leonforte, Nicosia, Nissoria, Regalbuto, Sperlinga, Troina). Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) The fund also preserves the ALLEGATIONS series.

Army census

The Enna Province Conscription Lists fund collects the conscription lists referring to male citizens who were called for conscription. The classes documented are from 1840-1948. Gaps are reported for the period 1887-1925.

Recruitment number and military draw number

The Matriculation Sheets fund preserves the files and matriculation sheets related to military personnel born in the province of Enna (1921-1945), in which it is possible to find information on the military service performed by both troops and non-commissioned officers until discharge.

Civil registry

The State Archive of Palermo preserves the Civil Status of the Restoration – Palermo and municipalities in the province of Palermo, 1820-1865.
The fund includes, for each municipality in the province of Palermo, the registers of births, marriages and deaths, to which are added envelopes of attached documents submitted by the registered subjects. For the registers relating to the city of Palermo, the State Archives contain the ten-year indexes of births, deaths and marriages from 1820 to 1865, which are not kept for the other municipalities in the province. For the city of Palermo alone, the Archive also contains the ten-year indexes of births, deaths and marriages for the years 1865-1905, a period for which the relevant registers are not available.

With the support of the Archival Superintendence of Sicily-State Archives of Palermo, FamilySearch has launched a digitization campaign of civil status archives kept at municipalities in the province of Palermo. The digital reproductions made are published under “Restoration Civil Status (Registers of Municipalities)” and “Italian Civil Status (Registers of Municipalities).”
To obtain reproductions of “Italian Civil Status (Registers of Municipalities)” it is necessary to contact directly the municipality where the act was recorded.

Army census

The Archive holds the following fonds:

Lever acts of the Council of District Lever Offices of the Province of Palermo then Provincial Lever Office, 1891-1924.
The fund includes the registers produced by the Council of Lever Offices of the Province of Palermo and then by the only Provincial Lever Office, concerning the city of Palermo and the neighbouring municipalities, divided into 3 distinct series: Lever Lists (206 bgs.), Summary Registers of Council Decisions (4 bgs.), Registers of the Captains of Palermo (14 bgs.);
Lever acts of the Lever Council of Palermo, 1841-1889.
The fund includes the registers produced by the Council of Lever of Palermo, concerning the city of Palermo and the neighbouring municipalities, divided into 3 distinct series: Extraction Lists (35 bgs), Lever Lists (13 bgs), Summary Registers of Council Decisions (12 bgs). The records should concern conscripts from the period 1841-1890, but a note to the same fund search tool indicates the loss of all records relating to the 1890 class;
Sea Lever Lists of Trapani,Lever Classes 1906-1986.
The series includes the lists of conscription of soldiers produced by the Navy – Maritime Compartment of Trapani and, since 1961, by the Harbour Office of Trapani, concerning the city of Trapani and the municipalities of the Province.
Palermo Sea Lever Lists,Lever Classes 1959-1985.
The series includes the lists of conscripts produced by the Navy – Compartimento Marittimo di Palermo and, since 1961, by the Capitaneria di Porto di Palermo, concerning the city of Palermo and the municipalities of the Province.

Recruitment number and military draw number

The Archive holds the following fonds:

Matriculation files of the Military District of Palermo, Conscription classes 1882-1920 (Troop files); Conscription classes 1870-1914 (Non-commissioned officers files).
The series includes envelopes containing matriculation files produced by the Military District of Palermo – Matriculation Office – Non-Commissioned Officers and Troops Section, divided into two subseries, concerning non-commissioned officers and troop soldiers respectively;
Matricular rolls of troop soldiers of the Military District of Palermo, Conscription classes 1887-1900.
The series includes the Rolls of Registration of Troop Soldiers produced by the Military District of Palermo, concerning the city of Palermo and the municipalities of the Province, accompanied, for each year, by columns showing the names of the enlisted soldiers, their roll number and the number of the annual register in which they are registered;
Rolls of Troops of the Military District of Trapani, Conscription Classes 1873-1900.
The series includes the Registers of Troop Soldiers produced by the Military District of Trapani, concerning the city of Trapani and the municipalities of the Province, accompanied, for each year, by rubrics showing the names of the enlisted soldiers, their serial number and the number of the annual register in which they are registered.

Other sources in the archive

Records of souls and goods, 1548-1800 (Court of Royal Patrimony); 1651-1756 (Deputation of the Kingdom).
The revelations of souls and goods are the result of censuses of the assets of each household carried out in Sicily from the first half of the 19th century onwards. XVI in order to distribute among the various towns on the island the tax burden represented by the ‘donativi’ to be paid to the royal treasury. Censuses were based on declarations by the taxpayers themselves, who were asked to ‘reveal’ the number of family members and the assets they owned. By royal privilege, the inhabitants of the universities (= cities) of Palermo, Messina and Catania were exempt from presenting the revelation. The revelation can also be considered a form of population census, albeit incomplete, because it allowed not only an assessment of the economic activities and assets of each ‘fire’ (= family group), but also a count of ‘souls’. They can therefore also be partially used for research into one’s ancestors from earlier times, replacing – in genealogical reconstruction – parish registers, albeit with some limitations. Censuses were carried out, at irregular intervals, in the following years: 1505, 1548, 1569-1570, 1583, 1593, 1606, 1616, 1623-1624, 1636, 1651, 1681, 1714, 1747-1756, 1806, 1831. A series of revelations can be found in two distinct funds, that of the Tribunal of the Royal Patrimony, the supreme fiscal control body of the kingdom, and that of the Deputation of the Kingdom, an active representative body between one meeting and another of the Sicilian Parliament, to which they were transmitted following the findings made by the T.R.P. The data relating to fires are almost always very close to reality, while for those relating to property (oxen, cows, horses, real estate and furniture), there was no doubt deception and concealment (for example, property could be entrusted to a relative belonging to the clergy, who was therefore exempt from taxation).

Civil registry

For the Napoleonic Era the main source is the Napoleonic Civil Registry (1806-1815).
The institute preserves the Acts of Civil Status of the municipalities of the province of Como (1866 – 2000) and the Acts of Civil Status of the municipalities of the province of Lecco (1866 – 2010).

Army census

The Como, Lecco and parts of Varese province Recruitment Officearchive holds the Recruitment Lists (classes of 1907-1939), extraction lists (classes of 1880-1906), and draft dodgers lists (classes between 1870 and 1890).

Recruitment number and military draw number

This institution holds the draft cards and the fascicles of the classes between 1843 and 1944.

Online Sources

This institution is connected to the portal “Genealogical research for Lombards across the world”, which is financed by the Lombardy Region and which facilitates the research of a forefather through structured databases of names taken from different sources.