Enrollment options
NOTE: This course requires compulsory materials to be ordered.
The Book, “Finding Your Italian Ancestors – A Beginner’s Guide” by Suzanne Russo Adams, AG is available at GenealogyStore.com
Optional Print Course Material: Italian: Civil Registration Records - Part 1
*Course material will only be sent to students who are registered in the course.
Civil registration is one of the largest and most important record sets in Italian genealogical research. It is certainly the most accessible, due to the efforts of FamilySearch, and now the main Italian archive, in microfilming or digitizing these records.
In this course, we will delve deeper into three main types of records: birth records [both regular and supplemental], marriage records [including marriage banns and marriage supplements], and death records [both regular and supplemental]. Each type of record has different challenges as well as differences in format depending on the time period and/or location of its creation within Italy.
We will also delve more deeply into translating and abstracting these documents so that you can understand more fully how to find every piece of genealogically useful information they contain. You will learn how to spot discrepancies and information contained that is over and above what is generally given. Understanding the documents is the heart of the course and there will be much study required of the example documents.
You should have completed the Italian: Introduction to Research Outside of Italy and Italian: Language and Location courses, or have a good understanding of the content of those courses, before commencing this course.
Course Length: 7 weeks
MODULE 1
INTRODUCTION
What is Civil Registration?
Are There Special Considerations When Researching in Large Cities?
Ufficio dello Stato Civile [Civil Records Office]
What Form of Document Will You Get When Ordering from a Civil Records Office?
What Kind of Information Can Be Found in the Civil Records?
MODULE 2
REPORTING A BIRTH TO THE CIVIL RECORD OFFICE
A Child Was Born…Now What?
Civil Birth Records
Working with the Documents
Original & Supplemental Birth Records: What’s the Difference?
MODULE 3
MARRIAGE BANNS
Understanding Italian Marriage Banns
Working with the Documents
MODULE 4
MARRIAGE RECORDS
Understanding Italian Marriage Records
Atto della Solenne Promessa di Celebrare il Matrimonio [Act of the Solemn Promise to Celebrate Marriage]
Working with a Document
Atto di Matrimonio [Act of Marriage]
MODULE 5
MARRIAGE SUPPLEMENTS
Introduction to Marriage Supplements
Working with the Documents
MODULE 6
DEATH RECORDS
Understanding Italian Death Records
Allegati [Supplemental] Death Records and Annotations of Death
Working with the Documents
Italian Cemeteries and Other Places of Burial
APPENDICES