Thought people might like these links for help with Italian genealogy!

Question

I have been working to try to get Italian records. It is hard as most of the information is harbored in the specific town parishes and very little has been digitized to look through. Anyway, I thought I'd share some seemingly good resources, I found on this issue.

1. http://italiangenealogy.com/ -

This is a forum based website that puts you in contact with other people who may know more about the area or just have an interest in Italian genealogy as well.

2. http://www.bestofsicily.com/genealogy.htm.

Seems to be mostly an info page to get your feet wet. It seems to suggest as I am finding out is that Italian genealogy as it is now is best done through paying a professional genealogist that specializes and most likely lives in Italy to search for you for a MINIMUM OF 500 EUROS.

 3. http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/pearlsofwisdom/italian-form-letters.html#letters01

Form letters (with English translations) to send to the parish in Italy to request records.

Hope this helps (maybe someday...)

Mike

Comments

Neat!  THANX, Michael.  I have one more site to contribute to your list, although it is not in Italy.  This site might be helpful to someone trying to trace Italians who emigrated to NY.  I have found it very helpful for non-Italians who lived in NY and it is free.

The Italian Genealogical Group at http://italiangen.org/records-search 

.

Answer 1

Also, here is a link to the digitised images of civil registrations (births, marriages, deaths) that are currently available for several provinces

http://www.antenati.san.beniculturali.it/en/regions-and-sources

the following provinces Ascoli Piceno, Bari, Bergamo, Caltanissetta, Campobasso, Catanzaro,Como, Cuneo, Firenze, Genova, L'Aquila, Lucca, Mantova, Messina, Modena, Napoli, Pesaro-Urbino Sezione di Fano, Pescara, Torino, Treviso, Udine, Venezia, Viterbo  are available as of Oct 2014.  New images continue to be added.   

This is an AMAZING resource ! 

Comments

I agree!

The site provides also information about the State Archives everywhere in Italy. Usually they are willing to cooperate, also remotely.

Answer 2

Thank you all!!

Sharon Troy Centanne

Answer 3

This site has some of the noble/royal families of Italy

http://www.genmarenostrum.com/notizie.html

You have to join the Societa Genealogica Italiana for a fee, to see all of the genealogies but some of them seem to be free to access.  I haven't found a way of working out which are which, so just click on the name of the family you want on the left of the screen and see what happens.

Unfortunately although there is a bibliography on the site, none of the genealogies list any sources but it could be a start.

John

PS - Mike, I think I've already checked and couldn't find any of the noble families that you were interested in.

Answer 4

Thank you, but Italian genealogy should not cost you an arm and a leg. Try to find your family at familysearch.org by entering names into their search engine. I found at least four generations that way, and now my husband has his 16 Italian 3rd great grandparents located.

Most people in previous cemeteries did not travel much, so chances are most of your ancestors lived within a day's walking distance of the hometown of your immgrating ancestor. If you can find the town where your immigrant was born, you will probably be able to find 20 or 30 ancestors from the same place.

Study the geography and history of that part of Italy, and general Italian history as well. Did you know Italy was not even a unified nation until 1870? The south was Kindowm of the Two Sicilies. The center was the Papal States, and the north had a lot of city states. We have studied Sicily in particular because we have documents to prove that my husband's great grandfather Antonio Rosario Centanni fought for Garibaldi in 1860. Fascinating stuff!

Another way to connect with your Italian roots is to meet as many cousins as you can on social media, like facebook, and ask them about their family origins. And don't forget to join listservs dealing with your family names or your familiy's locality in Italy and America.

Sharon Troy Centanne, researching

CENTANNI, CENTANNE, TRIPI, MANCUSO CIMO, TALAMO, CATALANO, MICELI, MARTINO, GUCCIONE, SOLITO, SOETO, GENNARO, BIONDOLILLO, SARAGUSA, CHRISTINA, DI CARLO, SCACCIA, D'AMICO, ANDOLLINA, BRACATO and related families from Alia, Palermo, Sicilia, Italia and srurrounding areas.