Genealogical research — useful information

Genealogical research – useful information

If you want to do a genealogical search in the best way, first of all you will have to take into consideration the period to which the documents you are interested in are referred: different dates imply, in fact, that different archives have to be consulted. For example, for the years before 1804 you can ask only the territiorial parish (or the Curia, if the parish archives have been transferred to the diocesan archives); whereas for the period from 1838 to 1865 in our territory, which at that time was the Kingdom of Sardinia, three options are available, thanks to the three original parish registers which were kept in parishes, Dioceses and Municipalities.

Before starting with your search, we invite you to read the following explanations at the following links:

 FAQ

1. Do the State Archives of Alessandria issue any multilingual certificates for the request of the Italian citizenship?

2. Which documentation is available in the State Archives of Alessandria?

3. Is it possible to consult the annual and decennial indexes of the civil registry in the State Archives of Alessandria?

4. Is it possible to consult the family papers of the Municipality of Alessandria in the State Archives of Alessandria?

5. Is the civil registry documentation, which the State Archives of Alessandria preserve, published on the Ancestors Portal of the “Direzione Generale Archivi”?

6. Which archives preserve civil registry documents in the province of Alessandria?

7. Who should I ask for the civil registry documentation produced before 1804?

8. Who should I ask for the civil registry documentation of the period from 1804 to 1814 (Napoleonic age)?

9. Who should I ask for the civil registry documentation of the period from 1815 to 1837?

10. Who should I ask for the civil registry documentation of the period from 1838 to 1865?

11. Who should I ask for the civil registry documentation of the period from 1866 until today?

12. Where can I find military documentation: “liste di leva” (recruitment lists) and “ruoli matricolari” (first identification documents about the soldier with essential information such as birth place and date, parents, previous job, first roll number and possible change of roll number or district)?

13. Who should I ask for the “ruoli matricolari” drawn up after 1950?

14. What can I do if I do not know the birth place of my ancestor?

 

1. Do the State Archives of Alessandria issue any multilingual certificates for the request of the Italian citizenship?

NO. State Archives preserve the historical documentation produced by the national administration offices (also by the offices of the States of the pre-unification period, which means before the Unification of Italy) working in the territory of the province. State Archives do not play any role as Italian Civil Registry, they do not issue any birth, marriage or death certficates based on multilingual forms for the request of the Italian citizenship and they do not have any electronic registry databases of the population which could allow an automated search on people names.

The Italian Civil Registry was founded in 1866 and Italian Municipalities, which are in charge of it, have to be contacted in order to get multilingual forms which are useful for any citizenship request.

For any information on certificates, see further explanation on the Ancestors Portal.

 

2. Which documentation is available in the State Archives of Alessandria?

For any genealogical search you can ask for the following civil registry documentation, according to the years and to the towns reported:

a)     1804-1814

- Civil and Criminal Court in Alessandria, Napoleonic Civil Registry in the District of Marengo

Birth, marriage and death acts for the following Municipalities and towns:

Alessandria (and its suburbs/districts, today villages such as Cantalupo, Casalbagliano, Cascinagrossa, Castelceriolo, Castelferro -  Municipality at that time, 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. Some information is missing.

- Historical Archives of the Municipality of Alessandria (ASCAL)

 Birth, marriage and death acts for the Municipality of Alessandria

 

b) 1838-1865

Historical Archives of the Municipality of Alessandria (ASCAL)

Parish registers (birth, marriage and death acts) in the Municipality of Alessandria and its suburbs (Cantalupo, Casalbagliano, Cascinagrossa, Castelceriolo, Castelferro, Lobbi, Mandrogne, Orti, Portanuova, Retorto, San Giuliano Nuovo, San Giuliano Vecchio, Piana San Michele, Spinetta Marengo, Valle delle Grazie/Valmadonna, Valle San Bartolomeo, Villa del Foro).

These archives do not refer to the territory of the province of Alessandria but include ONLY the Municipality of Alessandria and its suburbs.

A useful tool for doing a search on parish birth acts concerning the male population is made up of the lists which every year the priests in Alessandria sent to the Municipality of Alessandria and which allowed the call of the young to military service and the drawing up of the corresponding military lists. These lists of the new born refer to the period from 1790 to 1865 only for the Municipality of Alessandria and its suburbs.

Another important resource is represented by municipal census: the states of souls during the pre-unification period, which means before the Unification of Italy, and the first census of the unification period (after 1864) are preserved in ASCAL. Family papers and civil registry documentation of the end of the nineteenth century and of the first half of the twentieth century, belonging to the Municipality of Alessandria, are not preserved any longer as a consequence of the flood of 1994 (FAQ 4).

For the civil registry of courts (among which you can find annual and decennial indexes), generally preserved in State Archives, see FAQ 3.

We remind you that in the State Archives of Alessandria other kinds of achival resources are also available, they can be used in case of a genealogical search: military documents (“liste di leva”, “ruoli matricolari”, see FAQ 12-13), notary acts, family archives, ecc.

 

3. Is it possible to consult the annual and decennial indexes of the civil registry in the State Archives of Alessandria?

NO. The documentation of the Italian Civil Registry (which dates back to 1866), among which the annual and the decennial indexes are included, which is kept in courts and normally preserved by State Archives, is not available in the State Archives of Alessandria, since it has not been possible to do any documentary pouring for lack of space. In the future we think that we will be able to preserve this documentation in the new seat, which at the moment is being restored, of the Institute. Till that time for this kind of search you will have to ask the Courts directly (or the single Municipalities that have drawn up the acts).

Online, at this link  https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/itasticivilreg/

copies of the civil registers in the provinces of Alessandria and Asti are available for the years from 1866 to 1938 just by paying, they belong to the Civil and Criminal Court of Casale Monferrato.

 

4.Is it possible to consult the family papers of the Municipality of Alessandria in the State Archives of Alessandria?

NO. Family papers and civil registry documentation of the end of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, belonging to the Municipality of Alessandria, have not been preserved since they have been destroyed by the flood in 1994.

 

5.Is the civil registry documentation, which the State Archives of Alessandria preserve, published on the Ancestors Portal of the “Direzione Generale Archivi”?

YES. The Ancestors Portal, which offers the opportunity of consulting for free the copies of the civil registers preserved in Italian State Archives, has published, starting from December 2022, the documentation of the State Archives of Alessandria (Napoleonic Civil Registry and parish registers of the Municipality of Alessandria from 1838 to 1865), which had already been digitized by the Family Search.

 

6.Which archives preserve civil registry documents in the province of Alessandria?

According to the period to which the documents date back and are being searched (see FAQs  7-11) it can be useful to consult one or more archives: parish, diocesan, municipal ones (historical archives and civil registry offices) or State Archives (see FAQ 2).

We inform you that in different archives you can find out losts or documentary gaps: therefore we cannot be sure in advance to find the acts which you are interested in.

Parish Archives. In these archives a very useful documentation is available, it essentially consists of states of souls and of parish registers on birth, marriage and death. These registers refer to a long chronological period, starting from the time before the nineteenth century and lasting till the present; in the last decades they offer a more limited representation of the population, having religious rites diminished. Parish archives are generally preserved in single parishes which have produced them and which you have to ask for consultation. It is possible to find the addresses of the parishes, most of which do not have any e-mail address, in search engines (Google, etc). Some help in this sense can come from the list of the 361 parishes in the province of Alessandria presented by the Pagine Bianche. Please note: the parishes of the Diocese in Acqui Terme (a list on the following website page: http://italia.indettaglio.it/ita/parrocchie/parrocchie_diocesi.html?diocesi=Diocesi di Acqui) have poured almost all their archives to the Diocesan Archives in Acqui Terme which can be contacted at the following website address: curia.archivio@acquiterme.it Also the Diocese of Casale Monferrato is collecting several parish archives (the complete list of all the territorial parishes can be found here: http://www.diocesicasale.it/diocesi/parrocchie): we invite you then to contact the Diocesan Archives of Casale Monferrato: archivio@diocesicasale.it

Diocesan Archives. In Piedmont (Reign of Sardinia) the Diocesan Archives preserve civil registry acts (parish registers on birth, marriage and death) from 1838 until today. The Diocese of Acqui Terme began to collect the acts in 1807 with a decree by bishop De Broglie, the Diocese in Casale Monferrato began in 1834. Diocesan archives can receive in deposit parish archives as well: the Diocese of Acqui Terme, in particular, has collected almost all of them on preservation purposes; the Curia of Casale Monferrato is operating in the same way. Hereafter you can find all the addresses of the historical archives in the four Dioceses of the province of Alessandria.

Historical Diocesan Archives of Alessandria e-mail address: archiviostorico@diocesialessandria.it

Historical Diocesan Archives of Acqui Terme e-mail address: curia.archivio@acquiterme.it

Historical Diocesan Archives of Casale Monferrato e-mail address: archivio@diocesicasale.it

Historical Diocesan Archives of Tortona e-mail address: curia@diocesitortona.it

Historical municipal Archives (separate archive sections). Historical municipal archives (which are different institutes from civil registry offices) collect historical documentation of the Municipality, among which the states of the population at different historical times and the parish registers on birth, marriage and death from 1838 to 1865. The province of Alessandria, located in Piedmont, consists of little less than 190 municipalities, each one with its own historical archives preserved by its own administration. A list of the e-mail and PEC addresses of the Municipalities in the province of Alessandria is available at the following link:

http://www.provincia.alessandria.gov.it/index.php?ctl=news&fl=singola&id=3900&idbl=55

In case you ask for documents per e-mail, you have, however, to verify that the remote search service on the historical archives have been introduced by the Municipality. The Municipalities of Alessandria and Pontecurone have transferred their historical archives to the State Archives of Alessandria, which you have to ask for any kind of search. It has to be reminded however that the historical Archives of Pontecurone does not preserve the parish acts from 1838 to 1865: consenquently in the State Archives of Alessandria you can find only the registers from 1838 to 1865 regarding the Municipality of Alessandria (see FAQ 2).

Civil Registry Offices/Demographic Services of Municipalities. The Italian Civil Registry was founded in 1866 and Italian Municipalities are in charge of it. The offices which you have to contact in order to receive the multilingual forms, which can be useful for the citizenship request, are not the historical municipal archives, but the Civil Registry Offices (also called “Demographic Services”). It is possible to contact single offices by using the following directory:

PDF directory

 

7.Who should I ask for the civil registry documentation produced before 1804?

Births, marriages and deaths were recorded only by parsons: parish registers were therefore the only civil registry available. For any information on parish archives see FAQ 6.

 

8.Who should I ask for the civil registry documentation of the period from 1804 to 1814 (Napoleonic age)?

In this period parsons went on drawing up parish registers. The first secular civil registry in Europe, however, the Napoleonic one, was added to the registry of the catholic Church as well: birth, marriage and death acts were drawn up by single Municipalities; a double original version of the registers was annually transferred to the territorially competent Court at that time.

The archives that can be consulted for the Napoleonic age are then: parish archives; municipal archives (historical archives/separate archive sections) and the State Archives of Alessandria (where the consultation of the civil registry in the District of Marengo, belonging to the fonds of the Civil and Criminal Court of Alessandria, is available, see FAQ 2).

For any information on parish and municipal archives see FAQ 6.

 

9.Who should I ask for the civil registry documentation of the period from 1815 to 1837?

Birth, marriage and death registers are available in parishes. The Diocese of Acqui Terme preserves two original versions of the acts drawn up by parishes from 1807 on.

For any information on parish archives see FAQ 6.

 

10.Who should I ask for the civil registry documentation of the period from 1838 to 1865?

In the reign of Sardinia, which Alessandria belonged to, from 1838 to 1865 parsons had to deliver the original versions of birth, marriage and death registers to Municipalities (Rules for keeping registers with the function of ascertaining civil registry were attached to the “letters patent” on 20th June 1837) and to Dioceses, together with the duty of preserving a copy of each register in the parish. 

Three versions of the original document can be consulted then in parishes, Dioceses and Municipalities. For any information see FAQ 6.

 

11.Who should I ask for the civil registry documentation of the period from 1866 until today?

The Italian Civil Registry was founded on 1st January 1866 and Municipalities have it in charge (R. D., Royal Decree of 15th November 1865, n. 2602). Birth, marriage and death acts are drawn up and preserved by civil registry offices/demographic services of single Municipalities, which you have to ask for any certificates.

From 1866 to 2001 a second original version of the registers was transferred by Municipalities to the territorially competent Court, together with the attached documents and the annual and decennial indexes.  State Archives receive the pourings of the historical documentation of Courts and then they take charge of the civil registry documentation as well.

The Courts in the province of Alessandria have not been able to pour all these records into the State Archives of Alessandria yet because of space lack: in the future we think we will be able to receive it in the new seat, which at the moment is being restored, of the Institute. Till that time for this kind of search you have to ask Courts directly (and the single Municipalities that have drawnp up the acts as well).

Online, at this link https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/itasticivilreg/

copies of the civil registers in the provinces of Alessandria and Asti are available from 1866 to 1938 just by paying, they belong to the Civil and Criminal Court of Monferrato.

Please note. Starting from 1st April 2001 the second original version of the municipal civil registers and the corresponding documentation have to be transferred to the territorially competent Prefecture (D. P. R., Decree of the Republic President, 3rd November 2000, n. 369).

In parallel to the Italian Civil Registry, the drawing up of the registers, which was attended over the centuries by parsons, whose acts are to be found in parishes and Dioceses, continues. For any information see FAQ 6. Due to the reduction of the request for religious rites, however, these registrations do not entirely represent the population of today any more, differently from what happened untill the late twentieth century – exept for the followers of other religions.

 

12.Where can I find military documentation: “liste di leva” (recruitment lists) and “ruoli matricolari” (first identification documents about the soldier with essential information such as birth place and date, parents, previous job, first roll number and possible change of roll number or district)?

“Liste di leva” and “ruoli matricolari” can be consulted in Municipalities where people were born or in State Archives.

The State Archives of Alessandria preserve the “liste di leva” of the sorroundings in the province of Alessandria, starting from around the beginning of the nineteenth century (from 1830 for Casale Monferrato, from 1799 for Tortona, from 1792 for Alessandria and for Acqui Terme, from 1817 for Novi Ligure), going on to 1950. It must be specified that the archival fonds are not complete and that different files, which are preserved in very badly conditions and are waiting to be restored, cannot be consulted at the moment.

The preserved “ruoli militari” date back to the time from 1840 (not for all the Districts) to 1950. “Fogli caratteristici” (personal files connected with the “ruolo matricolare” but with more details about the military life of the soldier) are available from 1905 to 1950.

“Liste di leva” and “ruoli matricolari” can be useful if the birth place of the ancestor on which you are doing your search is unknown: recruitment registers, in particular, allow to check almost all the Municipalities of the province. This wide search based on years, without knowing the Municipalities, has to be done in the reading room, personally or with the help of a delegate: the service for remote search of the State Archives of Alessandria, in fact, cannot take charge of any requests lacking precise information (birth year and birth place).

If users cannot attend the reading room directly but need a wide search on “ruoli matrcolari”, they can ask qualified experts for it; in case you need any reference, the regional list, published on the website of the Soprintendenza archivistica e bibliografica del Piemonte e della Valle d'Aosta  is available.

 

13.Who should I ask for the “ruoli matricolari” drawn up after 1950?

In order to get copies of the “ruoli matricolari” drawn up after 1950 you have to ask the Documentary Office (Ufficio Documentale) in Turin (cme_piemonte@esercito.difesa.it) and, for the ones from 1975 on, the Documentary Office in Genova (cme_liguria@esercito.difesa.it).

 

14.What can I do if I do not know the birth place of my ancestor?

It can happen that an ancestor, who was migrated abroad, did not precisely report the birth place on the naval transport registers or to the authorities of the foreign nation. For example it is possible that the birth place had been declared to be generically in Italy or in Piedmont; sometimes the definition “Alessandria” does not mean the Municipality but the territory of the province. The problem of identifying the place becomes harder because of the extent of the province, which consists of little less than 190 municipalities.

What is to be done in order to find out the exact birth place?

A first useful tool is the website Cognomix, which is an interactive map representing the surnames widespread at present. Since actually the population is not all included and since it is not a scientific tool, this website represents an approximate search means, but however it can give a starting idea and has revealed to be useful to different users in order to trace the origins of their own ancestors.

You can begin to contact the Municipalities, the parishes and the Dioceses then where the surname is widespread at present, according to the periods given in FAQs 7-11.

If father and mother are well known, we give you the advice to cross the information about the diffusion of the surnames of both parents in order to increase the chance of getting some results in your search.

Another solution is the search on “liste di leva” and on “ruoli militari” preserved in the State Archives of Alessandria. This kind of search, however, has to be done in the reading room if the birth place is unknown, since it will be necessary to consult several registers of the different military districts of the province.

The service for remote search of the State Archives of Alessandria cannot take charge of a search which does not give any precise information for finding the documents (name and surname, birth year, birth place, etc).

If users cannot attend  the reading room directly but need a wide search on “ruoli matricolari”, they can ask qualified experts for it; in case you need any reference, the regional list published on the website of the Soprintendenza archivistica e bibliografica del Piemonte e della Valle d'Aosta is available.