How can I find my ancestors homes?

Do you need information about a certain town or village in Italy, or do you need help to find it on a map?
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Genetick
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How can I find my ancestors homes?

Post by Genetick »

Hi all

I see a number of topics /posts referring to numbered locations within a hamlet or village and wondered how would I go about finding where these locations are /were.

An example of one such entry is:

Birth Record of LUIGI ANDREONI in Vorno in 1875
Record #667
Dated 15 May 1875 at 1:50 PM at the town office.
Before the official appeared Cesare Andreoni (printer?), age 59, residing in Vorno to declare that at 11 AM on the 11th of the current month at the place in Vorno #82, to Chiara Gabriello, wife of Onesto the son of Cesare Andreoni, cabman, both residing in this place, was born a male child who was presented to the official and to whom was given the name LUIGI.



I am aware that the original house at "Vorno #82" may no longer exist, but I like to track ancestors life travels and where they lived (Ancestral Atlas) and being able to pinpoint a location can make a huge difference particularly when buildings, roads and boundaries can change.

The National Library of Scotland is a great repository for accessing maps of Scotland (and some for England) online and I wondered if anyone can point me to an equivalent or alternative source that holds archive maps of Italy. Particularly helpful if they are fairly large scale.

As always any help offered will be gratefully accepted

Regards
GT
Researching - Andreoni, Moscardini, Pelosi and Renucci
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adelfio
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Re: How can I find my ancestors homes?

Post by adelfio »

I would check via Vorno 82 on google map

Marty
Researching Trabia, Palermo surnames Adelfio, Bondi, Butera, Scardino,Rinella, Scardamaglia

Marty
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Genetick
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Re: How can I find my ancestors homes?

Post by Genetick »

Hi Marty

Thanks for suggestion. I had thought Google might have been one avenue to explore, they used to have some good apps in beta development under their Google Labs site but stopped working on their "Timeline" app and the maps overlays on Georeferencer apps are restricted by availability of archived map tiles. Even for Scottish tiles there is a lack of larger scale tiles so a search area is very limited and my understand of Ordnance Survey maps is that specific feature were introduced at different stages in the maps development e.g. house numbers didn't appear on OS maps until 1947, 100 years or so after the first maps were released. I have no idea of the history of map development in Italy, hence the request.

My understanding of the currently Google Maps is that the information on it is very modern (2009 onwards) and update on a rolling basis. I have tried the "Internet Archive" and "Waybackmachine" but neither have that data captured.

If anything I might expect a national organisation in Italy to provide this service such as the State Archives or Library Services or even specific Universities. Any advice in locating that type of source (organisation, University or company) would be great.

Cheers
GT
Researching - Andreoni, Moscardini, Pelosi and Renucci
erudita74
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Re: How can I find my ancestors homes?

Post by erudita74 »

I looked at the record you had posted and it states" located in Vorno #82." Vorno is the name of the frazione or hamlet and is not a street name. There is no street name, as such, given in the record. Since Vorno was a hamlet, possibly the homes were dispersed throughout the area and there weren't streets as we know them and the homes were simply given numbers. I don't think you will ever find it on a map, google or otherwise.
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Genetick
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Re: How can I find my ancestors homes?

Post by Genetick »

Hi Erudita74

Yes that is my understanding too. I guess the lack of any real structure, layout or street names of a hamlet or village will be a very limiting factor. I would like to think that even with a map circa 1870 I may be able to simply count the number of buildings and have an improved idea of area in which to search.

Thanks for the comments

GT
Researching - Andreoni, Moscardini, Pelosi and Renucci
erudita74
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Re: How can I find my ancestors homes?

Post by erudita74 »

GT
You might try sending an email to the town of Caponnari in which you write:

Ho trovato un atto di nascita per un antenato dall'anno 1875 che legge: "nella casa posta in Vorno al numero 82." C'e` una mappa che mostra questa localizzione?

To find an email address, look on the official website of the town of Caponnari. There are many different email addresses there, but I can't find the one specifically for the anagrafe or registry office or the stato civile. Anyway, I'm sure someone there will take the time to reply to your email, as usually when I email a town office about a street name in a record, I normally get a reply.

Here's the link to the town's website:

http://www.comune.capannori.lu.it/node/73

Let me know if you get a reply.

Erudita
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johnnyonthespot
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Re: How can I find my ancestors homes?

Post by johnnyonthespot »

In the US, local libraries are often a good source for this type of information; You might want to give that a try.

Possibly your best source of info would be one of the Andreoni's currently residing in the area. See http://www.paginebianche.it/ricerca?qs= ... i&dv=vorno Consider writing a letter in English and then (if necessary) paying a professional translator to create an Italian version and then mail it off to each of the five persons listed. International postage is expensive in Italy and not everyone has email; you may want to include a self-addressed envelope and a few euros with each letter in order to maximize your chances of getting a reply.

[edit]

This is probably a long-shot, but still possible: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Strad ... ffa6db83f2
Carmine

My hobby is finding things. Having found most of my own, I am happy to help others find theirs. PM me! :)
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Genetick
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Re: How can I find my ancestors homes?

Post by Genetick »

Erudita /Carmine
Thanks to you both for the replies and your suggestions, I will have a go at each and see what results I get.

GT
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Re: How can I find my ancestors homes?

Post by erudita74 »

Genetick wrote:Erudita /Carmine
Thanks to you both for the replies and your suggestions, I will have a go at each and see what results I get.

GT
You're very welcome. Be sure to keep us posted on the outcome.
Erudita
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