Ciao! I'm completely new to Italian genealogy

[brokenhillman]

I'm a total newcomer to Italian genealogy but I've done some research on UK records. I was wondering whether there are any online databases of Italian civil records...maybe something like FreeBMD for England/Wales records? I've had a look on Familysearch.org but the records seem to be (as far as I can see) a bit sparse for my names of interest (mainly Paganin, Bertarini & Viglienghi in the Veneto & Lake Como regions). Thanks very much in advance!

[Gallo1975]

I have never had luck with familysearch.org to be honest..although I may be in the minority as far as that goes. I can't even upload my own tree to that site for some reason or contact people on that site that I think have things I need and vice versa.

My big sites are ancestry.com (message boards by surname are great as well as databases like draft registration, death index, and the like) and ellisisland.org- great for manifests.

Also, if you are a memeber of www.genesreunited.co.uk, you'd be amazed at how many Italians you can find.

One thing to keep in mind as well..don't swear your life's blood by the current spelling of the surnames. So many variations of the same name due to things getting lost in translation and messy handwriting.

[Emmy]

Hi brokenhillman Welcome to the Forum.

I have found a lot of information about my Italian ancestors using LDS (family.org) but it doesn't bring up records of births etc like the free B.D. and Marr. records available in UK.
You need to know the town your ancestors came from in Italy then you have to order the 'films' from LDS (it doesnt cost a lot to hire the films) if they are available for the area you require. Then you need to find out where your nearest Family History centre is located because you need to go there to view the films/records they are all in Italian but there are many kind people here who will help you if you get into difficulty
If you give me the name of the town/comune they came from in Italy and the approx dates of birth etc I'll check if films are available for that area and post the links for you.
Emmy

[Emmy]

This is the link to find your nearest FHC


http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/default.asp
If you scroll down to the bottom and fill in your address it will show you where your nearest Family History Centre is.

There are various films available for Veneto I'll post the link on a separate post.
Emmy

[Emmy]

This link shows various links to Veneto if you choose one and click on it it will bring up a new screen then go to the top right hand corner of this new screen and click on 'view film notes' this will bring up a list of the films available for that area. Each entry states whether its for births(Nati) deaths(morti) or marriage and the dates available. Each film has a number that you would use if you want to order it from the FHC.

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library ... ord=Veneto

Hope this helps
Emmy