A genealogical research is a study that aims in reconstructing various family links between members of one or more families through paper trail.
Italian documents useful for genealogical purposes are stored mainly in Civil Archives (State Archives, Historical Town Archives, Vital Records Offices) and in Ecclesiastical Archives (Diocesan Archives and church archives).
Documentation is mainly composed of:
Civil Records (births, marriages and deaths). Usually from 1866 to the present (the last 70 years are protected by privacy laws). They are found in State archives, historical town archives and Vital Records Offices (these last are not freely accessible);
Civil Records of the Borbonic Kingdom (births, marriages and deaths). Usually from 1820 to 1865 in State Archives;
Military Records (Enrollement lists, Service Record Books) usually from the first half of the nineteenth century up to the last 70 years in State Archives;
Notary Records Usually from the 16th to the 20th century in State Archives.
Documentation is mainly composed of church records in which parish priests recorded baptisms, confirmations, weddings and death of parishioners. Such registers begin to be mandatory after the Council of Trent (1563) in the oldest parishes, as soon as the priest got the notice or as soon as a new parish church was erected. In some cases, for the will of the parish priest, some archives still hold books that begin before 1563. Records that are less than 70 years old are usually not accessible (privacy). They are kept by the parish priest in the church but some dioceses allow them to be deposited in the diocesan archive.
There is no fee for consultation but only in case of reproduction or document certification.
There is no fee for consultation for ecclesiastical archives but only in case of reproduction or document certification. In case the research is done directly in the parish archive, we usually leave an offer to the priest proportional to the time spent for the research.
It is extremely difficult to estimate the cost of a genealogical search because one has to consider several factors that affect, above all, on the time for gathering information:
- presence or absence of annual indexes in the records which in turn can be sorted by last name or first name;
- record writing that can be in Italian or Latin;
- state of the record keeping;
- availability of parish priest, office hours of diocesan archive;
- kind of genealogical research (direct kinship, collateral relatives, affinity);
- time frame set for the research;
- presence of fragmentary documentation (in some cases earthquakes, fires, floods, bombings and other disasters may have partially or completely damaged some archives);
- family migrations in a particular region or emigration to other countries;
- adoption cases, etc.
For the above reasons it is understood that each genealogical research is "unique". Request a Free Estimate.
The term "kinship" refers to the blood bond (biological link) between people who descend from each other or who have a common ancestor. The relationship can be of two types: "direct" and "indirect".
Direct kinship (or direct line) is the bond that unites people who are descended directly from each other such as: father-son, grandson, great-grandson, etc.
Indirect kinship (or collateral line) is when two people do not descend directly from each other, but they share a common ancestor, for example, siblings, uncles and nephews, and cousins.
Kinship is measured by degrees, excluding the person we are starting from one counts generations, which come before (ascendants) or that follow (descendants), and for each of them we count a degree. Another term used in kinship if affinity, which defines the link that is created in a wedding with the spouse's relatives: parents-in-law, brothers-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law. The difference here is that there is no blood relation.
Example 1 - Example 2 - Example 3 - Example 4
Example 1 - Example 2 - Example 3 - Example 4
In summary:
- Step 1: the Buyer will provide all information he/she has available of the ancestor on who research should be done or started from;
- Step 2: a feasibility study will be performed in order to determine the availability of records from archival sources;
- Step 3: the Buyer will receive a estimate and a research project plan;
- Step 4: if the Buyer accepts the estimate, a contract shall be drawn to be signed by the Buyer. Otherwise the project plan can be further discussed and a new one layed out, or the case be closed;
- Step 5: once documents from step 4 are obtained (together with a valid ID copy) and the initial deposit sent, the research is formally commissioned and will begin as scheduled.
At research conclusion customer will receive:
- “A Family Tree” in “gedcom” format;
- a report in english (complete with grafic scheme and pictures if any) view a sample report
- documents in the original language of Civil records (integral copies or extracts) and/or pictures of Ecclesiastical records.
Research results and all documentation will be sent in digital format through email or Cloud. A copy of the research will be stored in my database.
Depending on availability of sources, I will try to give for each member (except for relative by marriage) of the family tree:
- date and place of birth;
- date and place of marriage;
- date and place of death if easily available;
- living address if any;
- job if found.
The treatment of all personal data is based on the principles of fairness, legality and transparency, in order to protect your privacy and your rights. For more information, please refer to the Privacy & Cookie Policy.
The Genealogist's Code of Ethics, to which I fully adhere, expects that one upholds to the highest standards of accuracy, integrity, honesty and confidentiality.
I respect rules and regulation of places in which research is to be carried out, in particular, documents safeguarded in them will be handled with care, avoiding damage or removal from the original location, whether they are paper documents, microfilms or digital ones.
The information (documents, data, photos etc.) provided by the customer will be treated as strictly confidential (see Privacy Policy) and used solely for the purpose of research.
Research results (as well as information related to it) will be intended for personal use, therefore they will neither be disclosed or published without the permission of the customer.
I, Fabio Cardile will not be liable for improper use by the customer.
To abide by the contract and quote once accepted.
It is advisable to discuss this directly with me. If the dispute cannot be solved, however, the matter will be postponed to the jurisdiction of the Court of Catania.