There has been much speculation and anticipation about the new ‘Antenati’ site and what records it will contain. The State Archives in Italy house many historical documents including civil records, military records and notarial records which are the records of most interest to Family Tree researchers.

The digitzation of records at the Italian State Archives is being done exclusively by Family Search.  The records they digitize are available on their website only to their members and to others at their Family History Centres.  Family Search is digitizing only records that will aid their members in completing their family tree.  Therefore they are not digitizing notarial records and rarely military records.

Only ‘stato civile’ documents held by the State Archives and digitized by Family Search will be uploaded.

Family Search’s copies are locked for the general public and only available to members or at their Family History Centres or affiliated libraries due to the contractual arrangements with the Italian Government.

Records digitized by Family Search at the Tribunal offices or the Comune offices are not subject to this agreement and these you will find on-line and unlocked at www.familysearch.org.

The  Antenati site is owned and operated by the Italian Government’s ‘beneculturali’ division.  The State Archives hold copies of records created for civil use from 1809 (or thereabouts) until 1865.

After 1865/1870 2^nd copies for all Italian Comunes were sent to the Tribunal for conservation.

Certain Tribunals have now transferred their copies to the State Archives for the period 1870 and up to 1940.  These records will be included in the antenati site.  They are also available at the Family Search History Centres.

Other Tribunals have permitted Family Search to digitize the records they hold that are NOT being transferred to the State Archives.  These records will be available on-line and unlocked at the Family Search website.

Example 1    Settefrati, Frosinone.

Go to the catalog and search for Settefrati, Frosinone.  There are 3 items available.

First item: Italia, Frosinone, Settefrati. Stato civile : Comune, 1861-1929

Settefrati (Frosinone). Ufficio dello stato civile; Settefrati (Frosinone). Ufficio dello stato civile

Click on the first item and you will be taken straight to Family Search’s website and allowed to search the unlocked records because  they were digitized on site at the Comune office in Settefrati and are not subject to the contract that Family Search has with the Beneculturali.   These records will NOT be uploaded to the Antenati site.

The second item: Italy, Frosinone, Settefrati, civil registration (Comune) = Italia, Frosinone, Settefrati, stato civile (Comune), 1866-1929  is the same thing just missing 1861-1865 and searchable at the Family Search site. These records will NOT be uploaded to the Antenati site either because they were also digitized at the Comune offices.

The third item Registri dello stato civile di Settefrati (Frosinone), 1813-1865

The ‘notes’ section tells you that they are microfilms of the original records at the State Archives. These records are locked, and only available to members or at the Family History Library.  WHY? These records are the ones held at the State Archives and subject to the contract with Beneculturali.  These records*** have been uploaded to the Antenati site in the section Archivio di Stato di Caserta.

***There are a number of ‘missing’ years in the 1813-1865 books held at the State Archives.  It’s unfortunate that the Comune did not provide these missing books to Family Search when they were digitizing the other records.  If you need them, angelresearch can get those records for you!

Example 2       ROME.

You will need to scroll down the list and find ‘CIVIL REGISTRATION’ which are the only records that have been, or will be, uploaded to the antenati site.

Registri dello stato civile di Roma (Roma), 1810-1814, 1871-1930 Author:	Roma (Roma). Ufficio dello stato civile; Archivio di Stato di Roma; Tribunale di Roma

Even though Family Search indicates that the Napoleonic records for 1810-1814 are digitized these are still not uploaded to the antenati site.  On the website, in the section ‘Il territorio e le fonti’ we read that the upload for the Archivio di Stato di Roma is only partially complete so these records (1810-1814) are coming!

Be patient!  There are times when the antenati site is unbearably slow and if you get a page that indicates the site is ‘off line’.  This usually means there is an overload of users.  Come back later or use the Family History Centre site.

And remember……if you find the whole thing just too confusing or frustrating angelresearch has its experts ready and waiting to help.

My next post will cover the uploads from the State Archives in Frosinone.  To be sure you don’t miss it, click on ‘follow me’ and you’ll be notified when a new post is published.