Hello Brian I have been following the thread of your request for information and I hope you don't mind my jumping in here. I managed to get a copy of my great-grandfather's birth certificate recently. It took me six months in all, so you have to be patient! I only knew he came from the Carrara area, but I didn't know which town and I only had an approximate year of birth. This was 1854, so you may have a little more difficulty. In the end, I wrote (in Italian) to every single comune separately and that's what paid off. I have put some links below which may help you and others. I have dozens more if needed. Good luck, Jane *Translation Letters to write: http://mangeruca.freeservers.com/letters.html Instant translation site: http://babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn Italian Zip Codes: http://www.nonsolocap.it/ Lombardy site: http://www.regione.lombardia.it/ Comunes of Italy site: http://www.comunesofitaly.org/ Italian White Pages Phone Numbers: http://www.paginebianche.it/pbol/home/index.html Archivio di Stato addresses and information: http://archivi.beniculturali.it/as/indice.html Maps: http://mappe.virgilio.it/mappe/index.html http://www.calle.com/world/italy/index.html The following is some information about Parish Records that you may find helpful. It was compiled by G. Alessandri and taken from the Comunes of Italy site. > Parish priests used to record the most important events in the spiritual > lives of the parish's members. From ancient times, parish priests used to > keep information about baptisms, marriages and deaths not only in the > parish documents but also in some books called "Soul's State". > > At first parish priests individually did that work but later it became an > official instruction of canon law. > > Since 1563 for the dispositions approved by the sessions 23-Cap.1 "De > Reform" - and 24 -Capp. 1 and 2 "De Reform"- of the Council of Trent, > every parish priest has to record events in parish books, in which there > are dates of birth, marriage and death. > After about three centuries from this official instruction, the Canonical > Codex Iuris of 1917 confirmed that it was compulsory for parishs to have > parish books with information about baptisms, marriages , deaths and the > "Soul's State". > > Thanks to this official instruction it is possible to find in parish > archives important documents for genealogical research, but only since the > second half of the XV century. Only some of these parish archives have > documents about the period before the XV century. > > At first there were no regulations for writing these documents. But since > the second half of the 1800s parish priests began to record events in > individual documents introducing new elements to make documents more > detailed. > > Another improvement in the canonical way of keeping archives was introduced > in 1917. > In fact since this date, because of the binding power of the canons > 470,777, 1103, 1107 of the Canonical Codex Iuris every parish had to > periodically deliver a copy of every parish book to its Curia. > So if you want to do genealogical research about the following period you > can find documents not only in parishs but also in the bishop's > archives of the competent Curia. > > As I have already said, information in genealogical documents are not very > regular, especially for the past. I'm going to explain to you what > kind of information you can find in the documents of different historical > periods. I will chronologically divide the genealogical information > recorded in documents, into three different historical periods. > > I° period: from the second half of the 1500s to the first half of the 1800s > > a) Certificate of Baptism: date of the baptism; name of the baptized; first > and last name of the father of the baptized; name of the mother of the > baptized > b) Certificate of Marriage: certificate of marriage or record of > marriagedate of the marriage; first and last name of the husband; name of > the wife's father (rarely); First and last name of the wife > c) Death Certificate: first and last name of the deceased; state of the > dead person (married or widower) (rarely); name of the possible spouse > (rarely); age of the dead person. > > II° period: from the first half of the 1800s to the first half of the 1900s > > a) Certificate of Baptism : date of presentation of the declaration; sex of > the newborn; date of birth; name, last name, profession and domicile of > the father; name, last name, profession and domicile of the mother; name > and last name of the priest to give the baptism; names imposed to the > baptized; names given to the baptized name, last name, profession and > domicile of the godfather; name, last name, profession and domicile of > the godmother. > b) Certificate of Marriage: date of celebration of the marriage; name, last > name and parish of residence of the husband; name of the father of the > husband; name, last name and parish of residence of the wife; name of the > father of the wife; name, last name, name of the father and parish of > residence of each of the two witness. > c) Death Certificate date of the funeral; name and last name of the dead > person; name of the father; name and last name of the mother; age of > the dead person; date of the death; place of tomb. > > III° period: from the first half of the 1900s to the present time. > > a) Certificate of Baptism date of presentation of the declaration; sex of > the newborn; date of birth; name, last name, place of birth and condition > of the father; name of the father of the father; name, last name, place of > birth and condition of the mother; name of the father of the mother; > place of residence of the parents; name and last name of the priest to give > the baptism; names given to the baptized; name, last name, name of > the father and domicile of the godfather; name, last name, name of the > father and domicile of the godmather > b) Certificate of Marriage: date of celebration of the marriage; name and > last name of the priest celebrant; name and last name of the husband; > age of the husband; profession of the husband; place and date of birth of > the husband; place of residence of the husband; parish of residence > of the husband; name of the father of the husband; place of residence of > the father of the husband; name and last name of the mother of the > husband; place of residence of the mother of the husband: name and last > name of the wife; age of the wife; profession of the wife; place and > date of birth of the wife; place of residence of the wife; parish of > residence of the wife; name of the father of the wife; place of residence > of the father of the wife; name and last name of the mother of the wife; > place of residence of the mother of the wife; name and last name of the two > witness; names of the fathers of the two witness; age of the two witness; > place of residence of the two witness; > c) Death Certificate date of the funeral; name and last name of the dead > person; name of the father; name and last name of the mother; age of > the dead person; date of the death; place of tomb. > > > By G.Alessandri, Roma >