Dear Doug, > ---------- > Von: DHILBS@aol.com[SMTP:DHILBS@aol.com] > Gesendet: Montag, 24. Januar 2000 05:08 > An: SWITZERLAND-L@rootsweb.com > Betreff: [SWITZ] civil records > > I have traced the Hilby/Hilbi name back to 1649 using the FHL filmed > records. > These were from the town of Mels, district of Sargans, canton of St > Gallen. > Would the civil records of this district be at the Rathaus at Sargans? > No - they would be at Zivilstandsamt Gemeindeverwaltung 8887 Mels SG > I would like to find the date and year that my ancestor family emigrated > from > Switzerland. Were these folks required to register at the Rathaus and > apply > for emigration? The dates I am interested in fall between 1845 and 1860. > If your ancestors emigrated between 1845 and 1860, i.e. before the civil registry system was set up in 1876, they will likely not have any data on them. To emigrate they likely have applied for a passport : this information would be kept at Staatsarchiv - if (in St.Gallen) these documents wouldn't have been thrown out in the 1920ies :-((. > I would also like to confirm the dates I have extracted from the Mels > films. > Would I then be subject to the new rules of the Swiss Civil Registration? > For data from civil registry offices the civil registry ordinance applies. You could still approach Zivilstandsamt, and enquire whether they can identify your ancestors in their register (or other documents) : for this you don't need permission - only in case of a positive answer you'd have to apply for permission to actually get the data. > I visited the web site of the Zivilurkunden 1337-1845 but my German is not > > good enough to understand the information. Are there sites that I could > visit and that I could understand where to search for the above > information? > > Thanks > > Doug Hilby > Good luck with your further research - Wolf