Genealogical Resources in Sicily

 

Searchable Resources for

Records	Period	Place	Observations
Certificates  of: - Birth - Marriage - Death - Residency	1860-2000	Stato Civile and Anagrafe of the Town-hall  (Comune)	These documents report names and surnames of the persons, their dates of birth, the residency and eventually the names and the surnames of all the parents.
Acts of: - Birth - Marriage - Death	1820-1860	State Archive of the Province (Archivio di Stato).	These documents generally report names and surnames of the actors, their ages and the names and the surnames of all the parents of the actors. Volumes are stored at the Archives of State.
Census of properties		Archive of State of Palermo.	These cadasters date from late 1500s for some localities. They report the owners of real estates and other taxable assets with their ages
Acts of: - Baptism - Confirmation - Marriage - Death	(1570-1900)	Archives of the Parishes (Archivi parrocchiali).	The period differs from parish to parish. Occasionally the acts of the churches of the 16th century list families bearing Jewish surnames and baptismal names such as Isacco, Beniamino, Abramo, and Davide, formerly rare among Sicilian Christians. The access to these records is sometimes restricted.
Notarial Acts	16th -19th centuries	Provincial Archive of State	Before their forced departures, Jews often sold or closed out their goods. As a result some notarial (notary) archives store the notary's deeds of these Jewish fugitives, sometimes with very detailed documents. These collections are useful also for searching land transfers, dowries and wills.
Documents of the Inquisition	16th -18th centuries	Archive of State of Palermo (Archivio di Stato di Palermo)	After the Edict of expulsion (1493) most Jews ran away or converted, but many kept secret Jewish customs. The Inquisition begun to persecute these conversos (or neophiti: newly converted) with trials and stakes. Although the Inquisition nearly succeeded in erasing the existence of Sicilian Jews, it remains material for the careful researcher on genealogy.