Missing Years - Registri dello stato civile di Maierato (Catanzaro), 1809-1910
I have been doing a lot of research on ancestors in Maierato, Italy. There is very little indexed but I've been going through the records manually and I see that years 1863-1865 seem to missing from:
Nati, pubblicazioni, matrimoni, morti 1862-1876
Any way to know whether these are in another batch file? There's so little information on this area that I'd love to be able to find these years.
Answers
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The Film Notes indicate that some years are missing.
Civil registration (births, marriage documents, banns, marriages, deaths) for Maierato, Catanzaro, Italy. Text in Italian. Some years missing. Includes indices.2 -
Hi - the larger portion of Italian records are not indexed in the traditional sense, i.e. a hard index that you can query. You have to rely on the 'soft indexes' within the records themselves found at the end of each year for each record type.
The bulk of the records require opening reels full screen, clicking the thumbnails icon, and reviewing the images for what is in that particular film. Many of the films - just like the one you cited, are out of order and contain things not in the catalog listing.
So, by way of example, in the film 004861799, the first 1756 images are from the 1900's!
As you have found, there's 1862 BMD and then comes 1866. This is not uncommon that entire years could be missing - also, I have encountered instances where I'll open up another film, and there they are (just like the first 1756 images in that film). But, indeed, those years may simply be lost, destroyed or unfilmed.
Stick with the thumbnails and keep investigating the title pages that are obvious so you can gain a full understanding of what is really on the film - keep notes and image numbers for years, record type and URLs - this will save you tons of time. Try not to rely on the FS description as these films are a mess and often contain things you wouldn't expect.
Also, note that years prior to 1860 are available on the Antenati site, that is why you see the lock icon on the FS site.
I hope this helps you in your research.
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@SantaNinfa thank you for the information! I was curious why the earlier records were locked. Sadly it looks like birth and death records are missing for many years on the Antenati site.
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Yes, as is often the case, many records may be lost. Sad.
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As with anywhere, Italian records have some years that are missing. It could be that the books were missing when they were filmed, or the books were simply lost (wars, floods, other calamities, etc).
Most of the Italian registers have indexes (usually at the beginning or end of the book, but I have seen a few that were mid-way through the register); however, there are many that do not have the index (indice) and you simply have to scroll icon by icon to search them (generally, the very early 1800's do not have indexes, though some bigger cities do have the indexes for those years). Most of the time, if the image is not available in FamilySearch, it's not available on Antenati, though I have seen some instances where Antenati did have the image when it was not available through FamilySearch.
If you see a lock & key in FamilySearch, it means that you will have to go to a Family Search Center or Library in order to view the record; this is due to the contract provisions between FamilySearch and the presiding entities that own the records (villages, provinces, etc). Some of those entities allow their records to be displayed in the public domain; others require that the records only be viewed in the Family Search Library (the Family Search Centers are considered extensions of the Library and, thus, the films can be viewed in the Family Search Center).
Also, if you're using the Catalog to find the records (very helpful way to search), you will notice that the film number is displayed to the right of the description of what is in the films (just before the lock or lock & key). Pay particular attention to where the records are on that particular film. Most will not have any extra info; however, it is not uncommon to see an explanation of where the records are on that particular film (i.e. 3 thru 5). Often, a film will contain records from more than one town/village, thus you have to scroll through the film to find the village records for which you are searching. And, as mentioned above, sometimes, the FS descriptions are not correct; however, most of the time, the descriptions are correct and paying attention to the info provided in the catalog will save you a lot of frustration.
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One more thing … one of my Italian friends who does Genealogy professionally once pointed out that some of the records are kept in a couple of places; the community records and the state records. You might try to see if you can find the records in another larger town that supports the smaller villages; I've not have a lot of luck with that, but, on occasion, you get lucky. No promises, but a possibility …
Lorraine Sandeen
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@MelanieV - I'm at my Affiliate Library this afternoon, so I can access those locked records, should you need any help with those.
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