Born at Sea
If my ancestor was Born at Sea coming to America from Italy in the 1870s, What would their official nationality be? Where would it be recorded?
Answers
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The law of the sea and navigation says the ship is in effect part of the land of the nation it flies.
Consequently, the registration could have taken place on the ship's logbook. (which should have been handed over to the competent national authorities).
From here on, I would look in the records relating to the family once it arrives in the US
So for your research it might be important to follow the story of the ship that brought your ancestors to the USA
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The ship would record the birth with home port? Country? Where mother embarked in home country?
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The passengers' lists provide the place of embarkation, though not necessarily the town your ancestors lived (that would depend on the year the events happened and on the details provided by the documents). Also, several boats of different nations (Italy, France, U.K., Germany, Austria...) acted as vessels to tu U.S., so the fact that somebody embarked in Italy doesn't imply that the ship was italian. Have you already researched the passengers' lists?
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