When a death occurs outside the town of birth

If you were born in Naples, but died in Rome, Rome would have the original civil death record. A copy should be sent to Comune of Naples and recorded there in Parte II or III. A notation should also be made on the birth record of the date and place of the death.
If the funeral took place in Rome the record would be kept at the Parish church in Rome where the fueral mass took place. Family members would (may) notify their local priest.
Usually those notes you see in the margin of a birth record or baptism are made if a certificate is required for some reason (like a marriage) and they look up the original record and then make the note at that time. Even if you marry outside Italy, you might need a baptism or birth certificate in that country and the notation would be made just the same. Priests notify each other out of courtesy not because they must.
If a person died in another country, the Comune would be notified by the Consulate (if someone bothered to let them know an Italian national had died). The death would then be recorded in Parte 3 (usually) and may be in the record book several years after the death occurred. A notation should have been made on either their birth record or a personal record card or other register at the time (year) the death was recorded.

2 Responses to “When a death occurs outside the town of birth”
  1. Lesley K. Cafarelli says:

    Hi, Ann. I was interested to find this post because of an interesting situation in my husband’s family tree, and I could use your advice.

    My husband’s 4th great grandmother (Galgano) bore at least three children in Laurenzana (PZ) beginning about 1790 and a daughter in Ferrandina (MT) in 1802; both parents and three (possibly four) children moved to Ferrandina about that time.

    The mother then died in Grottole (MT) in October 1805. The date of death appears in the 1818 Ferrandina Atti di Matrimonio of two of her children, and the location of death (but not the date) appears in the list of attachments in her youngest daughter’s 1820 Ferrandina Atto di Matrimonio as follows: “Nell’atto di morte della madre della sposa avvenata in quel Comune di Grottole secondoche si (vi?) ravvisa dal documento fatto in quel Parroco li setto Agosto di questo madosimo anno, ed a noi esibito.” (I can’t find translations for a couple words–avvenata and madosimo–but think I’ve transcribed them correctly.) No processetti are available for these years, unfortunately.

    I have not found any evidence in the civil records for the location(s) of the mother’s birth and marriage, but I suspect that she was married in Laurenzana, where her husband was born. The Galgano surname occurs in both Laurenzana and Ferrandina, so she may have been born in either location or even elsewhere. It seems most likely that the family moved to Ferrandina at that time because her family was there, although there may have been a work opportunity for he husband, a shoemaker, or a marriage opportunity for an older daughter. But I’ve discovered similar westward migrations within Basilicata in another of my husband’s lines and have heard of others in the region around the same time, the turn of the century. (I wonder why. There’s an article by Angelo Labbate in a local publication about Accettura that mentions this migration.)

    I’m wondering if the death document that was sent from Grottole to Ferrandina would have additional information, such as a birth location, parents’ names, or witnesses. Do you know of any way to obtain a copy? Might it be in the allegati diversi on an FHL microfilm or obtainable from the comune? And do you have any advice on how to trace the Galgano mother’s birth and marriage information other than through church records? Thanks very much!


  2. Lesley K. Cafarelli says:

    In case you’re interested, here’s a link to the April 2010 article by Angelo Labbate on the 1753 catasto onciario for Accettura: http://www.parcogallipolicognato.it/public/web/documenti/frusc%C3%ACo_02.pdf. The migration reference is at the end of the paragraph in the right-hand column on page 8. Sadly, Mr. Labbate has since died.


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