Hi,

I sent an e-mail to the Archivio di Stato di Massa regarding attempting to obtain the birth certificate of my ancestor LUIGI MAZZEI who was born in Chiozza, Castiglione di Garfagnana between 1808 and 1810. This is the reply I received.

"In merito alla richiesta in oggetto indicata,si comunica che i dati forniti
dalla S.V.sono insufficienti. Secondo precise direttive ministeriali "le
ricerche genealogiche possono essere accolte solo se l'individuazione della
documentazione può avvenire su precisa indicazione degli interessati".Nel
fondo "Stato Civile" conservato presso questo Istituto,sono compresi atti di nascita,matrimonio e morte di persone nate tra il 1852 ed il 1865.Per quanto riguarda i nati negli anni precedenti, possiamo soltanto indirizzare la S.V. alle Curie vescovili di Massa -Carrara e di Lucca, per avere l'elenco
completo delle parrocchie di tutti i comuni della provincia, e di quelle
della Garfagnana che all'epoca facevano parte della provincia di
Massa-Carrara ed attualmente sono in provincia di Lucca."


Can anybody explain if this means that they do not hold these records, or if I need to be more specific.

What should I do next, as I don't know the exact date of birth of Luigi?

Thanks,

Darin.

mazzie74 wrote:

Hi, I sent an e-mail to the Archivio di Stato di Massa regarding attempting to obtain the birth certificate of my ancestor LUIGI MAZZEI who was born in Chiozza, Castiglione di Garfagnana between 1808 and 1810. This is the reply I received. "In merito alla richiesta in oggetto indicata,si comunica che i dati forniti dalla S.V.sono insufficienti. Secondo precise direttive ministeriali "le ricerche genealogiche possono essere accolte solo se l'individuazione della documentazione può avvenire su precisa indicazione degli interessati".Nel fondo "Stato Civile" conservato presso questo Istituto,sono compresi atti di nascita,matrimonio e morte di persone nate tra il 1852 ed il 1865.Per quanto riguarda i nati negli anni precedenti, possiamo soltanto indirizzare la S.V. alle Curie vescovili di Massa -Carrara e di Lucca, per avere l'elenco completo delle parrocchie di tutti i comuni della provincia, e di quelle della Garfagnana che all'epoca facevano parte della provincia di Massa-Carrara ed attualmente sono in provincia di Lucca." Can anybody explain if this means that they do not hold these records, or if I need to be more specific. What should I do next, as I don't know the exact date of birth of Luigi? Thanks, Darin.

This is what they have written to you. As far as what you should do now, I'm sure one of the experienced researchers here will be able to advise you of what you need to do next!
Good Luck!

With regards to your request of the subjects indicated, we must advise that the data you provided was insufficient. According to precise ministerial directives "genealogical research can only be gathered on the specification of precise indication of the interested parties". In the 'Civil Status' stored in this Institute , there are included acts of birth, marriage and death of persons born between 1852 and 1865. As far as the births during preceding years , we can only direct you to the Curie vescovili di Massa-Carrara and Lucca (Bishops Curie) , to seek the complete list of the parishes of all the comunes of the province, and those of Garfagnana that at during that period was part of the province of Massa-Carrara but is actually now in the province of Lucca.

Hi,

Thank you very much for your help.

Can anybody advise me on the best course of action to take next?

Thanks,

Darin.

Hello,
I found the address of the parish where to request your ancestor bapt record or certificate.
The record is written in latin, the certificate is an abstract of the record.
I hope the real record is foundable and in good conditions since it is 200 years old
I suggest you to send a request to the priest via regular mail, add to your request a self addresses envelope plus italian stamp (or international reply coupon) and maybe you can give a little offer of $ 5. So the priest is not going to spend any money from his pocket and also will be glad to help you maybe for the offer you sent him.
Write in italian in order to have maybe both documents, record and certificate
This is the address where to write:

Reverendo padre
Parrocchia S. BARTOLOMEO APOSTOLO
55033 CHIOZZA (frazione di CASTIGLIONE DI GARFAGNANA)
( provincia di LUCCA)
ITALY

I hope it helps, bye Riccardo

Hi Riccardo,

Thank you very much for the advice.

I had found the address of that church a few weeks ago, along with the name of the parish priest who is assigned to it. I wasn't sure if it was the right church, but I sent a letter in the hope that it was.

I sent the letter addressed to the parish priest, but I did not send any money, or stamps/coupons. I did however ask how much the cost would be and I would send the money to him.

Have I done this the wrong way?

If I don't receive a reply, should I write again and send a donation?

The reason I did not send any money in advance is because I have wrote to other churches in the Lucca region, and sent money but still did not receive any replies.

Can you let me know what I should do?

Thanks,

Darin.

Dear Darin,
writing letters to priests is different than writing letters to civil record offices or archives in Italy.
Italian Civil record offices and archives must answer to requests coming from all over the world, and since there are tons of requests sometimes those governative offices need stamps and envelope from who is sending the request, because they can not afford all these expenses. So I usually call them before sending a request, to see what is the best way to send a request and I ask if they need any money, stamps or envelope.
Also the priests have tons of request from all over the world, sometimes they can not answer them all, sometimes they are sick, sometimes they are old, sometimes there are so many reasons they just don't answer.
The priest are not manager of a government offices, so maybe the also don't do it because they don't have to!
So, as you can see there is not rule with them, unfortunately they are a "brick in the wall"!
I also call them before sending any request to see what is the best way, but often they complain because the records are too old, they have not time, one priest told me once "I'm not a registrar!!!" or they also complain in general.
The requests for genealogy and italian citizenship are driving civil record offices, archives, and churches CRAZY!!!
So I just give you the suggestion to write to a priest including a self addressed envelope+stamp for the reply to you, and also some money as a offer, and.....let's cross fingers , good luck!!!
I hope I was clear
bye Riccardo