State Archives of Firenze

IT-FI0573

Status of digitization activities

Complete

Civil registry

The State Archives in Florence hold the Civil Status of Tuscany fund containing the papers produced by the Civil Status Office in the period 1808-1865.
The archive contains both the series of extracts sent by the parish priests, the series of registers and directories useful for research, as well as the numerous accompanying papers useful for drawing up civil status documents. There is also documentation on the life of the Office and other tasks with which it was entrusted, such as the production of periodic statistics and the population census.
Some units are missing (175 pieces) or flooded (23 pieces). Specific indications on the number of missing pieces are given in the inventory notes and the individual series cards.
The papers follow a unique numbering system determined by a progressive “order number” which was assigned, for reasons of management simplicity, when the State Archives took charge of the Civil Status papers.
Unique string numbering for the whole fund: 1-12,548
The following series, the most significant and consulted of the Civil Status of Tuscany, are available on replacement microfilm and, therefore, cannot be requested in original:

  • Index of deeds by community for the period 1808-1814;
  • Alphabetical decennial indexes for the years 1808-1837;
  • General alphabetical indexes for the period 1818-1865;

The following series are available on microfilm or online at the Antenati portal:

  • Birth registrations for the years 1808-1865;
  • Records of marriages and deaths for the years 1808-1838.

Army census

The fund of the Florence Conscription Office contains documentation from the 1842 conscription class onwards (Conscription lists, Draught lists, Summary registers of Conscription Council decisions) and also includes material from the Conscription Offices. Pistoia, Rocca San Casciano and San Miniato, già circondari della provincia di Firenze, rispettivamente per le classi 1842-1879, 1842-1851 e 1842-1891.

With the reform of conscription offices and the establishment of a single office for the whole of Tuscany, the State Archives of Firenze began to receive conscription lists from all the provinces.

Since 1992, the documentation provided therefore concerns the entire male population subject to compulsory military service in the Tuscan provinces. The archives are organized as follows: Firenze conscription office (conscription lists from the class 1842 to 1945); Arezzo (draft lists from the class of 1921 to 1945); Grossetto (for the classes of 1921 to 1945); Livorno(for the classes between 1924 and 1945); Lucca (dalla classe 1924 al 1945); Massa Carrara (dalla classe 1924 al 1945); Pisa (dalla classe 1924 al 1945); Pistoia (classi 1842-1879, e dalla classe 1915 al 1945); Siena (dalla classe 1921 al 1945).

The conscription registers do not have directories and are on a municipal basis, which is why a search can only be carried out if you know the municipality of residence of the person sought.

The collection is described up to the class of 1939 in a summary inventory that can be consulted online on the Archive website.

Recruitment number and military draw number

The rolls of troop soldiers and non-commissioned officers from the former military districts of Arezzo (from the class of 1875 to 1940); Firenze (from the class of 1860 to 1945, with headings starting from the class of 1866); Pistoia (from the class of 1871 to 1935).

The registers, subdivided by conscription class and sorted according to the serial number assigned to each soldier at the time of enlistment, are accompanied by alphabetical headings that make it possible to identify the names. Due to their poor state of preservation, the rubrics are not directly accessible to scholars, so searches are carried out by the staff of the State Archives.

Other Sources In The Archive

The Papiani Ceramics Collection, Established over the course of many years by Enrico Ceramelli Papiani (1896-1976), this fund is kept in the Firenze State Archives and consists of almost 8000 files, in the name of Tuscan families of ancient origin, which provide genealogical and heraldic information taken from archival sources kept in the Florentine Archives or in other archival institutions or libraries in the region.

Based on the information on the coats of arms of Tuscan families described in the Collection, a database has been created and digital reproductions of images of noble arms have been associated with the card of the coats of arms. Searching the database is facilitated by a friendly search mask and a dictionary of heraldic terms with explanatory images. The database also provides information about theCollection and the person who set it up.

The matricular rolls of troop soldiers and non-commissioned officers from the former Military Districts of Arezzo (class 1875 to 1942); Firenze (class 1866 to 1945); Pistoia (class 1871 to 1935) have been published online.