Region: Campania Province: Salerno
Tracing your Italian roots back to Bellosguardo, in Salerno province, Campania region?
This comprehensive guide empowers you to understand the records available in Bellosguardo, unlocking your family’s rich history.
Where to Begin Your Ancestry Journey in Bellosguardo
If your ancestral trail leads to Bellosguardo, Italy, their vital records are likely housed in two key locations:
- Bellosguardo City Hall Archives: Established in 1809, these archives hold civil registry records like births, marriages, and deaths for Bellosguardo residents since then.
- Bellosguardo Parish Churches: For records pre-dating 1809 or for religious ceremonies, exploring Bellosguardo’s parish church archives might be necessary.
Civil Records in Bellosguardo
In towns and villages of Campania and in Salerno province civil registry offices were established in 1809: it means that you could find your ancestors records in Bellosguardo Town Hall archives as of that date.
(If your goal is to get your Italian Citizenship and you need official certificates from Bellosguardo Municipality, follow this link).
So, if your ancestors lived in Bellosguardo during the past centuries, then you should start your family research from the City Office of Bellosguardo to know more: our local expert is ready to help you in your research!
With his deep knowledge of people and local history he will assist you not only finding names and dates (births, marriages, deaths) but he will reveal to you many other precious information on the life of your ancestors available in the old registers.
- Professions: do you know what your ancestors did for a living? Our genealogist will be able to give you this info!
- Addresses: the house where your family lived (a great information if you intend to visit Bellosguardo !)
- Churches: where they were baptized or married
- Signatures: if your ancestors knew how to write, he will be able to show you their original signatures.
(If you can’t visit Bellosguardo, our researcher will give you the necessary info to find by yourself the relevant places on the maps available online)
Next picture shows the demographic trends in Bellosguardo from the Italian Unification (1861).
This is a necessary info to understand how many people lived in the town in the past.
To go on quickly in your research is important to know if the last name you are investigating is a frequent surname in Bellosguardo. As more your surname is common, as more it could be difficult to find the right branch of your ancestors family in Bellosguardo archives, expecially if you have not exact dates (there could be cases of homonymy).
It’s useful for you to know that some of the most common surnames in Salerno province are:
Alfano, Amato, Annunziata, Apicella, Bruno, Califano, Caputo, Cirillo, Coppola, Cuomo, D’Amato, D’Ambrosio, D’Angelo, De Luca, De Martino, De Rosa, Esposito, Ferraioli, Ferrara, Gallo, Giordano, Greco, Grimaldi, Iannone, Lamberti, Landi, Manzo, Marino, Napoli, Pagano, Palumbo, Pellegrino, Pepe, Rinaldi, Rizzo, Romano, Ruggiero, Russo, Santoro, Senatore, Sessa, Sica, Sorrentino, Tortora, Trotta, Vitale, Vitolo, Volpe.
Church Records in Bellosguardo
Church archives in Salerno province may store even older information. You will find religious records of the same events (births, marriages and deaths) but, most important, you could go further back in time!
So in case you would like to go back in centuries, it’s good for you to know that the parish registers in Campania started during 1500!
Parish archives are far less accessible expecially from abroad and very hard to read and decipher if you are not used and skilled.
But our local genealogists, are graduated in history and archivistics so, with their expertise, they can research the church registers of Bellosguardo on your behalf to gather info about your family history during centuries.
In case you want to visit churches, these are the addresses of parishes active today in Bellosguardo:
S. MICHELE ARCANGELO – P.zza XX Settembre
For our experience, if you plan to come here to visit Bellosguardo, we always suggest to start the research months before the arrival.
This because a comprehensive genealogy research is time consuming!
Starting from home, you will have time to get a complete research avoiding to waste your holidays in the offices or in the churches dealing with italian bureaucracy .
(Remember that archives are not open to public and officers and priests are not required by law to give you access to the local archives)
With the results gathered by our genealogist and translated in your language before your arrival, you will have the possibility to plan carefully your visit.
In this way you will have more free time to enjoy your tour to the roots on your ancestors footsteps.
Another important source of information are the notary documents available to expert researchers in the State Archives of Salerno.
If you need a professional help from our local genealogist in Bellosguardo area , write to bellosguardo@italianside.com or fill the form here.
Our expert will study your request and will reply to you with a plan and a quote for your family research.
If you think to contact the town hall by yourself, we suggest you to read our tips for your search. They are useful advices to search in Campania and of course in Bellosguardo too.
Here below you can read the messages received from other visitors in Bellosguardo forum:
if you only want to discuss with other people interested in genealogy in Bellosguardo feel free to leave a message below.
I have a dilemna. My grandmother was born in 1889. I found a marriage for her parents in 1905 (civil registry). Handwritten on the bottom of this marriage document was written that there were three children born prior to this marriage, my grandmother was one of them as you can see by the date I gave for her birth. Also on this document my grandmother’s last name was that of her mother. The second born had a surname given to him and the last born had the surname of the groom. However from what Italian I could translate it appears that the groom admitted he was the father of the three. I think.
What I want to ask is if this couple may have been married by the church first prior to this marriage in 1905 and that marriage was not registered with the town. They were from Bellosquardo Italy and my grandmother from what I could translate from all the written stuff was born in Aquara Italy.
Please respone by email Thank you
In regards to Joan above (who happens to be myself)
I had a thought and wrote to St. Michale’s church in Bellosguardo My grandmother’s surname was not the surname of her mother it was a made up name given by the farmer’s wife who found her on her doorstep in a basket with some clothing in Aquara Italy. I have her birth and Baptismal information from that town.. I am not sure how much longer after her birth in Aquaro she was taken back to Bellosguardo. I thought St. Michele’s could help me find out that answer. Her parents didn’t recognize her as their own until their marriage in 1905 . My grandmother was born dec. 1889. Would St. Michele’s have records of a Confirmation so that I can get an idea of how old my grandmother was being raised in her parents hometown.
My great, great grandfather was Michele Pepe. He married Madelina Scarpa in 1866. My great grandmother, Emmanuele Antoninia Pepe was born in 1869. My great, great grandparents and great grandparents immigrated to New York in 1893. My great grandmother Emmanuele Antoninia Pepe married Joseph Cornetta in Italy — her dates are 1869-1917 — I’m hoping to get their birth/marriage certificates and find out more about my great, great grandparents. I have a cousin — (3rd or 4th Cousin —
Robert Ruocco — His grandmother was Arsenia Armedia Anne Pepe (Giovanni Ruocco)
Would like to find it I have any cousins in Bellosguardo?
My grandparents and father are from Bellosguardo. I understand the Capozzoli family was such of nine brothers and one sister. My grandfather was Raphael married to Maria Nicoella.
Other babes if family members there are Pepe, Papa and Budetta
All comments welcome
Hello Joe,
My grandparents were also from Bellosguardo. My grandfather was Rocco Pepe, born on March 26, 1892. He was one of 6 children. I believe his father’s name was Sylvestre Pepe. He married my grandmother, Ersilia Capozzoli, born on January 1 1896.I believe her parents were named Clemente and Conchetta Capozzoli. They emmigrated to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania somewhere around 1918.
Hi Peggy, I am just seeing your post from January. My great grandparents were Clemente and Concetta Capozzoli from Bellosguardo. My grandfather was Ersilia’s brother Pasquale. Is your mother Edith? I have a great deal of information about the family several generation back from Clemente. Please get in touch with me.
My grandfather’s name was Raffaele Antonio Tucci and he was born in Bellosguardo on 17 Jan 1887. His father’s name was Carmine Tucci and his mother’s name was Antonia Pepe. I would like to know if I have any family in Bellosguardo and also how I can get a copy of my grandfather’s birth certificate so I may apply for Italian citizenship.
Hi Desina: What a beautiful and unique name you have. You would have loved your grandfather. Cumpare Mariano is what I called him because he and Comare Ivy were godparents to my brother Tony. Let me start at the beginning. Your Grandfather Mariano was born in Bellosguardo Italy in 1890 and emigrated to Canada in 1912. He lived for awhile in Montreal with my uncle Cassio Pepe. Uncle Cassey moved to the USA, Bridgeville Penna while Cumpare moved to Toronto. He fathered Josephine, Frank, Mary, Joe, Dolores, and Theresa
If you are Theresa’s daughter, I met you years ago shortly after Theresa moved back to Toronto from New York. He was a great and good man and so was Comare Ivy.
Would love to hear from you.
I don’t know year of birth, but my grandfather was born in Bellosguardo before the turn of the 20th century. His name was Mariano Brunetti. I think three brothers came over to the US and Canada. Mariano ended up in Canada.
He is actually buried in Bellosguardo because he died while visiting (late ’50s, early ’60s). In Canada he married my grandmother, Ivy Togne.
As late as the mid-60s one of his sisters was still alive, and came overseas to visit.
I would love more information. When he died, an article was published about him and the work he did helping bring other people over (I think. It was in Italian, and I’ve only heard about it thirdhand, as it has since been lost).
My dream has long been to visit Bellosguardo, see the grave of the grandfather I never got to meet but know I would have loved.
my grandfathers name was Francesco Pepe. I know his brother died in ww1 and his name was Luigi. Francesco and Emilia Pepe ( nee Torre) had 4 children, 1 boy ( luigi) and 3 girls. I was named after Luigi ( my Mom was the youngest of the three girls).
My grandmother’s mother’s maiden name was Capo (Mariantionetta). Her parents were Michele Capo and Luigia Croce. Mariantionetta had a brother born July 1 1871 in Bellosguardo. I know that Mariantionetta was born prior to that because my grandmother Angelina was born Dec. 25th 1889. I think it was in 1867.
I would like to know if Mariantionetta had other sibblings because of the difference in birth years between her and her brother Ralph.
Joan says:
February 15, 2016 at 2:48 pm
My grandmother’s mother’s maiden name was Capo (Mariantionetta). Her parents were Michele Capo and Luigia Croce. Mariantionetta had a brother born July 1 1871 in Bellosguardo. I know that Mariantionetta was born prior to that because my grandmother Angelina was born Dec. 25th 1889. I think it was in 1867.
I would like to know if Mariantionetta had other sibblings because of the difference in birth years between her and her brother Ralph.
my grandfather was born in bellosguardo, salerno Italy. his name was carlo pepe. he was born December 17th, 1893. I would like to know his parents names and his siblings.