Other genealogy sources

Tribunali

A page on the courts active in Umbria during the relevant periods. All courts held copies of civil records. This page will map their jurisdictions and survival of documentation.

Brefotrofi

Archival holdings related to brefotrofi (foundling homes) are generally very poorly organized. It is difficult to say whether they contain material of genealogical value. For now, this is little more than a list of brefotrofi attested to have existed.

Congregazioni di carità were municipal boards, created in 1860–1862 after the annexation of Umbria to Italy. They took over the management of opere pie (charitable institutions) from church authorities, and managed local welfare until their suppression in 1937. (SIUSA ref 1, SIUSA ref 2)

Città di Castello

• Congregazione di carità di Città di Castello

  • Part of its holdings concern “the foundling home called ‘Circolo di Città di Castello’.”
  • ⚠️ “Not ordered nor inventoried.”

• Opera pia Brefotrofio di Città di Castello

  • Holdings: 30 archival units (1886–1937).
  • Includes the register with the final deliberations of the Congregazione di carità and several registers concerning the Opera pia Brefotrofio.

Orvieto

• Congregazione di carità di Orvieto

  • Genealogically relevant: Lists of children admitted to the Foundling Home, beginning in 1835.
  • Foundling Home mandates (8 envelopes; 1877–1910). (SAN record)

• Serie registri matricole (Orvieto)

  • Complete series of registers of children admitted (registri matricole) (1835–1960).
  • Preserved at the Archivio di Stato di Terni, Sezione di Orvieto.

• Ospedale di Santa Maria della Stella, Orvieto

  • Registers of abandoned children (fanciulli esposti) and wet-nurse arrangements (baliatici) of the Foundling Home (1772–1910).

Narni

• Istituto assistenza infanzia Beata Lucia di Narni

  • assistance activity (440 archival units; 1738–1980)
  • maternal ward (53 archival units; 1929–1980)
  • conservatory for unmarried women (19 archival units; 1750–1969)
  • hospital of the Santissima Trinità of Narni (4 archival units; 1733–1824)

Gubbio

• Brefotrofio di Gubbio

  • Holdings: 172 archival units (date range not specified).
  • The fonds is now part of the archive of the Congregazione di carità di Gubbio. (SAN record)

Assisi

• Brefotrofio di Assisi

  • Holdings: 11 archival units (1876–1916).
  • The fonds is now part of the archive of the Congregazione di carità di Assisi.

Perugia

• Brefotrofio di Perugia (Congregazione di Carità)

  • Holdings: 403 archival units (1867–1938).

• Brefotrofio di Perugia (series)

  • Holdings: 284 envelopes and 119 registers (1867–1938).
  • Presumably the same institution as above, described in greater detail by the State Archives of Perugia.

Spoleto

• Congregazione di carità di Spoleto

  • Administered local opere pie, including the Brefotrofio di San Carlo.
  • ⚠️ No archival holdings currently listed; other sources suggest material may be preserved at the Spoleto section of the Archivio di Stato di Perugia.

Todi

• Brefotrofio di Todi

  • ⚠️ Surviving archival holdings are not separately inventoried; they form part of the larger fonds of the Istituti riuniti di beneficenza di Todi.

Newspapers

In Umbria, newspapers are generally of limited genealogical use compared to other countries. Italian local papers rarely published detailed obituaries, birth, or marriage notices, and coverage of ordinary individuals is sparse.

Another major limiting factor is literacy: according to the 1871 census, only about one in five adults in Umbria could read at that time. This severely restricted both readership and the incentive for newspapers to print personal notices.

That said, newspapers can still provide useful context — such as reports on local events, accidents, or legal matters — and occasionally mention individuals by name.

Several Umbrian newspapers have been digitized and are accessible through this website:

• Emeroteca Digitale Italiana.

Map resources

For genealogical research, geographical context is often as valuable as names and dates. Knowing where an ancestor lived — not just the comune but the specific frazione or hamlet — can guide searches in the archives.

A particularly useful tool in this respect is the Umbria WebGIS - Carta Tecnica Regionale e Cartografia Storica. Although it does not map parish boundaries, it does provide the locations of frazioni, which are often cited in records but can otherwise be difficult to identify on modern maps. The platform also offers a detailed 1:5,000 raster map and aerial photography dating from the 1950s.

For the municipalities bordering Lake Trasimeno, another valuable resource is the Catasto storico digitale. Here, both the Tiroli–Chiesa and Gregorian cadastral maps have been digitized, allowing researchers to see detailed property divisions and land use in the 18th and 19th centuries.