Marriage in Fosano, Piedmont Italy

[steve62]

Hi Steve,
Thank you for your e-mail and all the extra details.  I have replied.
So for our Forum  Members:-
As The Beni Culturali do not have a note of the marriage I have written directly to Fossano and also posed the question - Is it possible the marriage took place only in Church and was never registered with the Authorities.
Have also written to Lodi to obtain the Birth certificate of Annibale Vistarini.

Steve

[steve62]

Hi Steve,
Have just sent you an e-mail and for our Forum members here is an update.
The Comune di Fossano do not have the records as they start from 1866.  Suggested I write to the "Curia Vescovile" ( Diocesan Administration) in Fossano.  Have written to them now and see what transpires.
There is a possibility they married only in Church and thats why the records are not available through the normal channels.
Still waiting to hear from Lodi.

Steve

[steve62]

Hi Steve,
Sent you an e-mail and herenis annupdate for our forum members.
Just got a reply and they do not have any records amd they searched five before and after the year.
So thats about everybody checked.  State Archives, Fossano Town and the Docese.  I am thinking maybe they married somewhere else or was it they were never married amd said they were.
Not sure now where to look.

Steve

[jorose]

That's unfortunate, Steve.  All the same, I'd just like to say thank you for going above and beyond on this and other threads in this forum.

[nethercs]

Many thanks Steve for all your efforts.  Italy is a mystery to me, although some years ago I spent a month holidaying in Tuscany and really enjoyed it.

Could they have married somewhere else?  Yes it is possible.  Most references to the marriage on their children’s birth certificates just say “Italy” for the place of marriage.  One goes further to say “Piedmont, Italy” (Vistarini EHL 1855 BC.pdf).  It was assumed by family that this was referring to the region of Piedmont of which Fossano is a town.  (Fossano being Anna’s place of birth according to her Australian records.) But perhaps we should have read it as the marriage occurring in the town of Piedmont.   

Not sure how big a haystack Piedmont (the town) was in the 1850s, but as a regional centre it might not be a small town.

As I think I said before, whether they married in Italy or not is the mystery.  They claimed to have married on their children’s birth certificates.  But after they split up Annibal acts as if they were married and Anna acts as it they weren’t.  Annibal had 10 children with his 2nd partner, but never married her (presumably to not be a bigamist). Anna married in a Catholic church and claimed never to have been married although she had 4 living children.  On another occasion Anna claimed on a legal document that the father of her children was dead (which was not true.)  On the balance of probabilities I think that they married in Italy, but I don’t have the evidence.

Regards
Steve,
Melbourne, Australia

[steve62]

Hi Steve,
Just sent you an e-mail.  For our forum members an update.
Piedmonte or Piemonte in italian is a region and not a town.
Had a think and have now written to the Archives regional office of Piemonte
(Direzione Regionale per i Beni Culturali del Piemonte) to see if they know anything or can throw some light on the subject.
By the way what does (Vistarini EHL. 1855 pdf) mean that you mentioned?

Steve

[nethercs]

"(Vistarini EHL 1855 BC.pdf)." was a note to myself.  It is the file name of the birth certificate I was referring to and only meant for me.  I meant to delete it from the outgoing message.
Regards
Steve
Melbourne, Australia

[steve62]

Hi Steve,
Just had a reply from the State Archives of Piemonte and not good news.:-

In referance to your request we comunicate that the State Archives do not conserve State documents relating to B.M.D.  These records up to 1865 can be found in the Historical Archives of the towns or Parrochial Registers.  From 1866 these documents can be found in the Register Offices of the various towns.  It is necerssary to know the exact location of the marriage of Annibale Vistarini.  As an example if he was married in Turin you would need to write to the Historical Archives of Turin or the Archives of the Archbishop of Turin.  The Archbishops records start from 1823. End of message.

As a matter of interest there are 8 Provinces in the Region of Piemonte making up a total of 1206 towns.  Which is the Province and or which is the town?
At this point I would say it is a needle in a haystack.
Anything I can do for you?

Steve

[nethercs]

Thanks Steve, you have been fantastic in your efforts.  Its sad that we didn't find the answer we want.  But even not finding the marriage is progress in a way.  We now know that the marriage wasn't in Fossano and we have an idea of the effort that would be required to make a complete search.  That haystack is too big and the possibility that there is no needle in the haystack is too significant to warrant taking the search further.
Many thanks for all your efforts.
Regards
Steve
PS: If you ever want some help with Australian or New Zealand research I can assist.