Birth in Switzerland

[KPM]

Hi

Looking for the birth/parents of Bernard Sigrist (Siegrist) who was born c1811 in Brugg, Aargau, Switzerland.

He came to England around 1835 and remained there until his death in 1886.  I have details of marriage, census records etc.

I've not been able to trace any family outside of UK so any help would be very much appreciated.

Kind regards
KPM

[Svenja]

Hi KPM

The churchbooks of the canton Aargau are held in the State Archives of the canton Aargau (they are not online).

State Archives of the canton Aargau - Genealogical Researches
https://www.ag.ch/de/bks/kultur/archiv_bibliothek/staatsarchiv/benutzung_recherche/familienforschung_1/familienforschung.jsp

State Archives of the canton Aargau - churchbooks
https://www.ag.ch/de/bks/kultur/archiv_bibliothek/staatsarchiv/bestaende_sammlungen/kirchenbuecher/kirchenbuecher.jsp

There is also a Swiss Genealogy Forum, the Geneal-Forum, maybe someone already researched the surname Siegrist of Brugg or can help with the archives or knows some other sources.
https://www.geneal-forum.com/phpbb/phpBB3/

Regards
Svenja

[KPM]

Thank you for your help.

KPM

[pb_devon]

To add to Svenja’s helpful reply, there is a useful primer on researching Swiss genealogy here: http://kunden.eye.ch/swissgen/schweiz-en.html
The webpage is quite old, but the guide still is useful.
Plus familysearch has a section here: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Switzerland_Genealogy
Geneal-Forum are a very helpful group, and posting in English is not a problem.
Good luck!

[KPM]

Hi

Thank you also for your help and I will certainly look at all the resources suggested.

Regards
KPM

[Svenja]

Hi

http://kunden.eye.ch/swissgen/schweiz-en.html
The webpage is quite old, but the guide still is useful.

I'm Swiss and did a lot of researches in Switzerland, and so I can say that the most important Links are missing on this website.

There are no Links to the churchbooks which are now online in some cantons.
(But unfortunately the one's of the canton Aargau are not online.)
There are no Links to the other important documents which are online in some cantons.
There are no Links to the city directories, newspapers and periodicals which are also online.

I think familysearch only links to the churchbooks they have on their own database. But some cantons have their own website with the churchbooks or the Stammbücher or some other important documents online.

I know some other archives and websites (of genelogical or historical societies) of the canton Aargau, but neither for the Brugg area nor the time in question.

Regards
Svenja

[KPM]

Hi All

Thank you for your help.  Looks like this one is going to be quite a challenge!!

Regards
KPM

[pb_devon]

Hi KPM,
I’ve had a quick look at this.
Whilst he stated he was from Brugg, AG (the shorthand for Canton Aargau), his ‘citizenship’ is more likely to be a small community/village elsewhere. If you read the guides we mentioned, this will be explained, and it’s importance in genealogy research.
His Swiss surname will most likely be Siegrist, and to see the communities his family could have come from go to this site: https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/famn/index.php?lg=e and type Siegrist in the surname box, untick 1901-62, and a list of communities comes up.  I hope this won’t put you off, as it’s quite a lot!  None are Brugg before 1856.
When I started researching my own Swiss ancestry I plotted the community places for my surname on a map to see the spread, and doing this this might help to see how far from the town of Brugg each is.  This may, or may not, be relevant.
As Svenja suggested, registering and posting on the Geneal-Forum will be your best starting place. You might find someone with info, or willing to visit the Archives to look at the churchbooks.
As you have marriage details, I guess you have his father’s name which will help in any searches to narrow down your person.
One census says he was a British subject, so I found his naturalisation papers  in the National Archives at HO 1/32/1056 but this only confirms his Brugg birth.  Have you this?
Paul