Pedrinate Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Pedrinate Parish, Ticino, Switzerland, ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, parish census, civil census, family history, area history, and military records.



Geography
As of 1997, Chiasso has an area of 5.33 square kilometers (2.06 sq mi). The municipality is located in the Mendrisio district, on the Italian border. The municipality of Chiasso consists of the villages of Boffalora, Pedrinate, and Seseglio. Since Pedrinate merged into Chiasso in 1976, it has been the most southerly municipality in Switzerland.

In 2007, the three mayors of Chiasso, Vacallo and Morbio Inferiore decided to bring together their areas into one commune. The new united commune with a population of ~15,300 people over a territory of 9.2 km2 (3.6 sq mi), was refused by the population in November 2007.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 30.6% - agricultural purposes
 * 49.7% - forested
 * 36.4% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 0.4% - rivers or lakes
 * 0.8% - unproductive land

History
The first mention of Pedrinate was in 1291 as Pedrenate.

The population history of Pedrinate is: 1685 - 160 inhabitants 1801 - 197 inhabitants 1850 - 276 inhabitants 1900 - 436 inhabitants 1950 - 493 inhabitants 1970 - 458 inhabitants

Pedrinate, whose age is indicated by Roman finds near the village church. It was mentioned in 1335 as part of the village cooperative of Seseglio. The village church of San Stefano is first mentioned in 1545 and was part of the Pieve of Balerna until the 17th century.

Politically the following municipalities were part of the Pieve of Balerna:
 * Balerna
 * Boffalora
 * Castel San Pietro
 * Chiasso
 * Coldrerio
 * Novazzano
 * Pedrinate
 * Seseglio
 * Vacallo
 * Valle di Muggio
 * Villa

Census
(See here for information regarding Ticino census records.)

The 1808 Ticino census for Pedrinate can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Pedrinate prior to 1875, along with any known soprannomi. For more information about soprannomi, click here.

Related sources
The town's website (in Italian) can be found here.

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Ticino

Societies
Società Genealogica della Svizzera Italiana (SGSI)