Naples Passenger Lists and Passport Records for Italian Emigrants
Naples was one of the capitals of the great Italian emigration between the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. This role was officially recognized by Law No. 23 of January 31, 1901, which established that the embarkation of emigrants should only take place in the ports of Genoa, Naples (Napoli), and Palermo.
Records of immigrants in archives of the Banco di Napoli
We also explain in another post that the Banco di Napoli was responsible for managing the savings that Italians sent to their families, and that we can consult some details of these files online. Currently, it is possible to consult a list of the files generated with these shipments.
Records generated when requesting a passport
In order to emigrate legally, Italy required its citizens to obtain passports; it is still possible, in some cases, to access lists of passports granted or documents related to the application and obtaining of such passports.
For the issuance of the passport, valid for three years, the nulla osta was required, issued by the Mayor of the municipality, which contains the personal data, address, and profession of the emigrant, and the destination of the trip. A police report was also required.
The records from the Questura contain the documents required as part of the passport application. The Questura is the headquarters of the internal police that controls passports in each Italian province and is authorized to destroy any documentation over ten years old. However, in some State Archives, it is still possible to find some trace of documents of this type generated during the era of the great Italian emigration. So far, this type of document has been identified in the State Archives of Naples and the State Archives of Turin.
Records of passengers departing from the Port of Napoli
Next, we will see that records of the departures of immigrants from the Port of Napoli can be consulted today.
Database “Passports and Emigration” of the State Archive of Naples
This archive has put online the database “Passports and Emigration,” a subset of the general archive of the Police Headquarters of Naples (Questura di Napoli). This database contains a series of listings, each listing provides the name of the immigrant and the file number. Each file contains the documents produced as part of the passport application. These documents include information about the individual applying for the passport and about the accompanying persons. If we find data of interest, we can request a copy of that file from the archive.
The lists published by the Archivio di Stato di Napoli and the Ancestors Immigrants Project (PAI) are:
- Passports and Emigration (1888–1901) – contains more than 20,000 records. (On the Ancestors Immigrants website, you can consult a partial data extraction from this series, containing approximately 800 records.)
- Passports (1904–1909) – contains 19,393 records.
- Passports (1913–1917) – contains 14,814 records.
- Passports (1926–1932) – contains 58,733 records.
- Naples: Illegal Emigration – contains 3,300 records. (This is an index—data extraction—created by the Ancestors Immigrants Project from a list of individuals who were prohibited from emigrating, a collection that has not yet been published by the Archivio di Stato di Napoli.)
- Persons Prohibited from Emigrating – contains information about individuals who attempted to emigrate but were subject to legal complaints or administrative restrictions preventing them from leaving the country.
Information request
If you search these lists and find information of interest, you can ask for this information directly to the State of Napoli Archive, provided that our ancestor would have been immigrated between 1881 and 1901.
Note asking for information related with Passport Series at la Questura de Napoli
In this note we are asking to the State of Napoli Archive a research in the documental fund Questura de Napoli trying to see if there’s some information about our ancestor.
Instructions
1. Remember that records probably are from the short period 1888 -1901 (No information about another dates, still now)
2. Where you see “sono venuto”, use a final a when who is receiving the application or sending it is a woman (sono venuta), in caseof a male, use the final o (sono venuto). The same about grato/a (thankful).
3. RingranziandoLa (giving somebody our thankfulness), Sua and Le: When we address an authority, in formal Italian language, we use capital letters at the beginning of a word or a sentence as a way of respect to the authority.
Model of letter
Archivio di Stato di Napoli
Signora Direttrice Imma Ascione
Egregia Direttrice:
Mi chiamo…..(Name and Last Name)….. e vivo in … (Place of residence)… e sto facendo un studio sulla storia della mia famiglia.
Sono venuto/a a conoscenza che nella serie Passaporti del fondo Questura di Napoli vengono conservati le pratiche di richiesta di passaporto, con notizie relative agli emigrati, in procinto di imbarcarsi verso l’America.
Le sarei molto grato/a di farmi pervenire informazione di:
Cognome e nome del emigranti:………(ancestor’s name)…………..
Anno di partenza :……( approximate date of departure)……
Nell’attesa di una Sua risposta e ringranziandoLa in anticipo per la Sua cortese attenzione, Le porgo i miei distinti saluti.
Dati Personali:
(Name and Last Name, postal address and e-mail).
Translation
State of Napoli Archives
Director, Mrs. Irma Ascione
Distinguished Director:
My name is….. And I live in …. And I’m doing a research about my family’s origin.
I was informed that at the Series Passport of Fondo Questura of Napoli are conserved records of applications for passports, with data related to immigrants departing towards America.
I would be very thankful if you could send me information about:
Immigrant’s first and last name:
Year of departure:
Waiting for your answer and being very recognized by your courteous attention,
Yours Sincerely.
(Personal information).