Bignasco Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Bignasco 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
Bignasco is a village in the district of Vallemaggia, in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland, consolidated into the adjacent municipality of Cevio in 2006. Bignasco is located at the junction of the river Maggia and the Bavona, near the Italian border.

History
The first mention of Bignasco was in 1230 as Bugnascho.

In the fall of 2006, Cavergno and Bignasco were consolidated into Cevio municipality.

The population history of Bignasco is: 1669 - 103 households 1801 - 215 inhabitants 1850 - 202 inhabitants 1900 - 179 inhabitants 1920 - 143 inhabitants 1950 - 186 inhabitants 2000 - 306 inhabitants 2005 - 298 inhabitants

In the 14th century, Bignasco, Cavergno, Menzonio and Brontallo formed a single cooperative, but each village remained independent. In 1483, the parish Bignasco broke away from Cevio. In 1781 Bignasco was given the right to hold annual markets. In 1786, Bignasco and Cavergno separated. The parish church dedicated to Archangel Michael (already built in the 15th century) has been refurbished several times. In the 19th century, Bignasco was only somewhat affected by the mass emigration, although in the 18th century there was a constant stream of emigrants, mainly to Italy and Holland.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Bignasco can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Bignasco 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)