Ticino Canton, Switzerland Genealogy

Guide to Ticino canton ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

History
The lands of the canton of Ticino were the last lands to be conquered by the Swiss Confederation. Between 1798 and 1803, during the Helvetic Republic, two cantons were created. They were Bellinzona and Lugano but in 1803 the two were unified to form the canton of Ticino that joined the Swiss Confederation as a full member in the same year. During the Napoleonic Wars, many Ticinesi men served in Swiss military units allied with the French. Until 1878 the three largest cities, Bellinzona, Lugano and Locarno, alternated as capital of the canton but in 1878, Bellinzona became the only and permanent capital. The 1870–1891 period saw a surge of political turbulence in Ticino, and the authorities needed the assistance of the federal government to restore order several times. The current cantonal constitution dates from 1997. The previous constitution, heavily modified, was codified in 1830, nearly 20 years before the constitution of the Swiss Confederation. Ticino is an Italian speaking canton.