Bosco/Gurin Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Bosco/Gurin 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, Bosco/Gurin has an area of 22.04 square kilometers (8.51 sq mi). Bosco is situated in the Vallemaggia district, and the highest municipality in Ticino at an elevation of 1,504 m (4,934 ft). The village is located near the end of the valley of Bosco Gurin, near the Italian border.

The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 3.1% - agricultural purposes
 * 27.9% - forested
 * 0.9% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 1.3% - rivers or lakes
 * 42.1% - unproductive land

History
The first mention of Bosco/Gurin was in 1244 as als Buscho de Quarinobis. Until 1934, it was known as Bosco-Vallemaggia, and in German as Gurin.

The area was briefly part of the Canton of Lugano, before the canton was unified with Bellinzona to form Ticino.

The population history of Bosco/Gurin is: 1597 - 300 inhabitants 1801 - 235 inhabitants 1850 - 382 inhabitants 1900 - 266 inhabitants 1950 - 188 inhabitants 1990 - 58 inhabitants 2000 - 71 inhabitants 2010 - 46 inhabitants 2020 - 52 inhabitants

As a Walser community, it is the only group in Italian Switzerland with a German language and culture. Currently, the inhabitants are bilingual. The German Population decrease is due to the migration of the younger generation to the cities.

Bosco/Gurin is the only municipality in Ticino where German is a co-official language. The village began during Walser migration in the 13th century, with the first settlers arriving in 1244. In 1244, they leased the surrounding alpine pastures from aristocratic families from Locarno and from the villagers from Losone; later the land became their property. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Walser colony lived almost in isolation. The rare interactions with the outside world took place more with the Val Formazza or the Valais. The geographic isolation reinforced the independent living habits and traditions of the village. The town was recurringly buried by avalanches. The parish church of St. James and St. Christopher was consecrated in 1253, probably at the same time that the village divided from the parish of Cevio. It was modified and rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries. The chapel of Madonna della Neve dates from the early 18th century.

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

The 1808 Ticino census for Bosco/Gurin can be accessed here.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Bosco/Gurin 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)