Did you know genealogists owe a great debt of gratitude to Napoleon Bonaparte? As the French Emperor conquered Western Europe, his ideas of civil law spread as well. Napoleon placed the civil government officially in charge of recording births, marriages, and deaths in France in 1792. Nations he conquered were the next to . . .
follow suit.
The following are the first 10 European nations to establish civil registration systems for recording births, marriages, and deaths are listed by the year they began:
Much of the Source information came from Nathan W. Murphy, "The Global Civil Registration Timeline," Price & Associates' website.
The following are the first 10 European nations to establish civil registration systems for recording births, marriages, and deaths are listed by the year they began:
- 1792 – France
- 1796 – Belgium
- 1796 – Luxemburg
- 1798 – Switzerland
- 1804 – Italy
- 1808 – Poland
- 1811 – Netherlands
- 1812 – Slovenia
- 1837 – England
- 1837 – Wales
Much of the Source information came from Nathan W. Murphy, "The Global Civil Registration Timeline," Price & Associates' website.