Hi All
Just been directed to this fascinating thread by JJ (thanks, JJ).
As well as the well-known Italian communities in Holborn and Ancoats, there was a smaller 'Little Italy' in Hull from the 1880s. It was situated in a compact area of tightly-packed terraces and courts known ironically as the 'West End' (it was a far cry from the more famous West End in London). These streets were home to many of the Hull poor as well as Irish and Italian immigrants.
My RISI ancestors came to the UK in early1880s from Cassino and were employed in the usual combination of ice-cream sellers/street musicians. My great grandfather Lorenzo Antonio RISI first turned up in Glasgow in 1881, then in Leeds (1882), before settling in the 'West End' (Hull). He later had workshops in North Street, Hull, in the heart of the Little Italy district, where he made ice cream and repaired and hired out street pianos with his son pasquale Antonio. Pasquale later became a publican, managing the
Royal Oak on Spencer St under the anglicised name of Tony RICE, where he employed my grandfather Vincenzo as barman.
Another ice cream manufacturer in the West End of Hull was that of George Pontone based at 58 Spencer Street, Hull. Trade directories of the early 1900s listed several Italian ice-cream businesses in the ‘West End’ area, including Laurence Rice (Risi), Frank Penna, Alfred Bacci, Charles Corodino, George Pontone and George Ladolcetta, all listed as ice-cream makers.
Lorenzo and his wife Geltruda (nee FUSCO) moved to Leeds/Bradford and then to Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1900s; they died in Newcastle in 1927/1919.
As I've posted on another thread
Italy:Immigrants to UK - RISI family there is still a RISI ice-cream business making and selling ice cream in the city.
Paul
