Italian' s in England

[wimk]

Hi i am writing a book about the Italian Communities in England, in particular the Bedford and Birmingham Communities, any stories or Pictures or any Information would be very much appreciated.  All information or Pictures i receive will be kept private to me and only used in the book, the sender will be thanked in  the preface to the book Thank you, Franco.

[sheronb]

Hello Wimk.

My great grandfather came to Birmingham in 1895, he was born in sora,Frosinone. This sounds very interesting, you may have read another book, called "Bella Brum" written by Doreen Hopwood?

I would love to know more on this project of yours.

[wimk]

Hi Sheronb i have read Bella Brum, i am in contact with the authors  Doreen Hopwood and Margaret Dilloway. the book i am writing is more about working life, housing conditions and crime in the Italian communities, plus the affect of ww2 on Italians living in Bedford, Birmingham. I have completed the draft of the Bedford part of the book and am now starting the Birmingham side, which will be time consuming and a lot more difficult, because The Birmingham Italian's were more secretive and Families were all inter- married, and many did not take up the option of British Citizenship mainly because of the cost, but also it suited them to be "invisible" to the authorities! So official records say 2 or 300 Italians in the city in the early 1920s, when the actual number is probably closer to a 1,000. A lot of so called historian's will say a thousand Italian's in Birmingham is rubbish, but another reason for this book is to finally put some kind of true figures on the Italian Population!

[sheronb]

Hi Wimk.

My great grandfather never became a British citizen, I have found his Alien reg card from WW1, this was with the help of Dave Cross, from the West Midland Police muesum, I am also in touch with a guy, whose Italian great grandfather shot someone!! on abt 1905!!I can put you in touch with him, if you like! I am also very interested in how they lived, worked etc.... My great grandfather married a British lady of Irish decent, and had 16 children!! They lived in Barthlomew St/Fox St....my family didn't inter-marry though with any other Italian familes though.They were good friends with Martin Ciangretto (sp?) who had a demolition buisness in birmingham. I would love to find out more abt their lives.

[GreySquirrel]

Have you contacted the Anglo-Italian FHS? They have some excellent resources online at http://www.anglo-italianfhs.org.uk

[scottcharles]

Are you looking for a particular era of immigrants?
What about post WW2 immigrants?

[kathfen]

Hi, would you be intersted in a copy of Early Italians in Newcastle upon Tyne 1800-1900 by Hugh Shanklin? It is about Italians in the registers of St Andrews Roman Catholic Church.

[slippery]

We are searching for my Wife’s Maggie gggrandfather named John Lando from Genoa, Italy and went to live in Biggar, Scotland in 1850 at the age of 14. We have recently been told by a lady from Co Durham whose maiden name was also Lando (no contact details) was that he came to the North of England with two other brothers and one headed north possibly my ancestor.

We know that another Italian family lived in Biggar before 1850.

Can anyone help us or have connections with the Lando family.

[CuriousDiana]

Hi

The Roman Catholic churches of Birmingham would surely be a good source of information.  The numbers of marriages and baptisms and the various Italian family names in their records would help your research. There were also Italian newspapers which could give a feel of community life.

there is an article by Sally Howard (you can google her name and find it) on Italian life in Birmingham, the back to back houses, etc.

Diana