Gentilli Family from Trieste

[shylockfinger]

Hello,

I am looking for information in relation to the Gentilli family originally from Trieste.

Adolfo Ernesto Gentilli was my great great great grandfather who lived in Trieste. He had two sons, Eduardo and Carlo. Eduardo was born in 1863 (I believe he was born in Trieste but I am not certain) and married Adelaide Meyer (Ada Martha Meyer) in March 1888 in London, England. Eduardo and Adelaide moved to Alexandria and had a son also called Adolfo Ernesto Gentilli who was born in Alexandria in 1890.

Any information about the original Adolfo Ernesto Gentilli and his ancestors/descendants (other than Eduardo) would be greatly appreciated! If you can let me know how to investigate this further myself then I would also be very grateful.

[Obelix]

Hi Shylock.

There are a number of people by the name of Gentilli from San Daniele del Friuli which is not that far from Trieste.

Go to the Friuli in Prin website (google it) and enter the name Gentilli in the cognome box. There are a number of Gentilli there. They may or may not be related to you.

There was a well respected geographer in Western Australia by that name who originated from Friuli.

Good luck.

[shylockfinger]

Hi Obelix,

Many thanks for your quick response! San Daniele del Friuli does appear to have had a large number of Gentillis living there for some time and the tourist information office website has some interesting historical facts about them.

The Friuli in Prin website is also interesting, however I cannot yet find any mention of my ancestor Adolfo Ernesto Gentilli - do you have any suggestions on how/where I could continue my search?

Thank you very much for your help so far!

[Obelix]

Hi again Shylock.

I'm only an amateur with no particular expertise, and you may already be well ahead of me. Have you tried Jewish websites such as Jewishgen or Sephardicgen? They have sections relating to Italian Jewish ancestry and you may strike it lucky.

Also, you could send a proforma letter to those Gentilli currently in the Trieste or San Daniele phone book asking them to contact you if they had any ancestor of the name you are researching.

Or you could contact the Italian Consulate in Alexandria asking for your last known ancestors birth certificate which may contain his parent's particulars. Remember though that Trieste was not part of Italy before the last world war. I think it was part of the former Jugoslavia and before that probably part of the Austrian Hungarian Empire.

Looks like you have some work cut out for you!

Cheers.

[Obelix]

Eduardo's British marriage certificate might also contain his parent's particulars. It should be available from the registry if he married in London in 1888.

[Tessa78]

Hi again Shylock.

I'm only an amateur with no particular expertise, and you may already be well ahead of me. Have you tried Jewish websites such as Jewishgen or Sephardicgen? They have sections relating to Italian Jewish ancestry and you may strike it lucky.

Also, you could send a proforma letter to those Gentilli currently in the Trieste or San Daniele phone book asking them to contact you if they had any ancestor of the name you are researching.

Or you could contact the Italian Consulate in Alexandria asking for your last known ancestors birth certificate which may contain his parent's particulars. Remember though that Trieste was not part of Italy before the last world war. I think it was part of the former Jugoslavia and before that probably part of the Austrian Hungarian Empire.

Looks like you have some work cut out for you!

Cheers.

Italian Phone Book site... There are 7 listings for GENTILLI in Trieste
http://www.paginebianche.it/ricerca?qs= ... e+%28TS%29

Help with letters to potential relatives in Italian -
http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/pearlsofwi ... #relatives

T.

[suesbj]

Hi,

I am researching the history of a Rolls-Royce car which was delivered to a gentleman by the name of A E Gentilli of 62 Palace Gardens Terrace in London during June 1932.

Would this be Adolfo Ernesto Gentilli of your family?

I can send you photos of the car in it's present condition & if you had any that would be amazing.

I would really appreciate knowing something about him & his family as I always research the cars that we purchase.

Suesbj

[shylockfinger]

Hi Suesbj,

It most likely is Adolfo, I'm not aware of any other A E Gentilli's that were around in the UK at that time - I'd love to see photos of the car in its present condition If you can let me know anything else about the history of the car then I would be very grateful - I will see if I can find any photos of it, if so I will send them on to you

[suesbj]

Hi Shylockfinger

Thanks for your reply & I have posted below my snippets on the car. If you email me direct on sue@realcar.co.uk I will then be able to send you some more photos of the car which we sold a couple a months ago. WOuld be great if you have any more info that I could forward to the new custodian. Regards

Sue

Snippets: Furious Driving & Library Gifts
After the Olympia Show GMU17 was delivered to Adolfo Ernesto Gentilli, a bank employee, at his London home. Adolfo was of Italian descent, born in Alessandria in 1890, his brother Carlo served with the Italian infantry during WWI with the rank of Lieutenant. There is a record in The Motor Car Journal dated 1904 of an Alban Gentilli, a “mechanician” of only 18 years of age having been arrested & convicted for “furious driving & wilful misconduct”, he knocked down a bicyclist – is there a family connection?! By 1931 Adolfo had settled in London & in 1931 he was issued with his Naturalisation papers. An amusing & little know fact is that the Gentilli family town of San Daniele de Friuli is famous for its Duck Sausages! Joseph Gentilli (a cousin) emigrated to Australia in 1939 as a war refugee & joined the University of Western Australia, in due course he became a lecturer & later an author on the subject of climate change & geography. Between 1932 & 1953 GMU17 was registered by A E Gentilli at three London locations: Palace Gardens Terrace - built in the 1840s by Jeremiah Little; Phillimore Gardens constructed in 1862 by J D Davis, notable occupants were Sir Lancelot Sanderson MP & Col Hector MacKenzie rtd Bengal Staff Corps - in 1898 Col MacKenzie gifted his late father’s library (243vols) to the Inverness Free Library & lastly Harrowby Court, Seymour Place W1 – which had been the home of Colonel D. Lyell CMG, CBE, DSO, Legion d’Honour (France), Order of Aviz (Portugal) & the Croix de Guerre (Belgium). By 1953 GMU17 was with Dr. G. S Gilchrist in Ilford, the telephone exchange for the Ilford area at that time was called Valentine! Within 10 years GMU17 was with R. P. Thomas a Cabinet maker, the Thomas family left the UK in 1974 for the USA, GMU17 remained with the Thomas’ until 2010 when it was repatriated into the United Kingdom.

[shylockfinger]

Hi Sue,

There's lots of info there that I didn't know about - are you able to tell me where you found it? For example, are you certain that Joseph Gentilli is a cousin of Adolfo Ernesto Gentilli? They are probably related, but I have not been able to find any confirmation of this. I will have a think about any info that you do not have in that list and let you know

[suesbj]

Hi

Information was found just be researching in obscure lcoations & with it being such an unusual name. SOme of the info came from london gazette & from newspaper archives.

[Milward]

My daughter let me know about this . My grandfather was Adolfo Ernesto gentilli and he died in 1978. I am curious to know what you would like to know