Italian migration to Spain - surname BREGA

[Judith5]

Looking for general information on Italian migration to Spain in 1700s. Was this common?

Our family history (unproven) says that ancestor Ricardo Val Brega was exiled from Spain for political reasons, then went to Ireland. His son, Solomon Brega, was born in the US circa 1795.

I have found zero information on any Bregas in Spain, but of course found lots in Italy. The areas where the name is most common appear to be Ancona, Milano, Pavia, Piacenza, & Roma. Of course, this is in modern times, so the pattern may have been different 200+ years ago.

I see that Milano, Pavia, & Piacenza are relatively near each other. Would anyone know whether this region holds the origin of the surname? There is an ancient region of Ireland called the Kingdom of Brega, in the Meath/Dublin area. A linguist has told me that Brega has the sound of a "pan-Celtic" word, which means it would be found all over Europe. So I would also be interested in resources with information on Celtic-Italian connections. (I do know that there is a Celtic region of Spain.)

Any resources list members can point me toward would be appreciated!
Thanks so much for your time.

Judith

[PeterTimber]

Dear Judith a cursory examination discoloses that Brega is a Celtic surname emanating from Ireland as you poointed out but there were 3 brothers from Brega who joined a Roman Legion (presumably many more recruits heard about the good pay and easy money.....Iraq?) and around 350 AD many of these local recruits deserted and these 3 brothers went back to Brega and distinguished themselves on the fields of War there. In any event by 367 Rome sent in a General to straighten things out. Next we here of Brega in Libya, geographer and mapaker (there are many Brega named places in Libya to this day.

I could go further but obviously the Brega surname was Celtic and Celtic-Roman and it is not a stretch to imagine that when the Roman army was reconstituted in Britain in 367AD many of the recalcitrants were marched south to France and Spain to get rid of the troublemakers.

I am sure further research will fgerret out more information on the surname Brega. I would imagine that on this basis you could delimit your research to the confines of Spain and then concentrate from the Roman period onward.=Peter=

[Judith5]

Wow, Peter, thanks for the quick reply!
I'd appreciate it if you could cite your sources so that I may try to find a copy & read the reference.
Thanks for your time.

Judith

[PeterTimber]

Dear Judith I skimmed thru a nimber ofreference material in google under the title of Roman Family Surname Brega and I came across several references that seemed congruent to the thesis concerning the surname Brega and its romanization. There is one reference whose URL is so long I would have grown a beard but itson page of the google reference above.

FROM IRELAND COMING; Irish art from the early christians to the google books result...BREGA then had complex connections with the other side of the Irish Sea even during the Roman period wqwhen Ireland was on the fringes of the Roman Empire..... This will open up a discussion ina book.

The other reference is http://www.McmahonsofMonaghan.org/colla ... ation.html from the history of this connection and the 3 brothers who joined the Roman Army from Brega. I do hope this come up for you but it too can be located in the goole.com listing.

Hope this can set you on the tright path for your enjoyable reading. =Peter=

[WilliamHMoore]

Hello Judith

It is possible that we are related. My great great grandfather, William Henry Moore, was born in Dublin, Ireland, and emigrated to Canada, settling in Peterborough, Ontario, in 1798. His sister, Anna Francis Moore, married a Solomon Brega. They had three children: Thomazine Catherine Brega [Thomazine was the name of Anna’s mother]; Frank Brook Brega (b. April 29, 1836), and Charles Wilson Brega, (b. June 1, 1840).

Thomazine Catherine Brega married a Donald Federick Campbell on Aug. 26, 1852 in Hamilton, Ontario, and they had a son, Donald Frederick Campbell b. July 31, 1854.

In Feb. 1896 William Henry Moore, the son of the William Henry Moore above, mentions in a letter that he was visiting his cousin Charlie Brega in Chicago. Other than this reference, our family has no record of the Brega’s. Do you have any information that can confirm our relationship and what happened to Solomon Brega and his descendants?

I have compiled a history of the Moore family that goes back to the 1700’s in Ireland. If you have any further “connectingâ€

[Judith5]

William -

I found your reply to my earlier posting only last week. I apologize that it took me so long to return to this forum. My spare time for genealogy seems to run in fits & spurts, and I have just now been able to devote a little more time to it.

I tried to email you at the address at the bottom of your message. They did not bounce back, so I am assuming that my messages went through. Since I have not heard back from you, I was thinking that you are probably someone who does not check his email every day, so I am hoping to contact you through this forum.

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my original posting on this forum. I am certain that we are related.

Solomon Brega was a printer/publisher in Ontario. We knew that his wife's name was Ann(a) Frances Moore, and I have a note from another cousin asserting that Anna's father was somehow connected with a newspaper or other publication in Dublin.

We had been under the impression, though, that Thomazine (I think we had it as Thomasina***) was from Solomon's first marriage, to a Rebecca Woodbury. I knew that she (Thomasina) had married a Campbell, but hadn't gotten any farther in pursuing that line, or in finding details on the Woodbury marriage. I believe I recall that Solomon must have been a very young father - only about 18 when he married Rebecca. (***Thomazine "sounds" more Italian to me than Thomasina, too, so it was interesting to see your spelling.) Of course, if Anna Moore's mother was Thomazine, that puts another question mark into the whole equation! Thomazine does not sound like an Irish name to me --- was Anna's mother Irish?

I believe that we originally found the Brega-Woodbury marriage listed on Ancestry.com, as was Solomon's service in the War of 1812.

My father was Logan Brandon Brega. His father was Everitte Brandon Brega. Grampa Brandon's father was Richard Everitte Birdsall Brega. Richard's father was Frank Brooke Brega, one of Solomon's two sons.

I have information on Uncle Charlie in Chicago & some of what became of other Brega descendants, much of it from the good offices & generosity of Lee Brega, who is another descendant of Solomon's. He made a trip to Ontario a couple of years ago, and very kindly sent me a number of items which I would be glad to share with you.

I did send some info to your email address on one Brega descendant, Louise Brega, who acted on Broadway under the name of Hope Latham in the early 20th century. A lot of what I have isn't online, but I would be glad to make copies & send them if you want to send me your street address. You may send it to: celticblues5@hotmail.com
This is also the address from which I sent you previous emails. I'm hoping that your program didn't think they were spam. I did send you a couple of links to online sources --- if you didn't receive these, let me know & I'll re-send them.

I would be ecstatic to see your info on Anne's family. If you could even just share her parents' names & dates, that would give me a great starting point. There were so many Moores who came to Canada that I wasn't even sure where to start.

Thanks again for the post. Please contact me at your earliest convenience. I apologize again for not getting back to this forum in a more timely manner.

Judith Brega McMahon

[Judith5]

William -

I just realized that a cousin had posted Anna's parents' names on Ancestry.com - William John Moore, born c. 1780, and Charlotte Augusta Purdon, born c. 1775. The source is not listed. I will contact her to ask, but the fact that she does not give Anna's mother as Thomazine makes me wonder.........................

Judith