Merani family from Genoa (Genova)

[veeeyepee]

My ancestor 'Giacomo Merani' also spelt 'Jacomo Merani,' fled as a stowaway from Genoa, Italy, during late 1871.
He came to settle in liverpool, England where he married Mary Winter.

I am researching my family tree for my grandparents who are really intrigued to find out more about our Italian ancestors, but I am new to this and I have no idea where to look to find Italian records.

Can anybody help me discover more about my family history? Giacomo is said to have had a large family, and it would be a great honor to trace them back as far as possible.

Can anybody help me out or give me hints? Thank you in advance.
Sarah

[vj]

Hi Sarah
and welcome to the forum!
Italian records are kept at the local comune level,
so you’ll need Giacomo’s exact place of birth.
Have you written away for his marriage or death
certificates in England?
They might contain his birth location.
(note: Genoa is both a town and the name of a
province in the Liguria region in Italy)
Valarie

Marriage Index
Name: Giacomo Merani
Year of Registration: 1871
Quarter of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec
District: Liverpool (1837-1934)
County: Lancashire
Volume: 8b
Page: 449

Death Index
Name: Giacomo Merani
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1835
Year of Registration: 1910
Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun
Age at Death: 75
District: Liverpool (1837-1934)
County: Lancashire
Volume: 8b
Page: 97

Writing away for British records:
From ancestry.com:

Since the original birth, marriage and death registers are not open to the
public, getting access to the information on one of these certificates is
done by first searching the national birth, marriage and death indexes,
that have been created by the GRO for this purpose.
The indexes for the three events are each divided into quarterly volumes,
with the names for each quarter listed alphabetically. Once an entry in
one of the indexes is found, you are then able to use that information to
order of copy of a death, marriage or birth certificate from the GRO/ONS.
The other information that can be obtained from the index includes:

Year
Record type (in this database this will always be "Death")
Quarter (March, June, September, and December)
District (each county in England and Wales was divided up into registration districts)
Volume
Page number
Note: Names were entered into the volume of the quarter in which
notification of the event was received, not necessarily the quarter in
which the event actually occurred.

British Records from about.com how to order

[vj]

In case you haven’t seen these,
Giacomo & family census records:

1901 census
Civil Parish: Everton
Ecclesiastical parish: St Polycarp
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England
Registration district: West Derby
Sub-registration district: North Everton
ED, institution, or vessel: 5
Household schedule number: 119

Household members:
24 Conway Street

Head Giacomo Morani (Merani) 66 (abt 1835) Genoa
- mariner, seas
- foreign subject
Wife Mary Morani 56 (abt 1845) Liverpool
Son John Morani 24 (abt 1877) Liverpool
- brass finisher
Daughter Margaret Morani 17 (abt 1884) Liverpool
- book sewer binder

Boarders (not sure if they are related to Giacomo‘s wife Mary):
Joseph Winter 20 (abt 1881) Liverpool
Isabella Winter 18 (abt 1883) Liverpool
Thomas Winter 13 (abt 1888) Liverpool
---

1891 census
Street address: 61 Newsham
Civil Parish: Liverpool
Ecclesiastical parish: St Matthew
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England
Registration district: Liverpool
Sub-registration district: St Martin
ED, institution, or vessel: 7

Head John Merani
Age: 56 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1835
Where born: Genoa, Italy
Occupation: Mariner, seas

Wife Mary 46, abt 1845 Liverpool
Daughter Mary 17, abt 1874
Son John 14, abt 1877
Daughter Isabella 12, abt 1879
Daughter Margaret 8, abt 1883
---

1881 census
Street address: 7 CT 11 Hse Dryden St
Civil Parish: Liverpool
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England
Registration district: Liverpool
Sub-registration district: St Martin
ED, institution, or vessel: 8

Head John Merani
Age: 46 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1835
Where born: Italy
Occupation: Seaman

Wife Mary Merani 36, abt 1845
Daughter Mary Merani 7, 1874
Son John Merani 4, abt 1877
Daughter Isabella Merani 2, abt 1879

edit added 1901 census

[veeeyepee]

thank you both for helping me. this is great information.

how did you find those results? did you have to pay?
im only 16 and I'm doing this for my grandparents so are there any free sites that display this information? or how much is it to find it out?
i have no idea, but these results have certainly brightened my day. thank you ever so much.

sarah x

[veeeyepee]

p.s.
ED, institution, or vessel: 7

^ what does that mean?


x

[vj]

Hi Sarah
The information is from ancestry.com, it's a subscription site.
Free British Records on ancestry.com
1881 census
Birth Index
Marriage Index
Death Index

If you want to organize your family's information there is
free software at the FamilySearch site (called PAF).
One of the best sites for finding links to genealogy websites is
Cyndi's List
The ED # was apparently a way to organize the census information.
If you would like us to research further back (census) for Mary
Winter we would need her parent's names.
Valarie

[veeeyepee]

Mary Winter's father was a Tailor called Thomas Winter. Unfortunately, we only have a suspision that her mother's name was mary too and we do not know her maiden name.

I know that mary had two brothers and a sister. Isabella, Josh/Josia and Daniel (all Winter.) This is all the information we have on that family.

Giacomo's child Margaret Merani left Liverpool for new York via 'Celtic,' a ship heading to Ellis Island. WE have all that information, but it states that she was going to live with Eleanor Winter, a cousin, in Saratoga Springs. It seems to me that Eleanor is somehow part of the family too. But who's child, is the big question.

I don't even know where to start looking for american census details.

But thank you for helping me with your last post. I have sent off for the marriage certificate. Then if I need to, I'l lsend off for the death certificate too.

Thank you again.
Sarah

[vj]

Hey Sarah!
Thank you for the update .

I don't even know where to start looking for american census details

Your local library may have access to both ancestry.com
and HeritageQuest. HeritageQuest has census records up
to 1920. Some libraries offer home access to HQ with a
library card.
Valarie

[vj]

possible 1871 census
Civil Parish: Liverpool
Ecclesiastical parish: St Bartholomew
Town: Liverpool
County/Island: Lancashire Country: England
Street address: 33 Marybone
Registration district: Liverpool
Sub-registration district: Dale Street
ED, institution, or vessel: 14
Household schedule number: 146

Family members:
Head Josiah Minter (Winter) 19, abt 1852, Liverpool
- tailor
Sister Mary Minter 26, abt 1845, Liverpool
Sister Isabella Hargraves 27, abt 1844, Liverpool
(note: Hyland family at same address)
---

possible 1861 census
Civil Parish: Liverpool
Ecclesiastical parish: St Bartholomew
Town: Liverpool
County/Island: Lancashire Country: England
Street address: 33 Marybone
Registration district: Liverpool
Sub-registration district: Dale Street
ED, institution, or vessel: 14d
Household schedule number: 125

Family members:
Head Thos Winter 51, abt 1810, Liverpool
- tailor
Wife Isabella Winter 52, abt 1809, Liverpool
Son Daniel Winter 21, abt 1840, Liverpool
- engineer
Daughter Mary Winter 16, abt 1845, Liverpool
Son John Winter 13, abt 1848, Liverpool
Son Josiah Winter 10, abt 1851, Liverpool
---

possible 1851 census
Civil Parish: Liverpool
Ecclesiastical parish: St Bartholomew
Town: Liverpool
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England
Registration district: Liverpool
Sub-registration district: Dale Street
ED, institution, or vessel: 1h
Household schedule number: 77

Family members:
31 Marybone
Note: everyone born in Liverpool
Head Thomas Winter 41 (abt 1810)
- tailor
Wife Isabella Winter 42 (abt 1809)
Son Daniel Winter 11 (abt 1840)
Daughter Mary Winter 6 (abt 1845)
Son John Winter 3 (abt 1848)
---

possible 1841 census
Civil Parish: Liverpool
Hundred: Liverpool
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England
Street address: Gerard Street
Registration district: Liverpool
Sub-registration district: Islington

Family members:
Head Thomas Wanter (Winter) 30 (abt 1811) Lancashire
- tailor
Wife Isabella Wanter 30 (abt 1811) Lancashire
Son Thomas Wanter 5 (abt 1836) Lancashire
Son Danuel (Daniel) Wanter 1 (abt 1840) Lancashire

edited to add detail

[vj]

Possible Death Records

Name: Thomas Winter
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1810
Year of Registration: 1871
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar
Age at Death: 61
District: Liverpool (1837-1934)
County: Lancashire
Volume: 8b
Page: 156

Name: Isabella Winter
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1810
Year of Registration: 1868
Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar
Age at Death: 58
District: Liverpool (1837-1934)
County: Lancashire
Volume: 8b
Page: 89

[veeeyepee]

Thank you so much valerie!
I'll get on to this tomorrow, this is great news. & hopefully this marriage certificate wil ltell me where to look i nGenoa. Godd I can't wait

Thank you again. My Grandma is over the moon. I'll keep you updated.
Regards,
Sarah.

[vj]

Sarah, you're very very welcome .
I'm so glad we could help you get started on your
search.
Please keep us updated. When you find your town
in Genoa we can help direct you where to find your
family records.
Our best to you & your Grandma .
Valarie

By the way, if your Grandma would like us to track
Mary's siblings after 1871, we can give it a try.

[veeeyepee]

She says it would be wonderful if you could do that.
But no pressure. You've done more than I could have ever expected already!

Thank you!
Sarah

[vj]

Sarah,
We'd be happy to see what we can do
Valarie

A short summary so far
(unsourced ex for census, may have errors)

Thomas WINTER
b: Abt. 1810 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England
d: Abt. 1871 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England

Wife Isabella UNKNOWN
b: Abt. 1810 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England
d: Abt. 1868 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England

Children of Thomas & Isabella

Thomas WINTER
b: Abt. 1836 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England

Daniel WINTER
b: Abt. 1840 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England

Isabella WINTER
b: Abt. 1844 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Husband HARGREAVES

* Mary WINTER
b: Abt. 1845 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Husband Giacomo "John" MERANI

John WINTER
b: Abt. 1848 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England

Josiah WINTER
b: Abt. 1851 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England

---

* Mary WINTER
b: Abt. 1845 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England

Husband Giacomo "John" MERANI
b: Abt. 1835 in xxx, Genoa, Liguria, Italy
m: 1871 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England
d: Abt. 1910 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England

Children of Giacomo & Mary

Mary MERANI
b: 6 Jan 1874 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England

John MERANI
b: Abt. 1877 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England

Isabella MERANI
b: 11 Feb 1879 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England

Margaret MERANI
b: 4 Apr 1883 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England

Notes:
Margaret Merani b abt 1883 emigrated to US on SS Celtic
joining cousin Eleanor Winter
Poster Sarah has manifest but no US census records

[BillieDeKid]

Hi Sara

vj asked earlier if your family was from the town of Genoa or the province of Genoa. If it happens to be the town of Genoa the LDS has microfilms of church and civil records covering 1791 to 1927.

Post back and let vj know.

Regards,
Elizabeth