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Can anyone help? My mother died in 2011 and was adopted in 1929 in Edinburgh when she was 11 months old. Whilst going through her papers I came across her original adoption application where it lists her father as Fred D’Agostino (30) and her mother as Jessie Edwards (21). For whatever reason they never married and although my mother tried to trace her birth mother for a number of years she was unsuccessful. However whilst researching my family tree I came across some information which may help to trace my grandfather.
I believe that my grandfather may be Dante Alfreds D’Agostino who was born in Edinburgh around 1900. The 1911 census has the family (Giovanni (37), Christina (40) with children Maria (17), Lucia (16), Dante (10), Guiseppe (8) and also father-in-law Gaetano Sangermano (64) and brother-in-law Lorenzo Sangermano (37)) living at 112 Leith Street in Edinburgh. The earlier 1901 census places the family at 61 Patersons Court, Edinburgh. The brothers may have had a restaurant called “Alfrescos” in Leith Street, Edinburgh and their father may have previously owned an ice cream shop in the city. Unfortunately that is about all the information I have been able to gather but I am keen to discover my Italian heritage.
Many of the Italian families in Edinburgh came from the Frosinone region of Italy and as I am holidaying this year in Sermoneta I am keen to visit the village that the D’Agostino family came from and also to discover as much of my heritage as possible. Grateful for any help that anyone can provide. Thank you – Jim Bryce
Obtain your GreatGrandparents marriage record. It should contain the names of their parents. These would be the people born in Italy.
D'Agostino is found in Villa Latina, Picinisco, etc. Sangermano is probably Sora.
Ann Tatangelo http://angelresearch.net
Dual citizenship assistance, and document acquisition, on-site genealogical research in Lazio, Molise, Latina and Cosenza. Land record searches and succession.
I thought maybe Giovanni was married in Scotland. If he wasn't then get his death record. It should have his parents names. There are no other on line sources for Italian records especially if you don't know the town!
Ann Tatangelo http://angelresearch.net
Dual citizenship assistance, and document acquisition, on-site genealogical research in Lazio, Molise, Latina and Cosenza. Land record searches and succession.
Giovanni and Christina were probably married in Italy around 1890-95. There first child Maria was born in Bangor, Wales in 1893 followed by a second daughter Lucia born in Italy in 1895 and a third child Antonio also born in Italy in 1897. I gleaned that information from the 1901 census and it is confirmed again in the 1911 census. Sadly, Antonio is not recorded in the 1911 census so I presume he may have died. I did come across Giovanni and Christina's names by chance in someones family tree on Ancestry.com and if it is the same persons they may have both died in Picinisco. Is there any genealogy sites that deal with that area?
No websites that I know for this area but I do a lot of research in Picinisco and have raised funds to restore one of the parish census books.
Ann Tatangelo http://angelresearch.net
Dual citizenship assistance, and document acquisition, on-site genealogical research in Lazio, Molise, Latina and Cosenza. Land record searches and succession.
Ann,
Thank you for your advice, now that I have began to investigate my Italian heritage I am keen to trace the family back to italy. I may have had bit of luck. Last Friday I attended a talk from Dr Terri Colpi at the National Records for Scotland in Edinburgh. In collaboration with the NRS she has been attempting to preserve and digitise the 1933 Censimento which lists nearly all the Italian families in Scotland at that time. The records should be available to the public later this year and they have produced an interactive map showing the location of the families.
The D'Agostinos are recorded in the census, at the address in Leith Street, but due to a transcription error they are listed as D'Arristino. However it is undoubtedly them. There was also a record of Scots-Italian internees in 1939-40 which lists Danti (Dante) D'Agostino and his brother as having been interred in Barlinnie Prison, Glasgow. I am hoping that with this extra information, when I get a chance investigate further later this year, I will be able to track the family from their arrival in Scotland.
At the event I also spoke to a number of people who knew the D'Agostino family and the consensus seemed to be that they, Giovanni and Christina, came from Atina. This may be my opportunity to continue my research into Italy and hopefully discover more about my Grandfather and his family.
I will visit Atina this summer when I holiday in Sermoneta but I am probably not yet ready to use this opportunity to do further research as I will need to confirm the link between the D'Agostinos and Atina.
Thanks again for your help and it may be that someone else may read this post and be able to confirm some of the details.
We have just bought (and are now renovating) a shop lot in Leith Walk that was once a D’Agostino ice cream parlour. There are no records remaining in the shop except for the original, art nouveau door to the shop, which is currently stored in the cellar. If you’d like to come and take a look, contact us via our website: http://follyantiques.co.uk/.
It may help you to know that the restaurant you mentioned in Leith was owned by two brothers called D'agostino. I know this because my mother was a waitress in their restaurant in 1931. She was always at pains to describe it as very upmarket because it was used extensively by theatre-goers and she did serve, and had a conversation with, Paul Robeson when he was appearing in Showboat. I hope this fills in some gaps.
In Italy Christmas is usually dedicated to family, while New Year's eve is spend to have fun and celebrate with friends. The most common tradition for New Year's Eve it's called "Veglione" that literally means "The Big Stay Awake". A Veglione is usually organized in restaurants, hotels or clubs and...