Gaetano Scarfidi birth registration and marriage

[AngelaGrace56]

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That was very quick! Thank you Edmondo.
Angela

[AstronomyDomine]

Cheers - I will definitely put my feelers out in the more appropriate areas online to see what info I can find on the Agius side in Egpyt. The Agius and Scarfidi families may have been well known to one another as apparently Peter and Maria, my grandparents, were an arranged marriage.

Wow! You really know your stuff when it comes to scouring records. That you found Maria Galeano is amazing. I've had no luck myself - you're a legend, thank you! Out of curiosity, I looked up the church of San Leonardo in Messina, but couldn't find anything. Perhaps it was destroyed in one of the earthquakes, or was renamed?

My mum has been talking about Gaetano and Carmela being buried here in Sydney for years, in Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park where other members of the family have been buried since- she visited the grave a number of times with my father many years ago but couldn't quite remember details- she just knew it was my father's Scarfidi grandparents in the Roman Catholic section.

It was an amazing day when I came across the grave - my first connection to Scarfidi's beyond my grandmother, complete with pictures. It meant a lot to me to make that connection. Here are some shots:







After I knew her name for certain, I ordered Carmela's death certificate from BDM (I did the same thing for my grandfather Peter which got me started on his side), it states that she was born in Suez, Egypt and that her father was Joseph Vella, and her mother's name was Gaetana (surname unknown). I didn't order Gaetano's death certificate as just doing a search via BDM I could see his parents first names, from there I was able to find the birth certificate on familysearch.

Vella is indeed a hugely common Maltese name - but I've never heard anything about my nan's family being Maltese, just my grandfather's, very Italian all round by all accounts. It's quite possible though, I suppose, even if it was just her father's side that was Maltese. I finally got my mum to try and point out where in Northern Italy she thinks the connection is on a map, but in the end she couldn't come to any conclusion, so I'll have to shelf that idea until I find some actual evidence of it. With the language barrier she may have misinterpreted something that was said.

I would love to make contact with Messina to get more information about the marriage record. There's got to be a story there. What department should I be looking to contact do you think?

I hope you are having a lovely Christmas.

[AngelaGrace56]

Thank you for getting back to me, and yes it has been a lovely Christmas. I'm still in holiday mode. I hope that you have had a special time also.

These pics of your great grandparent's graves are awesome. Thank you for sharing them. How wonderful to have these and they are still in good condition. I really like the inscriptions on them. They must have been really special people.

I'll get back to you again shortly. I just want to reread this thread and check up on a couple of things.

Re: writing a letter to Messina to request the marriage record, this should be the address.

Email: ufficioanagrafe@comune.messina.it

or

Ufficio Anagrafe E Stato Civile
Viale San Martino 43798135 Messina (ME)
Italy

I'll out a letter and post it here for you shortly.

Angela

[AngelaGrace56]

It is a pity the death record you obtained didn't have Carmela's mother's surname on it. I hadn't realised until seeing the pics of the gravestones that Gaetano and Carmela had also settled in Australia. Did they naturalise? It would be worth looking at any records relating to them, where applicable, that are available in Australia eg immigration, naturalisation, application to purchase home, wills/probates, affidavits etc. Just a suggestion, you never know what you might find

Here is a sample of a letter, which I have edited, that you could use, to write to Messina. I've never learned Italian so the grammar might need some tweaking, or someone else might have a better letter to send. Just wait a few days before you send it to give time for others on the forum, with experience in written Italian and writing to Italy, to either tweak, or offer another suggestion. It needs to be easily read and make sense.


Your Name
Street Address 
Your City, State and Post Code 
Your Country 
Your E-Mail Address

03 gennaio 2015
 
UFFICIO ANAGRAFE E STATO CIVILE 
Viale San Martino 437
98135 Messina (ME)
Italy

ufficioanagrafe@comune.messina.it


 
Egregi Signori,

Mi chiamo (your name here), ed abito in Australia all'indirizzo sopradetto.   Cerco informazioni sul mio bisnonni, Gaetano Scarfidi, nato Messina 22 March 1889 e Carmela Vella, nato Egitto 1885. Cerco questi dati per conoscere meglio la mia famiglia.
 
Sarei molto grato se mi potesse inviare l'estratto dal matrimonio di Gaetano e Carmela, ha ricevuto nel tuo ufficio il 10 luglio 1917 (Parte II dei vostri registri – numero 19, 1917)
 
Vi ringrazio in anticipo per la vostra gentilezza e premura, e vi prego di addebitarmi tutte le spese postali e dei certificati.
 
Distinti saluti,

(Your name here)

Good luck with this. I put Monday's date on. It seemed like a good time to send the letter.

Angela

[AstronomyDomine]

Omg, I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to respond! It's been a busy few months and I got a bit sidetracked.

Once again, thank you so much for your help. I'll be using your template to contact Messina for records in the coming week. I'm quite optimistic that I should be able to find out more. You are a dead set champion for offering your wealth of knowledge on here. Without this fantastic forum I would only know a fraction of what I know now. Wishing you and everyone else here all the best!

-Sarah

[AngelaGrace56]

Happy to help Sarah. Good luck with your letter to Messina.
Angela