Finding town of origin...

[melissah23]

Does anyone have any hints on finding a town of origin for your ancestors? I'm stumped.

I have written to every state archive centre in the central region of Italy where my great grandfather is said to have been from with negative results. I'm not sure if LDS films would help me out because I don't know the exact area he was born.

The only information I have on him is that he is from a family of farmers, was born in approximately 1884 and I have a rough translation of his parent's names as indicated on his British Identity Book and marriage certificate.

Here is the information I do have;

Name: Francesco Roselli born approx. 1884 unknown location, Italy. A great aunt thinks she had a birth document at one time that said "Napoli" on it, but it has long since been misplaced and we can't confirm that. He immigrated to Scotland sometime before 1912 (we believe it may have been around January 1911) by unknown means.

Parents: Sylvador Roselli & Lena George - Sylvador was deceased before 1912 - neither parents ever acquired another nationality so I assume they never left Italy. Sylvador is also spelled Silvatore depending on which document you are looking at.

There is an application for poor relief that was filed by Francesco and his wife in Scotland that states he was unemployed and awaiting summons from the Italian army however we haven't been able to track down any military records either.

I also know that Francesco was a musicante and have a photo of him in his band uniform, but so far have only been able to identify it as a uniform from the "Meridionale" area of Italy.


Any ideas for me?? TIA!

[jamiecapaldi]

Did Francesco Marry in 1912, Greenock, Renfrewshire, Scotland?
If so, i take you have the record? It would be good if you post the correct surname of Francesco's Mother (giorgio?), so i could look for both surname origins, to see if they are in the same town. Unless you know of the 2 births in Scotland, 1 in 1901 and 1 in 1905, and if they were siblings of Francesco, i'm sure it would show the Parents Marriage Place!

[stuartcapaldi]

In Scotland there are two main areas in Italy from which Italian immigrants came.

Barga in Tuscany and Cassino & the Val di Comino in Frosinone.

Obviously some may have come from other locations but these are the best place to start.

For the main villages in Val di Comino etc check my web site
www.capaldi-clan.com

Also if they were in Scoltand in 1911 the 1911 census will be released to the public in April this year.

Also please take into account the spellings will have a vast range of possibilities due to language differences and also that many immigrants could not read and write.

Good luck

[stuartcapaldi]

Here are the details of the only 2 Roselli names in Scotland at the 1901 census

1 1901 ROSELLI FRANCIS M 33 AIRDRIE OR NEW MONKLAND /LANARK 651/00 034/00 016

2 1901 ROSELLI VIRGINIA F 36 BLYTHSWOOD GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 644/07 030/00 001

Is this his marriage in 1912

1 1912 ROSELLI FRANCESCO BUCHANAN ANNIE GREENOCK EAST /RENFREW 564/01 0153

[melissah23]

I do have the marriage record from 1912 as well as an application for poor relief, his alien registration card and his death certificate.

All records list his mother's surname as "George" - we do believe it is Giorgio or Di Giorgio, but have nothing to confirm this.

I've looked into both;

1 1901 ROSELLI FRANCIS M 33 AIRDRIE OR NEW MONKLAND /LANARK 651/00 034/00 016

2 1901 ROSELLI VIRGINIA F 36 BLYTHSWOOD GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 644/07 030/00 001

and neither of them appear to be of any relation based on the records I do have on him.

I'll definately look into the Barga in Tuscany and Cassino & the Val di Comino in Frosinone possibilities - thanks!

I'm bursting at the seams waiting for the 1911 census and the valuation rolls to come out in 2012