South African Martini family

[rich_martini93]

Hi All,

I'm looking for information on my great-great grandfather - Francis (or Francesco) Martini. He went by Frank. He seems to have come over to South Africa in the 1860's and settled in Kimberley during the mining boom. He married an Ethel Hildegard (surname unknown) and had a few children - Ethel, Rose, Ada, Sarah and my great-grandfather, Joseph Henry Martini.

The problem I'm having is that South African records aren't the best, and apparently a fire in Kimberley destroyed all the records in the 1900's.

I've looked at all the records that I can find, but cannot find any concrete information on him.

All I can find is estate papers for 2 of his children, but no information on Francis. If anyone can offer any advice at all it would be greatly appreciated.

[PippoM]

If you don't even have a hint about where in Italy he was from, it will be a hard search.
"Martini" is a very popular surname all over Italy!

[Trixie]

Hi Rich! One of my family names is Martini, and there are several located in the Piacenza area, specifically Ferriere, Bettola, Farini d'Olmo. Family Search has some records digitized but there are several that are imaged but not indexed. You can look through them one by one or check the decennial and annual indexes for family members.