Adopted children in Italy

[JohnArmellino]

Then I have a copy of the entrance into the foundling home. It clearly states the baby was brought there by the midwife Amalia Brambilla after registering the birth with the secretary.

That is very interesting. What was the document called and where did you find it?

[Gina501]

It came from the archive records of Pavia. They had records of all entries of children into the home. The home was attached to the San Matteo hospital. There is no title on the document but there is a record number. I have the scan on my computer at work. Tomorrow I will upload it here so you can see it. But there should be a record for your ancestor's entry for certain.

[Gina501]

Hi John here is the scan of the document and the translation.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd22 ... esreco.jpg

February 10th
number of record: 28. Carmeloni Ignazio 21.393 (?) arrived today at time 11.50.
The baby boy comes from Pavia, he is an illegittimate son of unknown parents, he was born today, he was reported today to the civil record office, number of certificate 99. (n. e 196) (?), the baby boy was brought here by the midwife named Brambilla Amalia, widower of late Giuseppe Rovato, she is domiciled in Pavia, she declares that he is an illegittimate child and also he was not baptised yet, she gives the baby to me and I give her the receive as a proof. She leaves here with the baby just the clothes he wears.
His clothes are the following: swadding clothes, little shirth, bandage, blanket made of fabric and cap.
Particular marks: nothing – Physical status: healthy
I read this record to the midwife, I and she suscribe it, and I report this entry in the book of record of this holy place.

signature Brambilla Amalia declarant
Rusconi Gaetano unreadable singature

[JohnArmellino]

Hi Gina - That is very similar to the civil records of the birth of foundlings in Campobasso..the same information. I'll have to inquire as to the existence of additional records that may have been kept by the ruota di proietti. Thanks for the scan.

[Emmy]

Oh Gina I know how you must be feeling to be near and yet so far! If only some of those signatures could speak to you !
Just wonder if the midwife kept a record herself?
Emmy

[Gina501]

Hi Emmy. That's exactly how I feel. Now I am going to search on the midwife and two witnesses just in case I can find a connection somehow.

John please be in touch if you find anything else about your ancestor.

[Gina501]

John, can you tell me what ruota di proietti is? When I put it into babelfish it translates as wheel of projects.

[JohnArmellino]

Hi Gina -

Originating in 13th century and continuing through the 19th century, a system of infant abandonment was in place in Italy. It consisted of foundling homes, where infants could be abandoned anonymously, and a network of paid and unpaid wet nurses and foster families. The foundlings were called proietti and the foundling home the ruota di proietti. The present day Italian word proietti (sing: proietto, proietta) means "projectiles" or "missiles". However, in the past proietti could be translated as "foundlings" or "infants given up for adoption" – a meaning that dictionaries no longer mention. A ruota was a type of cabinet revolving on a pivot, used in cloistered convents to give or to receive things from the outside, sort of a turntable in a wall, constructed so that no one could see from who or where things were passed. Hence the name ruota di proietti was given to the foundlings’ home. Some sources I have found state that the infants were actually passed into the home through such a turntable constructed into a door or wall. The infant was placed on a wheel [sometimes with identifying tokens in case the parent(s) wished to reclaim the child at a later date], spun into the building and a bell would be rung to alert the caregivers. This would preserve the parents' privacy. Other sources state that the child was passed through an open window and placed on a turntable and spun through a curtain instead. Other sources state that the name was figurative in nature and merely reflected the fact that the foundlings passed through the home rather than remain there. A proietto was arbitrarily assigned a surname by the Mayor of the comune in which he was abandoned. It was not the surname of his father. This was common practice in Italy, where approximately 4-5% of the children born in the late 19th century were abandoned. The date of abandonment and the name given to the foundling were recorded in the Registri dello Stato Civile, together with an estimate of the foundling’s age and (usually) the name of the wet-nurse, and her husband, into whose care the foundling was given. Some women were "professional" wet nurses, taking in many foundlings over time. However, in Molise (my area of research) the majority of these wet nurses were women who had just lost a child in infancy and the foundling was often raised as part of her family.

You will also find the word spelled projetto. While the modern Italian alphabet has no letter j as used in native terms [the letter j does appear in dictionaries for archaic spellings and foreign and international terms officially adopted in Italian], years ago the letter long i was used in triphthongs or when the letter i was combined with other vowels to form one sound, e.g., proietto/projetto or gioiello/giojello. This sound is similar to the y in yellow or lawyer. The long i was sometimes used to denote this sound.

[Gina501]

Wow, John, thanks for the information. I have heard about such a contraption but that was a detailed description. It seems very sad. But I guess it was better than the alternative.

I guess I was hoping for better luck since my ggf was actually delivered by a midwife who knew who the mother was and took the child herself to the town to be registered and named, and then to the foundling home. I was hoping that since he wasn't a "wheel" baby that there was some record somewhere. But alas....it does not appear so.

[JohnArmellino]

Gina - Most of the foundlings were simply left at the ruota di proietti. Your case is unusal in that an identified midwife actually delivered the infant and, of course, she would have known who the mother was. Keep diggin' - you never know what you'll find. My GGF was a foundling, but there are absolutely no clues as to his natural parents.

[Gina501]

Yeah, there's no clues even in my case. It seems the laws were strongly designed to protect the parents. So, I'll keep searching, but I doubt there will be any more. I guess the only way there would be a connection is if the mother went back to get the baby, but that wasn't the case.

[peggymckee]

Dear Gina,

Is there any chance that the Della Valle's knew the mother (or father)? Do you know anything as to how they came to take the baby? Maybe the Della Valle's had just lost a child themselves?

Good luck in your search. Peggy M

[Gina501]

Hi Peggy. That is exactly the information I am after. The Della Valle's were 40 and 30 and had children of their own, and lived in another town 75 miles away. I can't understand why they got my ggf. There must be a reason. At least I hope so. So that is the line that I must pursue now. I'm not sure how I am supposed to make that connection. I have spken to the Della Valle's that are still alive and although they remember my ggf, they don't know the story behind it. But I can just feel that there is connection.

[Meechie]

Hi Gina, I was referred here by another member because we share the same plight. I would like very much to know how this turns out for you and if there is something, with which I might help. I am sure you have done your research! I have learned a lot about the foundling process by reading old excerpts from the Catholic Church Encyclopedia, everything from the different situations and how they were handled, and who they were handled by, to why they were given the names they were. I do not know much about Italian customs or language so I have a lot to learn yet. I can try to find it and send it to you if you like.

My search is for husbands great Grandmother. She was taken in as a foundling at Serra San Bruno. We have the record of birth and I am hoping it is the right one. She was born to a Duchess who arranged for her to be adopted before her birth because it was custom to give up the child after they had so many children... she was one too many. The adoptive parents were paid in the arrangement, and I believe they also had given them livestock in return for raising their daughter. I am just starting to search for more information of who she was and the family she came from. Her name was Marie Delle Grazie, which was changed from Maria Della Grazia when she immigrated to the USA. She was born about 1889.

I went to your web site as well and I think it is great idea. I would like to hear more of your story.

Best of Luck,
Meechie
gotsmith@comcast.net

[Meechie]

Oh... one more thing I wanted to mention. Even though an adoption may be pre-arranged the child was still left at the comune and listed as a foundling. They were first administered to by the male priests and then by the wet nurse. They were then given to the adoptive family after a said time. So it is hard to know why they have been left unless some inkling of the story has been told to them personally or someone who knew the family. A child who was abandon with no arrangement and not found a wet nurse, rarely survived to their fourth or fifth year of age. This I have learned of the later 1800 to 1900’s. Someone mentioned the retrieval of children that had been left as foundlings by their birth families. According to the Catholic Church Encyclopedia about 50% of the children who survived where retrieved by their natural parents during this time.

Hope this helps! Unfortunately, I do not know anything about getting records, sorry!

Best of Luck!
Meechie