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  #11  
Old 22-08-14, 08:16
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I quite enjoyed that episode. I was shocked that Tamzin appeared not to know that Italy sided with Germany in WW2, especially considering her FH.

I also wondered why Adelmo didn't get himself naturalized so save being interned, but I suppose he would have needed to have already done that before the war started for it to count (and he might have needed to close the shop for a day to do it!).

Am I correct in thinking, firstly Tamzin sounded as if she had just learned something new when she was told her great-grandfather was from Barga, yet whilst they were in Barga she said she had been there many times. It seems unlikely she didn't know her family came from Barga, even if she didn't previously know much about them.

I thought they could have told Tamzin that it was commonplace in the past for relatives to miss family weddings, but I suppose it made for a better story to leave her looking a bit stunned!

I was bothered by the apparent fact that between arriving in Fishburn in the early 20s and 1936 when son Henry died, Adelmo didn't make enough money to buy his son a gravestone, but by the end of the 1950s (with the war, interment and rationing in between etc) he was the richest man in Fishburn and was busy buying properties for his children and giving the town the field for the playground. Can that amount of money be made from ice cream or did he have other business interests?
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  #12  
Old 22-08-14, 09:18
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My impression when she pronounced Barga was that it confirmed what she knew. She knew how it was pronounced.
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  #13  
Old 22-08-14, 09:23
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Spot on Merry - I thought that as well ...no money to bury his son after 15 years owning a shop ??...a couple of Porkys told in that episode I think - but I must say that Tamazin did come across as a nice lady ...I always thought her to be a bit of a snob - but that wasn`t the case ....I quite enjoyed that episode ....I am usually a Victor Meldew when I watch WDYTYA ...they always look sugar coated to me...and everyone has a little cry ??...
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  #14  
Old 22-08-14, 10:44
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They didn't mention (or did they?) that Remo also married a Gonnella!

Ice cream in the summer, fish n chips in the winter...or maybe both. I thought I glimpsed a fish and chip shop next door to the ice cream parlour in Fishburn. My memory of "ice cream parlours" in the 50s and 60s is that they were cafes as well and I would think they were little goldmines.

I too felt that she knew quite a lot already about her Italian relatives.

(Shona: thanks for that, what a memory you have!)

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  #15  
Old 22-08-14, 10:50
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Yes, OC. The Italian-owned cafes in Scotland - ice-cream in the summer; fish and chips during the rest of the year.

Why did so many Italians end up in Scotland? Some stories suggest the Duke of Argyll, who holidayed in Italy, recruited Italians to work on his estate in Inverary and started the trend - seems far-fetched! Others suggest the Italians were duped - thinking they were travelling to a new life in the USA. Old chestnut. What I think is more likely is that the Italians were a source of cheap labour for the mines and heavy industry. As with all immigrant communities, others arrived to serve that community, setting up food shops, etc. Although in Ireland (Belfast has its own Little Italy - OH's ancestors lived there),

It was an interesting story. Where my mum grew up, the café was run by the Giacopazzi family...everyone looked forward to the ice-cream 'season'. Like Tamzin's family, the owner went to Italy to fight in WW1. The women kept the business going in the absence of the men. In World War 2, they were interred. Once again, the women kept the businesses going. Mum says that the chap who ran the place was released and went on join the RAF and flew missions with them!

And you can still buy Giacopazzi ice-cream today.

Did anyone notice the hoarding with the message: 'Barga - the most Scottish city in Italy'?

Agree with others that the edit made me believe at the outset that Tamzin knew little about her Italian heritage, but it was clear she had regular holidays in Barga.

Loved Tamzin's mum, nan, and great-aunt Iris.
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  #16  
Old 22-08-14, 10:56
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Olde Crone View Post
They didn't mention (or did they?) that Remo also married a Gonnella!
OC
Tamzin's grandfather, Remo Santi, married Lina Gonnella - daughter of Antonio and Antoinetta Gonnella, who ran cafes in the East End of London.

AND...

Tamzin's great-grandfather, Adelmo/Arthur Santi married Maria Gonnella, daughter of Enrico and Assunta Gonnella - according to the naturalisation papers that Kate found in the National Archives website.
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  #17  
Old 22-08-14, 11:02
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shona View Post
Did anyone notice the hoarding with the message: 'Barga - the most Scottish city in Italy'?
Yes, it made me laugh. Especially as Tamzin seemed so determined that it was extraordinary and brave of Adelmo to leave Barga for Glasgow.
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  #18  
Old 22-08-14, 11:40
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Shona

I have very fond memories of my teenage years in Scotland, spent largely in the "Milk Bar" which was of course a cafe run by Italians. This is where I learned to drink coffee (we never had it at home), eat the most delicious home made white onion soup and play the juke box endlessly. They were certainly the only place in my town which tolerated teenagers.

I think they were attracted to Glasgow because these things always go by word of mouth and recommendation - if one man from Barga was successful in Glasgow, then the others would follow. A mixture of chance plus success! The man who,went to Newcastle, say, and returned home to Barga penniless, wouldn't have attracted any recruits for Newcastle.

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  #19  
Old 22-08-14, 11:52
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I thought they made too many assumptions about why Peter refused to join the Pioneer Corps. And Tamzin didn't ask Iris if she knew anything about his experiences in the internment camp, or at least, not on camera. Surely a lot of the men who joined the army in WW2, voluntarily or conscripted, were worried about what would happen to the families they left behind, but they went anyway. Would Adelmo really have been in such extreme danger that Peter didn't dare to leave him there for even a few days, as they made out? And wasn't he worried about his grandfather still in Barga, and wanting to save him from the fascists?
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  #20  
Old 22-08-14, 12:17
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Quote:
And wasn't he worried about his grandfather still in Barga, and wanting to save him from the fascists?
I thought that.

Also, I was surprised that Adelmo said he only had one surviving relative in Italy. Wouldn't it be very likely he had siblings there too? If not had they emigrated somewhere? It would have been interesting to know.
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