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AIFHS AGM amended date and talk details

We would like to invite you to the Annual General Meeting of the Anglo Italian Family History Society. It will be held on Saturday, June 9th, 2012 (NB: the date June 2nd, given in April's Italian Roots, is incorrect)

The AGM will commence at 2.00 p.m. at the

London Family History Centre
Exhibition Road
South Kensington
London
http://www.londonfhc.org/

The meeting will be followed at 2.30 p.m. by a talk - and question time - on:

Italian Family Records

Sister Claudia Inskeep of the London Family History Centre will tell us of the exciting new additions to the organisation's FamilySearch website https://www.familysearch.org/ . Family Search holds the world's largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources. The site's records span billions of names across hundreds of collections, including birth, marriage, death, probate, land, military, IGI extracted and more. They will be of interest to everyone researching Italian forebears.

For further information please contact, Aubrey Knowles, Chairman, AIFHS:
tel: 01278-733874
e-mail: aubreyk@BTopenworld.com

Italian Roots

The April 2012 Edition of Italian Roots is now available for download from the Members' Area; copies are also on their way to our postal members.

This edition features practical information on how to trace your Italian ancestors. It also contains a newspaper article from 1878 that will jolt readers back to Italy in the aftermath of Unification and give an insight into the reasons some of our predecessors had for uprooting themselves from home and family. Itinerant trades, involving much travel over great distances with long periods away from home, were an alternative to the unforgiving working conditions and poverty and many Italian migrants were, with varying degrees of success, quick to identify alternative, innovative economic opportunities.

One AIFHS member describes how his family, from Picinisco, posed for artists and sculptors, a career that was more lucrative and less laborious than they were used to. Picinisco was also renowned for its child musicians and April's Italian Roots describes the journey two of them made across Europe, stopping off at Warsaw, Vienna, Paris, London and possibly North and South America.

Another feature invites us into the life of a family who decided to retrace their Italian origins by moving back to their ancestors' homeland. For some, though, migration did not bring improvement and we can read the tragic story of one man's journey from Naples to a workhouse in the north of England.

Italian Roots reflects our journeys of discovery and the heroic stories that unfold along the way; it is these that feed our motivation, enabling us to overcome many obstacles in rooting out every last detail of our families’ histories.

Contributions from members are always welcome and there is space still available for features, letters or news items for the July 2012 issue. Please submit these to the Editor before June 16th 2012.

Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE 2012

The Anglo Italian Family History Society had an increased presence at the 2012 “Who Do You Think You Are Exhibition” held at Olympia in London. Our stall attracted a procession of visitors throughout the three day event. Experienced researchers Aubrey and Sally Knowles, Kay Lorenzato, Linda Pierce, Lorraine Emanuel, Rosemarie Leonard and Andrew Mitchell were on hand throughout to welcome fellow Society members and make new friends. They happily answered questions, gave advice and were enthralled by the many fascinating and diverse ancestral stories visitors had to tell.

Why not take a look at the Events Calendar on this website to see if there is a forthcoming Family History Fair or ‘Italian’ event in your area? If you plan to attend in the future or have visited one recently why not tell us of your experience? We welcome articles and photos to add to our site and our journal, Italian Roots: please contact our Webmaster or Editor for more information.

Updated Communication from London Family History Centre and TNA

An Update from the London Family History Centre

The London Family History Centre is currently located in the Reading Room of The National Archives. The National Archives (Tel: +44 (0) 20 8876 3444) has approved an extension of the current arrangements to accommodate the London Family History Centre at Kew through the early part of 2013. In the meantime, the London Family History Centre is considering a variety of alternatives for a permanent location. Both online and microfilm resources remain at Kew where there is FREE access to the following sites:

Advanced booking of computers or films is not necessary. Use this website to identify film numbers present in our inventory. A form to request films is available at Kew. Staff members retrieve films every 15 minutes. Downloads from websites and digital scans or prints from films are available.

Please note: The London Family History Centre will be closed from Friday 6 April to Monday 9 April.

Photos from Italian Church Procession 2011.

A few photographs have been provided by Daphne Dashfield and can be viewed here. If you have some that you would like to contribute please contact the Webmaster for inclusion.

Anglo-Italian Rootsweb Group

Members and anyone with an interest in all things Italian, contact each other by signing up to the Anglo-Italian Rootsweb email list

Need some research hints and tips?

Ruth Rowlands, one of our researchers, has a blog at angloitaliangenresearch.blogspot.co.uk, where she updates us on her efforts to find her own ancestors. Ruth also has a blog recommending books about Italian genealogy at italiangenealogybooks.blogspot.co.uk.

Books & CDs

We have recently updated our list of books & CDs available for purchase from the society. Check it out here.

Family Group Records

The list of members' Family Group Records has been updated and can be downloaded from our Members' Area.

Contribute to Our Site

We are always looking for articles, photos and links to add to our site and our journal. Please contact our webmaster or editor for more information.

Transcriptions

Our public transcriptions area contains many lists of surnames that may help you find out more.

Census Lookups

NEW: Census look-ups, translations and other assistance from members in the Members' Area

Transcriptions of Italians living in England from the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 Censuses in PDF

These transcriptions are of people whose birthplace or nationality is given as Italy or Italian. The names have many spelling mistakes which occurred at the original time of recording, so it's worth trying different spellings for an ancestor you're looking for. Where a name is known to have been recorded incorrectly, the correct spelling is added beneath the original entry.

Books & CDs

Italians In The 1901 CD-ROM

Our publication contains over 20,000 Italians extracted from the 1901 census - that's everyone who gave their place of birth as Italy. You can browse all the entries to search for those elusive relatives whose names have been mis-transcribed, and sort the data by age, area, occupation or forename. £5 for members; £10 for non-members. As email membership costs just £5 as well, you can join the Society and get the CD for just £10. To order the CD, download the Order Form, or order online at The Parish Chest

Our Births, Marriages and Deaths index

The CD has nearly 50,000 BMDs of Italians and Anglo-Italians. Many of our mis-spelt surnames can be found here - very useful for spotting variations. Available to members for £5, or £10 to non-members.

View the titles of our books and CDs and order online or directly from the society using the order form.