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Just Names
Click on the links below and in the side panel to the left to discover more information to guide your research:
Guida Generale degli Italiani in Gran Bretagna: 1939 This rare book is a directory of Italians who were living and working in Great Britain at the time of publication - 1939. Compiled under the auspices of the Italian Consular authorities and published by Edoardo Ercoli, the Guida lists names and addresses of Italians alongside many business advertisements, some of which include photographs. It also contains biographies of prominent Italians which have been translated into English. They are available to view here: Guida Biographies. A number of articles also feature in the Guida and they will soon be uploaded into the Publications section of the website. The Guida is a valuable, historically important resource not available online on any other site. Members Area.
Italian families in 20th century Clerkenwell, London
The Finsbury archive has a number of issues of Back Hill magazine, a newsletter that was published by the community settled around St Peter's Church, an area known as 'Little Italy'. The archive has an incomplete bound set of issues, amongst which are a number of pieces by Pino Maestri. This list dates from some time between 1910 and 1930. Pino and his collaborators reconstructed a map showing who lived in the streets around that area; the names mentioned on the map have been transcribed here. Some surname spellings may be inaccurate; they have been transcribed as found.
Names extracted from three formative books by Terri Colpi
A Visual History of the Italian Community in Great Britain (Pub: 1991), The Italian Community in Great Britain (Pub: 1991) and The 1933 Census. Recording History
(Pub: 2015).
Italians Commemorated on WWI Memorial, Clerkenwell
A list of soldiers who were killed in Italy in World War One and are listed on the War Memorial outside St Peter's Italian Church in London. Around 700 Italians formed a regiment in Britain and went to help fellow Italians fighting Austro-Hungarians and Germans in the north of he peninsula. Many never returned and are buried in a War Cemetery containing 45,000 names in Gorizia, Friuli near the Croatian border. War Cemetery: Gorizia, Friuli
Italians Resident in Scotland: 1890-1940
An interactive map of addresses and names of Italians resident in Scotland in the 1930s, taken from the 1936 edition of the Guida Generale degli Italiani in Gran Bretagna with additions from Kelly’s Directory, 1928.
St Peter's Italian School, Clerkenwell
Two photographs of children who attended St Peter's school, Clerkenwell, taken 1934 to 1936. A list of names of some of the children has been compiled. Please contact Membership Secretary if you recognise any of them or can add a missing name.
Arandora Star Memorial: St Peter's Italian Church, London
A memorial to those who died when the Arandora Star was sunk in the early stages of World War Two by a German uBoat. The tragedy happened on 2 July 1940 and the memorial includes names, dates of birth and places of origin of those who died as a result of the tragedy who were associated with London.
Italian nationals: victims of the Arandora Star tragedy.
SS Arandora Star was a British passenger ship of the Blue Star Line. Built in 1927 as an ocean liner she was requisitioned as a troopship in World War Two and assigned the task of deporting interned Italian, German and Austrian civilians and prisoners of war to Canada. On 2 July 1940 she was sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland: 805 people died. This is a complete list of Italians living in the U.K. who died in the tragedy.
Names extracted from Continental Past: Ticinese Emigrants and their Cafe Restaurants in Britain, by Peter Barker and Peter Jacomelli. The names appeared on the earliest gravestone erected by the Unione Ticinese, in Kensal Green Roman Catholic Cemetery, London. A photo and further details of the Unione Ticinese appear in 'Continental Taste: Ticinese Emigrants and their Cafe Restaurants in Britain' by Peter Barker and Peter Jacomelli, published by the Camden History Society. The patronage of Carlo Gatti, from the Italian speaking region in Switzerland, was instrumental in bringing many of his compatriots to England.
An online database of shipwrecks which contains a search function and a list of those who were on board SS Arandora Star when it was torpedoed and sunk on 2 July 1940 and those who were lost in the tragedy.
National Maritime Museum of Ireland: the sinking of Arandora Star.
An online database of shipwrecks that contains a search function and a list of those who were on board SS Laconia when it was torpedoed and sank on 12 September 1942 by a German uBoat off the West African coast. The ship was carrying carrying 2,732 passengers, including 1,800 Italian prisoners of war, around 290 Allied servicemen returning home on leave, 80 civilians, and a crew of 463. The 'Laconia incident' was a series of events surrounding the sinking and a subsequent aerial attack on German and Italian submarines involved in rescue attempts. The sinking of the Laconia: survivors' stories
A repository for information about people who made and signed scientific instruments preserved in collections worldwide.
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