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Italians in England

Italians in England

Posted: 23 Jan 2011 7:36PM GMT
Classification: Query
My Grandmother Giuseppina Micheli went to work in London England at the turn of the century. I have reason to believe that she was a linen maid in a hotel on Arundel street. I have found two such hotels which seem to be owned or at least run by a Mr Mentasti. The hotels were MATHYS and PREVITALI. There are many Italian names on the census list but hers does not appear. Does nyone know anything about these hotels. The name Clementina Strinati appears on a list. She was a witness at my grandmother marriage to Giovanni SArtori Oct 15th 1903.
Thanks
Felicia

Re: Italians in England

Posted: 5 Feb 2011 9:44PM GMT
Classification: Query
Hi Felica,

Sorry I don't have any information about Giuseppa in London, but I do have an immigration record for you since one is not linked to your family tree.

http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=ny...

New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957
about Maria Sacbore Daughter

Name: Maria Sacbore Daughter
Arrival Date: 19 Nov 1906
Birth Year: abt 1906
Birth Location Other: morfapo
Age: 5 Months
Gender: Female
Ethnicity/Race-
/Nationality: Italian (North) (Italian)
Port of Departure: Genoa, Italy
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
Ship Name: Prinzess Irene

Source Citation: Year: 1906; Microfilm Serial: T715; Microfilm Roll: T715_799; Line: 6; Page Number: 69.

Source Information:
Ancestry.com. New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Please note that son Antonio shows the place of birth as "Morfaso".

Hope this helps some.

Re: Italians in England

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 12:01PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Mentasti
Felicia.

The Hotels Previtali and Mathis in Arundel Street (Panton Square) were owned/leased by my great grandfather Giovanni Mentasti and his brothers from the 1880's to 1915. The hotels were famous for European and South American visitors and the ability to provide services in many langauges.

You will find an amusing and poignant description of the street and hotels in opening pages Wodehouse's 'Something Fresh' (Something New in the USA). I have lots more information. Among the famous guests were Puccini, Rachmaninov, Duret, Gissing,James,Poincare and Suk.

The street disappeared (but not entirely- have more news!) in 1920ish with the development of the Coventry Street Lyons Corner House.

John Atkinson, Glasgow

Re: Italians in England

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 2:15PM GMT
Classification: Query
Thank you so much for your reply. Would you know if there are any records which would contain the names of the employees at either of the hotels at the turn of the century. One of my grandmother's fondest memories was of standing on the sidewalk in front of the hotel and watching the funeral cortege of Queen Victoria pass by.
felicia

Re: Italians in England

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 2:55PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Mentasti
Good to hear from you Felicia.
You will see a postcard of the Hotel Previtali attached. There are no records as the hotels shut very quickly in 1915 in sad circumstances. However, we still have furniture and cutlery from the hotels at home. Your grandmother would have been in good company. My Great Aunts Ilda (b1891 def) Lidia(b1893 ?) Rosalinda (b1895?) Grandmother Flora (b1894 def) and Great Uncle John (b1897 def) were there too. Definitely Aunty Lid was as she told me. They would have walked down to Coventry Street. The Trocadero and Piccadilly Circus were on the right.
You will find pictures of the funeral cortege at Piccadilly Circus on the web. The opening of Arundel Street onto Coventry Street was famous for the goldsmiths Lamberts on the corner.
If you go onto Google Earth and put in Shavers Place-it is directly opposite where Arundel Street once was. It is now a shopping arcade, part of the new Trocadero complex and although completely covered, the shops and roof covering/atrium follow exactly the short road and square at the end. You will see the outline on the satellite view
Have loads more of this stuff! You can see more details of me at http://myprofile.cos.com/atkinson22

The family were originally from Albiolo near Varese and Como with other relatives in Lugano and Ticino in Switzerland.
The family lived in the Hotel Mathis at the end of the square and the main guest accommodation was on the left hand side of the road in the Hotel Previtali.

John
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Re: Italians in England

Posted: 11 Oct 2014 10:57AM GMT
Classification: Query
Hello John Atkinson

Sorry to butt in on this post to Felicia (it was 3 years ago) but you may be interested or know of someone who may be, in a lot up for Auction this afternoon at 2.00pm with Michael Bowman.

Lot 24 is Two letters sent by Enrico Caruso while staying at the Previtali in 1902, to my great grandfather Ernesto Gelardi asking him to send him postcards of Folkestone to help complete his English postcard collection!

The link to the auction online is www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/michael-j-bowm....

There seems to be an admittedly tenuous connection between our great-grandfathers!

Simon Burton

Re: Italians in England

Posted: 8 Apr 2015 4:34PM GMT
Classification: Query
Simon.

Just caught this, thanks! Yes, I found the Caruso card auction notifications a few weeks ago. See my website for a family article I wrote about the hotels http://profjohnatkinson.simplesite.com/223020862 Keep in touch if you like.

John
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