In the 1861 census Lucy and Cristoforo are living at 57 Moorgate Road in Coleman St Stephen Parish. Cristoforo is listed as a cabinet maker . Under place of birth he is listed as an Italian British subject. What is an Italian British subject ? Did Cristoforo have to apply for some kind of citizenship in the UK? I don’t think so, and I have yet to find any documents indicating precisely when he entered the UK – or any document showing that he became a UK citizen. I assume such records were not maintained in this time period. Lucy is listed as home keeper.
The couple start a family.
In 1862 first son Lavinio is born. ( This is the birth of your great great great grandfather!)
In 1864 another son Adriano is born.
Then it is an entire 7 years before the final child is born. And another boy who is given the name Atillio Regolos.
Given all these names are very Italian one has to think that Cristoforo just might have had a huge part in the naming of the boys. Was this normal for the male to name the children back then? Or was this unusual? And there is no attempt at this point to give the boys anglicized names to ease their entry into British society. Far from it, these are proud Italian peninsula names. Notice I keep saying “Italian peninsula” , and not Italy. That’s because Italy as a country was just in the process of being created and unified in the decade in which the sons were born. Cristoforo was maybe celebrating this creation of the new Italy when naming his sons. Now, I don’t know much Italian, but certainly the name Atillio Regolos sounds like the name of a new Roman emperor to me. One also has to wonder where these names came from. Surely not out of thin air. We assume these names contain clues to Cristoforo’s family back in Recanati, Italy. Clues that will help us once we all get to Recanati to do some more family research.
And one also has to wonder: What language were the boys spoken to in? What was the family language anyway? A little bit of both English and Italian? Interestingly Mazzini did set up a school for Italian children in London, but I don’t think the Setacci’s attended it.
The homes the Setacci family lived in during this time period are no longer around. The addresses and streets however are. . As noted above their first home is in 57 Moorgate Road. By 1871 the family had moved to 43 Howland Street. By 1881 they are at 35 Harrington Road. See below.
If you want to take a historic walk to see the locations, a possible route is shown above. The family initially live just North of the City of London but gradually move west towards Regent Park. It is the Regent Park area that becomes their neighbourhood. The above suggested walk would take you past many historic locations that would have existed in the time the Setacci family was coming of age. So, take the walk and imagine the lives they must have led and the places they would have frequented and been influenced by.