Table of Contents
G6: John Baptist Gianelli (1838-1898) and Dominica Berissa (1848-1898)
Birth: John Baptist Gianelli was born in around 1838 in Genoa, Italy.
Migration: life was hard, and many chose to emigrate. Musicians like Giovanni banded together and used their entertainment skills to earn money for food in towns and cities on the trek through Europe. For most, their aim was to reach Liverpool and buy onward passage to America. Giovanni arrived in the Port of London on 14 April 1854 on board City of Boulogne, having travelled from Boulogne in France. He was just 16 years old, but was accompanied by other Italian passengers, many of whom were fellow musicians. They made their way to Liverpool where they settled on the cobbled streets off Scotland Road, known as Little Italy. It is not known why he decided to settle in Liverpool. Some Italian families did not make the voyage to America due to a lack of funds, while others consciously chose to settle in the great port city.
Marriage: to Dominica Berissa. It is not known where and how the couple met but given the age difference, it likely occurred after both had arrived in Britain.
Spouse history: Dominica was ten years John’s junior and had also been born in Genoa in around 1848. Nothing is known of her early life or when she left her homeland.
Children: (1) John in 1868, (2) Caterina in 1871, (3) Francisco in 1873, (4) Joseph in 1875, (5) Magdalena in 1879, (6) Maria in 1882, (7) Domenico in 1889. Sadly, Magdalena died in 1885 when aged six.
Occupations: since most Italian immigrants headed for Little Italy upon arrival in Liverpool, there was a demand for boarding houses to accommodate them while they earned sufficient money to pay for onward passage to America. By 1881, the couple ran their own boarding house on Gerard Street. Many of the guests were Italian musicians or ice cream vendors, which were two common trades. In addition to this, John’s occupation in 1891 was given as a traveller, which was likely to mean a travelling salesman of some variety (on his son Joseph’s marriage certificate some eight years later he was cited as a potato dealer). Dominica worked as a charwoman, which was a cleaner.
Residences: in 1871 the young family lived in a boarding house on Circus Street in central Liverpool before opening their own business in Gerard Street. When their daughter Catherine was married in 1890, she gave the family address as 10 Islington Place, a short and narrow road that jutted west off Christian Street and just a stone’s throw from their old home. The census taken the following year shows that the family appeared to run another boarding house here, with seven guests present that day.
- John: 14 Circus Street, Liverpool (1871); 73 Gerard Street, Liverpool (1881-1885); 10 Islington Place, Liverpool (1891-1898)
- Dominica: 14 Circus Street, Liverpool (1871); 73 Gerard Street, Liverpool (1881-1885); 10 Islington Place, Liverpool (1891-1898)
Deaths: the couple decided to retire back to their old village of San Pietro Frascati, near Genoa in Italy. Sadly, they both died of carbon monoxide poisoning after the flue in their house became blocked, possibly by a bird’s nest. Dominica died first on 13 February 1898, followed two days later by John. Their respective estates of £67 19s 10d and £730 (around £57k today) were left to their eldest son, John. Their two youngest children would only have been aged 15 and 8, but no information about their eventual fate can be found.
Notes: John’s birth name was Giovanni Battista Gianelli, the literal English translation of which is ‘John the Baptist’. Some records use the shortened Italian of his name, Gianbattista, while some church records translate it into its Latin form of Ioannes Baptista.
G5: John Joseph Gianelli (1868-1923) and Madeline Frediani (1875-1945)
Birth: John Joseph Gianelli was born in Liverpool during 1868. He was the first child of John and Dominica.
Marriage: on 28 January 1897 to Madeline Frediani at St Francis Xavier’s Roman Catholic Church on Salisbury Street. He was aged 29 and she was 21. This was the second of two marriages between these families as John’s sister Catherine had married Madeline’s brother Joseph seven years earlier.
Spouse history: unlike John, who had been born in Britain, his 21-year-old wife was an Italian native who had been born in the village of Partigliano in Tuscany on 19 November 1875 to Stefano Frediani and Maria Silvestri. Little is known about her early life, but she likely travelled to Britain with her older brothers when just a girl.
Children: (1) John in 1898, (2) Francis in 1899, (3) Dominico 1901, (4) Mary in 1903, (5) Joseph in 1905, (6) Maria in 1907, (7) Stephen in 1909, (8) Dominic in 1912, (9) Albert in 1914. Dominico sadly died in January 1903. Lena went to live with her uncle Joseph in a permanent arrangement.
Occupation: in 1891 John worked a hawker – a peddler or street seller who carried his wares with him – but the census was not specific about what he sold. Over the next decade they opened a fish and chip shop, which over the next 80 years became one of the best-known chippies in Liverpool. In addition to the chippy their home also doubled as a boarding house for Italian immigrants, and by 1921 John had branched out into ice cream making. These were real family businesses, with John’s sister Catherine and Madeline’s sister-in-law Lizzie working in the chippy, while his children John, Francis, and Joseph all helped to produce ice cream. Following John’s death Madeline continued to run the businesses until at least the outbreak of war in 1939.
The 1933 Kelly’s Directory of Liverpool and Suburbs lists a Madelina Gianelli operating as a fried fish dealer at 143 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool. If this is the same person, then it is possible that they had a second business.
Residences: at the time of their marriage Madeline lived with her brother Joseph and future sister-in-law Catherine, while John lived with his parents. The family remained in the close-knit Italian community, and by 1901 owned a large property on the comer of Islington Place and Christian Street which housed the chippy on the ground floor with a large residential space above and behind also used as the boarding house. This was their home for the rest of their lives.
- John: 14 Circus Street, Liverpool (1871); 73 Gerard Street, Liverpool (1881); 10 Islington Place, Liverpool (1891-1897); 2/4 Islington Place, Liverpool (1901-1923)
- Madeline: 51 Craven Street, Liverpool (1897); 2/4 Islington Place, Liverpool (1901-1945); 143 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool (1938)
Deaths: John died in Liverpool on 5 November 1923 when aged 55 and was buried in Ford Cemetery. He left his estate of £1,958 9s 6d (around £80k today) to his wife. Madeline died at home on 20 June 1945, aged 69, and was buried in the same plot as John. She left her estate of £4,394 1s 5d (around £156k today) to sons John and Francis.
Notes: although commonly known as John, in early records he is often cited with the Italian translation of his name (Giovanni), while some church records translate it into its Latin form of Ioannes.
G4: John Baptist Gianelli (1898-1975)
Birth: John Baptist Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 15 April 1898. He was the first child of John and Madeline. Commonly known as Johnny.
Christening: on 1 May 1898 at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church on Great Crosshall Street.
Occupations: the 1921 census shows that 23-year-old Johnny helped to run the family businesses. City directories from 1933 and 1938 list him as an ice-cream maker and fried fish dealer, yet when the National Register was taken in September 1939 he was curiously cited as a motor engineer. During the war Johnny and his siblings Frank and Maria appeared to take over the running of the chippy from their mother, which they ran together into the 1970s.
Residences: Johnny never married and lived over the shop until his death, taking in a series of long-term lodgers including Anastasia Moran (1945-70), Richard Duffy (1945-56), and John Lucente (1951-70).
- 2/4 Islington Place, Liverpool (1901-1975)
Death: Johnny died on 31 August 1975 when aged 77 and was cremated at Anfield Crematorium following a requiem mass at Holy Cross.
G4: Francis Stephen Gianelli (1899-1984)
Birth: Francis Stephen Gianelli was born on 5 December 1899 in the family home in Liverpool. He was the second child of John and Madeline. Commonly known as Frank.
Schools: Frank studied at St Francis Xavier School until he transferred to Holy Cross.
Marriage: on 24 September 1930 to Isabella Seddon at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church on Great Crosshall Street. They were both aged 30.
Spouse history: Isabella was born on 9 April 1900, one of the nine children of Henry Seddon and Margaret Jordan, being christened at Holy Cross during April. In 1901 her father worked as a ‘farm carter’ – someone who drove a horse and cart on a farm – and a curious occupation for a city-dweller. The family lived on Great Crosshall Street, although by 1921 Isabella lived with her elderly aunt a few doors down.
Children: (1) Madeline in 1931, (2) John in 1934, (3) Francis in 1937. John sadly died aged three.
Occupations: the 1921 census shows that 21-year-old Frank helped to run the family businesses while Isabella was a soap wrapper for Lever Brothers in Port Sunlight. When the National Register was taken in September 1939, 39-year-old Frank was a motor driver (town delivery). However, during the war he appeared to take over the running of the family chippy alongside siblings Johnny and Maria, which they ran together into the 1970s.
Residences: they lived with Isabella’s parents until 1938 when they moved around the corner into a terraced house of their own. They lived on Standish Street until at least 1970. An adjoining property was occupied throughout by Isabella’s brother Christopher and wife Mary. Her youngest brother George also lived with them during the pre-war period.
- Frank: 2/4 Islington Place, Liverpool (1901-1930); 49 Great Crosshall Street, Liverpool (1932-1938); 29 Standish Street, Liverpool (1938-1970)
- Isabella: 49 Great Crosshall Street, Liverpool (1901-1938); 54 Great Crosshall Street, Liverpool (1921); 29 Standish Street, Liverpool (1938-1970)
Deaths: 80-year-old Isabella died in hospital on 5 March 1981 after a lengthy illness. She was survived by Frank until his death three years later on 26 October 1984 when aged 84. They were both buried at Ford Cemetery after a Requiem Mass at Holy Cross.
Notes: Frank was a very prominent and well-loved member of the Holy Cross Church community and drank in the pubs around Standish Street off Great Crosshall Street.
G3: John Gianelli (1934-1938)
Birth: John Gianelli was born in Liverpool during 1934. He was the second child of Frank and Isabella.
Residences: 49 Great Crosshall Street, Liverpool (1934-1938)
Death: John died at home on 11 January 1938 when aged 3 and was buried in the same plot as his paternal grandparents in Ford Cemetery.
G4: Dominico Gianelli (1901-1903)
Birth: Dominico Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 23 October 1901. She was the third child of John and Madeline.
Christening: 6 November 1901 at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church on Great Crosshall Street.
Residences: 2/4 Islington Place, Liverpool (1901-1903)
Death: 20 January 1903 when aged 15 months. She was buried at Ford Cemetery.
Notes: other than on her birth registration, Dominico is usually cited as ‘Domenica’, but since it is Dominico that is also written on her headstone that is what we will use. She also had a namesake cousin who later lived with her parents, but baptism records show that this was definitely their niece.
G4: Mary Madelina Gianelli (1903-1993)
Birth: Mary Madelina Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 4 December 1903. She was the fourth child of John and Madeline. Commonly known as Lena.
Christening: 20 December 1903 at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church on Great Crosshall Street.
Residences: by 1911 Lena had permanently moved in with her paternal uncle Joe Gianelli and his wife Annie (and was actually scrubbed off her parent’s census return). They lived in a large 9-bed house on Norwood Grove in an affluent area of West Derby. Joe had found success as a bookmaker, becoming one of the best known in the north of England. When he died in 1928, he left his considerable estate (worth £315,500 today) to Annie and Lena. The National Register of 1939 captured them living together in a large house in the coastal town of Hoylake on the Wirral, perhaps rented to escape the expected bombing of the city. Post-war, Lena continued to live at Norwood Grove until 1960, after which the house was converted into four flats.
- 14 Norwood Grove, Liverpool (1911-1960); 5 Cleveley Road, Hoylake (1939)
Death: Lena died at Edgeworth House nursing home in the village of Bebington on 17 May 1993 when aged 89. She never married.
G4: Joseph Gerard Gianelli (1905-1982)
Birth: Joseph Gerard Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 25 September 1905. He was the fifth child of John and Madeline.
Christening: 8 October 1905 at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church on Great Crosshall Street.
Marriage: during 1947 to Margaret Kirby. He was aged 41 and she was just 22.
Spouse history: Margaret was born on 19 June 1924. The 1939 Register had captured her living in a typical terraced house on Dell Street near Wavertree Botanic Gardens. This was the home of Thomas Heron and his children, who was likely her maternal grandfather.
Children: two children born in 1948 and 1951.
Occupations: the 1921 census shows that 15-year-old Joseph helped in the running of the family businesses. By the outbreak of war he worked as a bookmaker, perhaps alongside his successful uncle Joe. He likely kept an office on Islington. Margaret at this time was a tobacco stripper. Post-war Joseph became a youth hostel warden, perhaps at the Snowdon Ranger Hotel.
Residences: Joseph lived with his parents until he married Margaret at the age of 41. The couple moved to Wales straight after their marriage.
- Joseph: 2/4 Islington Place, Liverpool (1905-1947); 6 Pinehurst Avenue, Liverpool (1982)
- Margaret: 3 Dell Street, Liverpool (1939)
Deaths: Joseph died in Walton Hospital on 17 September 1982 when aged 76. He was cremated at Anfield Crematorium after Requiem Mass at Holy Cross. Margaret survived him for some time, and in 2002 appeared to live with her son in Caernarfon.
G4: Maria Gianelli (1907-1993)
Birth: Maria Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 18 October 1907. She was the sixth child of John and Madeline.
Christening: 3 November 1907 at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church on Great Crosshall Street.
Marriage: on 17 April 1948 to Giacomo Busani. She was aged 40 and he was 33.
Spouse history: Giacomo, commonly known as John, had been born in Bristol on 15 April 1915 to a mother with the maiden name of Silva. In September 1939 when aged 24 he lived alone in a semi-detached house on Moffatdale Road next to Anfield Cemetery.
Upon the declaration of war there were some 73,000 resident Germans and Austrians living in the UK. Home Office internment tribunals examined the case of each one and separated them into three categories: Category C were viewed as ‘friendly aliens’, B as subject to some restrictions, and A were considered high risk and sent to internment camps being set up across the country. Mussolini declared war on Britain and France on 10 June 1940, and overnight all 20,000 Italians resident in the United Kingdom saw themselves classified as enemy aliens. The situation was very different to just nine months before however – the defeated British Army had been rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk just days before and the country faced the very real threat of an imminent German invasion. Churchill was keen to ‘collar the lot’ and then ‘pick out the good ones’. More than 4,000 Italian subjects, mainly men, were arrested on or just after 10 June 1940. These were predominately those who had lived in Britain for less than 20 years, and who were between the ages of 16 and 70.
Amongst those interned was John Busani. At this point he was 25 years old and had been born in England, so why he was interned is not known. It is possible that he was a member of the Italian fascist party and therefore consider a security risk.
The increase in numbers of internees led to a serious space problem and following offers from the Canadian and Australian governments, more than 7,500 were shipped overseas. John sailed to Canada on the SS Ettrick on 3 July 1940. As the war progressed, many aliens were released and by August 1942 only 5,000 remained interned, but this still included John. He remained in Canada until shipped to the Isle of White onboard the SS Monsted, arriving on 27 July 1943. The sea-front hotels & guest houses in Ramsey and Douglas were surrounded by barbed wire fences and houses internees for the duration of the war. John remained interned there until 2 March 1944, among the last to be released.
Residences: 13-year-old Maria is curiously scrubbed off her parent’s 1921 census return, although we know that she lived at home until well into her thirties. After their marriage the couple lived on Moffatdale Road until the end of their lives.
- Maria: 2/4 Islington Place, Liverpool (1907-1947); 1 Moffatdale Road, Liverpool (1949-1993)
- John: 1 Moffatdale Road, Liverpool (1939-1982)
Occupation: when the National Register was taken in September 1939, 31-year-old Maria worked as an unpaid domestic helper, probably keeping the home while the rest of the family worked in their businesses. Several of her adult siblings also lived at home, along with several boarders, so this was probably quite a job. During the war Maria and her siblings Johnny and Frank took over the running of the family chippy from their mother, which they ran together into the 1970s. John was a terrazzo layer – someone who made walkways, floors, patios, and panels by placing marble chips and other fine aggregates on a bed of concrete.
Deaths: John died at home on the final day of 1982 when aged 67 and was buried in Anfield Cemetery. Maria survived him for 11 years and died on 23 May 1993, when aged 85. She was cremated at Anfield Cemetery and her ashes put on the grave of her husband.
Notes: John was never registered to vote, perhaps due to his background.
G4: Stephen Gianelli (1909-1973)
Birth: Stephen Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 20 November 1909. He was the seventh child of John and Madeline.
Christening: 5 December 1909 at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church on Great Crosshall Street. Madeline Frediani was his godmother.
Marriage: on 15 June 1938 to Tamar Elizabeth Bullen. He was aged 28 and he was 24.
Spouse history: Tamar was born in Liverpool on 27 December 1913 to grocer’s clerk Edmund Bullen and wife Maggie Blake Armistead. The family lived in a flat above a shop on the main Kirkdale Road, with Tamar christened at nearby St Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church on 11 January 1914. She still lived here with her mother at the time of her marriage.
Children: (1) Nora in 1942, (2) a girl in 1944.
Residences: the newlyweds moved out to West Derby where they lived in a new semi-detached house on Eaton Gardens. They lived there into the 1970s, sharing their home with Tamar’s mother Maggie throughout this time.
- Stephen: 2/4 Islington Place, Liverpool (1909-1938); 87 Eaton Gardens, Liverpool (1939-1973)
- Tamar: 27A Kirkdale Road, Liverpool (1914-1939); 87 Eaton Gardens, Liverpool (1939-1968)
Occupations: Steve was a terrazzo layer with apparent specialism in laying the concrete that the marble chips were laid upon. He served with the Royal Army Medical Corps during the war. His last job was as a security guard.
Deaths: Tamar died of ovarian cancer on 2 December 1968, when aged just 54. She was cremated at Liverpool Crematorium after a service at St Paul’s Church. Steve died of lung cancer at home on 20 July 1973 when aged 63. He was also cremated at Liverpool Crematorium.
Notes: in the early 1950s Steve suffered a significant trauma that is best told by the newspaper reports of the time. The story begins in the Liverpool Echo on 31 May 1952:
A team of six railwaymen crawled beneath a train at Hamilton Square Station, Birkenhead, yesterday afternoon to rescue 45-year-old Stephen Gianelli, a workman of 87 Eaton Gardens, West Derby, who fell from the crowded platform at 4.30 yesterday afternoon. Gianelli, who was taken to Birkenhead General Hospital with severe head and arm injuries and given emergency blood transfusions was this morning ‘still very ill’. The rescuers were led by 41-years-old Mr. Arthur Evans, a cricket inspector, of Church Road, Bebington, and the driver of the train, Mr. W. Blackwell, of Linwood Road, Tranmere. Mr. Evans said “The moment I saw the man fall I ran to the phone and asked for the current to be switched off. Then the train driver and I crawled under the train and found the man under the second coach. By a miracle he had missed the live rail. As he was too heavy for us we crawled back for help. A guard, a porter and two passengers came under the train and helped us to get him to the platform.” The man fell just as the train was drawing in from the direction of Park Station. The driver applied the brakes but the carriage went over Gianelli. Trains were held up for a quarter of an hour. Police waited outside the hospital until Gianelli was identified at three o'clock this morning.
In an update six weeks later:
Evidence that his wife and a nurse heard a man in his delirium in hospital shout ‘Do not push me’ was given at Birkenhead Magistrates’ Court today when Stephen Gianelli, aged 42, director of a Liverpool mosaic firm, of 87 Eaton Gardens, Liverpool, was found guilty of attempting to commit suicide by throwing himself in front of a Mersey Railway electric train at Hamilton Square Station, Birkenhead. He was conditionally discharged. Inspector H. Marchant said the incident occurred at 4.35pm on May 30, and Gianelli was very severely injured by a train entering the station on its way to Liverpool. The train driver, William Blackwell, of 91 Linwood Road, Tranmere, said as the train was entering Hamilton Square Station he saw a figure jump from the platform with his arms and knees up and fall in front of the train. “From the speed I came to the conclusion that it was a definite jump”. He immediately stopped the train and the current was switched off, but he had to move the train backwards because the man was underneath the bogie of the second coach. He was removed by an inspector, two porters and three passengers. Replying to Mr. H. Munro, witness said there was also a crowd of people on the platform for that train on Fridays. He did not notice any turbulence amongst the passengers and did not see Gianelli before he jumped. Dr. D.R. Dunn, senior orthopaedic surgeon or Birkenhead General Hospital, said Gianelli had severe head injuries and there was an almost complete amputation of his right arm, which was completed in the operating theatre. He had no idea of time or place and it was several days before he knew where he was, or that he had lost an arm. During the first two or three nights in hospital the sister told him he kept shouting ‘Do not push me’. Replying to Mr. Munro, witness said it was unlikely Gianelli had a fainting fit on the platform, as there was no history of such fits. Mr. Munro - Is it feasible that the injuries he received may have caused loss of memory, because he knows nothing of this accident and can tell me nothing? - I should expect that. Several witnesses who were on the platform gave evidence. Mrs Margaret C. Munro of 9 Mill Green, Willaston, said she saw someone jump as the train was entering the station. The person seemed to spring into the air on to the line. George Kevin, of 10 Chester Street, Liverpool, said the man who jumped was alone on the platform. George Thompson of Malden Road, Liverpool, who was sitting on a seat near the top end of the platform, said he was watching for the train to enter when he saw the man jump. There were three or four people some yards from him. Gianelli told the court he could recollect nothing of the incident. Mrs. Gianelli said she knew no reason for her husband to commit suicide. There was no domestic trouble. She heard her husband in hospital cry out ‘Do not push me’. Mr. Munro submitted that the evidence of attempted suicide had not been proved. Afterwards Mr. Munro said his instructions were to take the case to appeal.
This would have been a traumatic event for the family to deal with, and it’s not known how Steve could have continued as a terrazzo layer with only one arm.
G4: Dominic Gianelli (1912-1918)
Birth: Dominic Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 4 August 1912. He was the eighth child of John and Madeline.
Christening: 14 August 1912 at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church on Great Crosshall Street.
Residences: 2/4 Islington Place, Liverpool (1912-1918)
Death: Dominic died on 31 May 1918 when aged just five and was buried in the family plot in Ford Cemetery.
Note: some sources cite him as “Dominico”, but since it is Dominic that is written on his headstone that is what we will use.
G4: Albert Angelo Gianelli (1914-1986)
Birth: Albert Angelo Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 3 December 1914. He was the eighth child of John and Madeline.
Christening: 13 December 1914 at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church on Great Crosshall Street.
Marriage: to Doreen Herrod during 1943 in Liverpool. He was aged 28 and she was 24.
Spouse history: Doreen was born on 15 April 1918, the second child of Joseph Herrod and Catherine Mary Corson, and was christened at St Bridget’s Church in Toxteth. Her father was a painter who in 1921 worked for the Liverpool Corporation at their Lister Drive power station. The family lived in a small red brick terraced house on Goswell Street next to Wavertree Playground, wedged between two train tracks but also close to a large park. In 1938 they moved around the corner to a flat above a shop on the main Picton Road.
Children: (1) Stephen in 1952.
Occupations: in 1939 Albert was a terrazzo layer while Doreen was an accounts clerk.
Residences: the newlyweds appeared to alternate between living with their parents.
- Albert: 2/4 Islington Place, Liverpool (1914-1945, 1948-1952, 1955-1956); 10 Rathbone Road, Liverpool (1945-1947)
- Doreen: 75 Goswell Street, Liverpool (1918-1939); 135A Picton Road, Liverpool (1939); 2/4 Islington Place, Liverpool (1945, 1948-1952, 1956); 10 Rathbone Road, Liverpool (1945-1947)
Deaths: Albert died in Liverpool in April 1986, when aged 71.
G5: Caterina Gianelli (1871-1943) & Joseph Frediani (1862-1916)
See the Frediani line for the history of Caterina and her descendants.
G5: Francisco Gianelli (1873-?)
Birth: Francisco Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 22 November 1873. He was the third child of John and Dominica. He was commonly known as Francis.
Christening: on 16 December 1873 at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church on Grosvenor Street. He was confirmed in the same church on 12 December 1884.
Marriage: on 4 December 1900 to Margaret Mooney at St Joseph’s. He was aged 27 and she was 22.
Spouse history: Margaret was born in Liverpool on 4 August 1877 to general labourer Michael Mooney and his wife Mary, who were likely Irish. She was christened at Holy Cross during September. The family had little money and lived in a series of small court houses off Scotland Road. These cramped houses were very poor quality, with just a single toilet and tap shared by the entire court.
Children: (1) Dominica in 1902, (2) Mary in 1903, (3) Joseph in 1905, (4) Francis in 1907.
Residences: the family lived in a series of dinghy court or small terraced houses within the same neighbourhood. For example, Spring Place was a tiny terraced house on what can only be described as a ginnel off Springfield Street near Lime Street Station.
- Francis: 73 Gerard Street, Liverpool (1881); 3/9 Court, Holly Street, Liverpool (1900); 4/3 Court, Clare Street, Liverpool (1902); 13 Spring Place, Springfield Street, Liverpool (1903); 9/6 Court, Comus Street, Liverpool (1906)
- Margaret: 2/6 Court, Bent Street, Liverpool (1881); 13/6 Court, Comus Street, Liverpool (1891); 6/1 Court, Comus Street, Liverpool (1900); 4/3 Court, Clare Street, Liverpool (1902); 13 Spring Place, Springfield Street, Liverpool (1903); 9/6 Court, Comus Street, Liverpool (1906); 12/6 Court, Comus Street, Liverpool (1914)
Deaths: Margaret died in 1914 when about 34 years old and was buried in Ford Cemetery. Nothing more is known about the fate of Francis.
Notes: Francis is missing from the 1891 census, and both Francis and Margaret are missing from the 1901 and 1911 census.
G4: Dominica Gianelli (1902-1978)
Birth: Dominica Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 22 February 1902. She was the first child of Francis and Margaret.
Christening: on 3 March 1902 at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church on Grosvenor Street.
Marriage: in 1940, at the age of 37, Dominica married Hugh Williams.
Children: their only child was born in 1941.
Occupation: Dominica worked in the chippy and by 1939 was the manager.
Residences: the 1921 census shows that Dominica lived with her uncle John Gianelli and family in their large property on the comer of Islington Place and Christian Street, which comprised the chippy, a boarding house, and an ice cream making business. She still lived there almost two decades later. After wedding Hugh the young family lived in a red-brick terraced house on Lugard Road, part of a reasonably new estate in the Aigburth, until at least 1970.
- Dominica: 4/3 Court, Clare Street, Liverpool (1902); 13 Spring Place, Springfield Street, Liverpool (1903); 9/6 Court, Comus Street, Liverpool (1906); 2/4 Islington Place, Liverpool (1921-1939); 15 Lugard Road, Liverpool (1945-1970)
- Hugh: 15 Lugard Road, Liverpool (1945-1970)
Deaths: Dominica died in Liverpool during April 1978 when aged 76.
G4: Mary Gianelli (1903-1977)
Birth: Mary Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 14 August 1903. She was the second child of Francis and Margaret.
Christening: on 23 August 1903 at St Francis Xavier’s Roman Catholic Church on Salisbury Street.
Marriage: on 4 February 1924 to Peter Sylvester Burns. She was aged 20 and he was 19.
Spouse history: Peter was born in Liverpool on 3 July 1904, one of at least seven children of Stephen and Margaret Burns. He was christened a few weeks later at St Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church in Kirkdale. The family lived in just around the corner on Leyden Street, moving a few yards to Lamb Street by 1911. His father was a dock labourer. Peter’s mother had died by 1921, when he lived with his father and sister in a court house off Boundary Street.
Children: (1) Margret in 1924, (2) Dominica in 1925, (3) Eileen in 1930, (4) Peter in 1931, (5) Dennis in 1936.
Occupations: when aged 16, Peter worked as a ‘houseman’ in the offices of the Liverpool Echo newspaper on Victoria Street. This was someone employed for cleaning, maintenance, and other general work to keep a property presentable and running smoothly. He later became a driver.
Residences: in 1939 the family lived in a terraced house on Rendal Street near Anfield Cemetery. It appears that by 1942 they had swapped houses with Mary’s cousin, the recently widowed Madelina Jones. They lived on the Islington main road until 1959. By the 1970s they had moved out of the centre to a semi-detached house on a housing estate in Aintree.
- Mary: 9/6 Court, Comus Street, Liverpool (1906); 48 Rendal Street, Liverpool (1939); 58 Islington, Liverpool (1945-1959)
- Peter: 6 Leyden Street, Liverpool (1904); 57 Lamb Street, Liverpool (1911); 4/9 Court (Painter’s Buildings), Boundary Street, Liverpool (1921); 48 Rendal Street, Liverpool (1939); 58 Islington, Liverpool (1945-1959); 42 Rugby Drive, Aintree (1973)
Deaths: Peter died in Walton Hospital on 6 May 1973 aged 68. He was cremated at Liverpool Crematorium on 10 May. Dominica died four years later.
G3: Margaret M. Burns (1924-2010)
Birth: Margaret M. Burns was born in Liverpool on 13 July 1924. She was the first child of Peter and Mary.
Marriage: to Joseph Gerald Wilson during 1951. She was aged 26 and he was 23.
Spouse history: Joseph was born on 27 May 1927 to engine fitter Richard Wilson and his wife Susan McCabe. In 1939 the family lived on Wernbrook Road near Anfield Cemetery.
Children: they had one child in 1951.
Residences:
- Margaret: 48 Rendal Street, Liverpool (1939); 58 Islington, Liverpool (1945-1950)
- Joseph: 36 Wernbrook Road, Liverpool (1939-1949)
Deaths: Joseph died in Liverpool on 5 August 2002 aged 75. Mary likely died in 2010.
G3: Dominica Burns (1925-2009)
Birth: Dominica Burns was born in Liverpool on 29 December 1925. She was the second child of Peter and Mary.
Residences: we know that she lived with her parents until at least 1959, when she was aged 34.
- 48 Rendal Street, Liverpool (1939); 58 Islington, Liverpool (1945-1959)
Death: in Liverpool on 20 December 2009 when aged 84.
G3: Dennis Joseph Burns (1936-2006)
Birth: Dennis Joseph Burns was born in Liverpool on 10 June 1936. He was the second child of Peter and Mary.
Residences: we know that he lived with her parents until at least 1959.
- 48 Rendal Street, Liverpool (1939); 58 Islington, Liverpool (1945-1959)
Death: in Liverpool on 12 October 2006 when aged 70.
Notes: Dennis possibly married Maureen McAnaulty in 1960.
G4: Joseph Gianelli (1905-1906)
Birth: Joseph Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 4 April 1905. He was the third child of Francis and Margaret.
Christening: on 15 April 1905 at St Francis Xavier’s Roman Catholic Church on Salisbury Street.
Residences: 9/6 Court, Comus Street, Liverpool (1906).
Death: he died aged 18 months and was buried in Ford Cemetery on 4 November 1906.
Frank was mentioned in an article in the Liverpool Echo on 13 September 1975:
G4: Francis Joseph Gianelli (1907-1973)
Birth: Francis Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 1 July 1907. He was the fourth child of Francis and Margaret. His mother died in 1914 when Frank was just seven years old.
Marriage: he married Jessie Jones on 31 July 1932 when they were both 25 years old.
Spouse history: Jessie was born in Liverpool on 13 December 1906 to Gerald and Mary Jones. She was christened on Christmas Eve at Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church on St Domingo Road. In 1911 the family lived in a terraced house on Rivington Street near Stanley Park. Her parents had an impressive 12 children, although only five still lived and four were at home. Jessie’s father worked as a general labourer for a dry soap works, as did her eldest sister, Mary.
Children: (1) Della in 1933.
Residences: in 1921 Frank lived with his wealthy uncle Joe Gianelli in his large house on Norwood Grove in West Derby. After Della’s birth they moved to a brand-new housing estate in West Derby, built to rehouse families displaced by the slum clearances of Scotland Road. The estates proved unpopular with many however, and by 1938 the family was back in their old neighbourhood in a smaller terraced house on Balfour Street. They lived here for at least the next three decades.
- Frank: 14 Norwood Grove, Liverpool (1921); 22 Rothbury Road, Liverpool (1934); 34 Balfour Street, Liverpool (1938-1970)
- Jessie: 15 Rivington Street, Liverpool (1911-1921); 22 Rothbury Road, Liverpool (1934); 34 Balfour Street, Liverpool (1938-1970)
Occupations: Frank briefly served as a merchant seaman before becoming a builder’s labourer, specifically a marble mason. Mary worked from a young age as a chocolate dipper for Barker & Dobson on Whitefield Road, which was on its way to becoming one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in Britain.
Military service: Frank enlisted into the Royal Artillery on 28 March 1928 for an initial period of six and a half years. He was given serial number 779915, but his service appears to have been short lived as he was discharged four months later under paragraph 370 (VI) of the King’s Regulations, which was likely due to him failing his training or otherwise being considered incapable of becoming an effective soldier.
Deaths: Frank died in Liverpool on 5 April 1973 when aged 65. Jessie survived him by almost a quarter of a century and died on 28 October 1997 aged 90. She was cremated at Springwood Crematorium.
Notes: he started to be recorded as ‘Joseph Francis’ from around 1927. He was described as 5 feet and 8 inches tall with brown eyes, black hair, and a dark complexion. It is interesting to note that the 1939 Register has his year of birth wrong, putting him older than he was.
G3: Della Gianelli (1933-2021)
Birth: Della Gianelli was born in Liverpool during 1933. She was the only child of Francis and Jessie.
Residences: Della lived with her parents for the rest of their lives and called Balfour Street home for at least 60 years.
- 34 Balfour Street, Liverpool (1955-1970, 2002-2008)
Death: in October 2021 when aged 88. It’s not thought that she ever married.
G5: Joseph Gianelli (1875-1928)
Birth: Joseph Gianelli was born in Liverpool during 1875. He was the fourth child of John and Dominica. He was commonly known as Joe.
Marriage: on 5 April 1898 to Annie Anderson at the Church of Our Lady and St Nicholas with St Anne on Chapel Street near Prince’s Dock. He was aged 23 and she was 21.
Spouse history: Annie came from Göteborg (Gothenburg), the second largest city in Sweden, having been born there during 1877 to fruit dealer Peter Anderson.
Children: they had no children of their own, but appeared to have adopted Joe’s niece Lena, who lived with them for the remainder of their lives. They also took in their nephew Francis after the death of his mother, Joe’s sister.
Occupation: in 1891 15-year-old Joe worked as a hawker, like his elder brother, who was a street seller who carried his wares with him. Joe became a labourer and in 1901 worked on tunnels, but his fortune changed drastically when he found success as a bookmaker. Joe became one of the best known in the north of England with some of the biggest commissions then on record. From at least 1919 Joe kept an office on Union Street, a smart street close to Prince’s Dock in the city centre.
Residences: At the time of their marriage, Joe lived on Brown Street, while Annie lived a few doors down. They remained in the close-knit Italian community, and in 1901 lived with Joe’s brother John and family in the boarding house that they ran on the corner of Islington Place and Christian Street. Following Joe’s business success the couple moved into a large 9-bed terraced house on Norwood Grove in an affluent area of West Derby, where they would live for the rest of their lives.
The only exception to this seemed to be after the outbreak of war in 1939 when Annie and Lena had a large house in the coastal town of Hoylake on the Wirral, which they perhaps rented to escape the expected bombing of the city.
Following Joe’s death, Annie and Lena took in a series of long-term lodgers through to the 1950s, including couples, families, and single people, although it is possible that part of the large house had been converted into an apartment. Norwood Grove was fully converted into four flats in the 1960s.
- Joe: 73 Gerard Street, Liverpool (1881); 10 Islington Place, Liverpool (1891); 26 Brown Street, Liverpool (1898); 2/4 Islington Place, Liverpool (1901); 14 Norwood Grove, Liverpool (1908-1928)
- Annie: 15 Brown Street, Liverpool (1898); 2/4 Islington Place, Liverpool (1901); 14 Norwood Grove, Liverpool (1908-1958); 5 Cleveley Road, Hoylake (1939)
Deaths: Joe died in a nursing home on Rodney Street on 1 November 1928 when aged just 53 (despite what his obituary says!) and was buried in Ford Cemetery. He bequeathed £9,442 16s. 9d. (around £315,500) to Annie and Lena. His esteem was demonstrated in the obituary printed in the Liverpool Echo on the very day that he died:
The death occurred at a Rodney Street nursing home, this morning, of Mr. Joseph Giaenelli. Mr. Gianelli was in his 55th year, and was one of the best-known bookmakers in the North of England. He had lived in Liverpool all his life, but came of Italian parentage. He leaves a widow, but no family. He was a member of the Liverpool Commission Agents’ Association, serving on the committee of that body for a time. As befitted one who worked some of the biggest commissions on record, Mr. Gianelli had gained a name for scrupulous fairness in his dealings, and was well respected wherever he went.
This was followed by another article three days later:
Sportsmen generally, and bowlers particularly, in which latter pastime he took a great interest, heard with much regret of the sudden death of Mr. Joseph Gianelli. Mr Gianelli was a generous supporter of bowls, and the several clubs with which he was connected in Liverpool were frequently the recipients of handsome and valuable prizes for their mains. He was one of the oldest members of the Royal Excelsior Bowling Club, Aintree, where his genial character and good sportsmanship made him deservedly popular.
Annie died at home on 26 January 1958 when aged 81 and was buried in Anfield Cemetery. She left her estate of £1,274 16s. 6d. (the equivalent of £22,200 today) to her still spinster niece Lena.
Notes: in March 1918, Joe spent £1,000 (around £60k today) on war bonds to help Liverpool beat Glasgow and take the record for the highest takings in a single week. His donation was listed in the Liverpool Echo on 9 March, and it is noticeable that the other large donations were from companies or other organisations rather than individuals like Joe. During the next war, Annie was thanked in the Liverpool Evening Express in November 1941 and again in November 1943 for contributions of ‘silver paper’ to help their cot fund at the Royal Liverpool Children’s Hospital.
G5: Magdalena Gianelli (1879-1885)
Birth: Magdalena Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 8 September 1879. She was the fifth child of John and Dominica.
Christening: on 21 September 1879 at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church on Grosvenor Street.
Residences: 73 Gerard Street, Liverpool (1881-1885)
Death: Magdalena died aged six and was buried in Ford Cemetery on 8 October 1885.
G5: Maria Gianelli (1882-?)
Birth: Maria Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 20 March 1882. She was the sixth child of John and Dominica.
Christening: on 13 April 1882 at St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church on Grosvenor Street.
Residences: 73 Gerard Street, Liverpool
Notes: Maria does not appear on the 1891 census and there is no further record of her.
G5: Domenico Gianelli (1889-?)
Birth: Domenico Gianelli was born in Liverpool on 13 April 1889. She was the seventh child of John and Dominica.
Residences: 10 Islington Place, Liverpool (1891)
Notes: There is no further record of him.
One Response
Hi, my dad is Stephen – born in 1952… to Albert and Doreen 🙂 I showed my family this thread, it was a great read!