Antonio Porrelli 1851-1890

Antonio, (1851 - 1890). Born on the 15th November 1851 in Picinisco, Italy he was the son of Giuseppe (1810 - 1893) and Fiorenza Porrelli (nee. Lanni). A description of Antonio given in 1869 records him as being 1.58 meters in height, with brown hair and eyebrows and chestnut brown eyes and as having a large mouth. He left Italy for France in 1869 and arrived in Paris on or around the 8th July. The reason why Antonio decided to leave his native Italy at such a young age, he was only seventeen, is unknown. But several logical explanations can be put forward, the first of which may have been Antonio's position within his family. He was the third son of a contadino (peasant farmer) and he therefore stood to inherit very little from his father, and the only option left for him if he stayed in Picinisco would be to work as an agricultural labourer in the fields of his father or another farmer. This combined with harsh social conditions, despite the efforts of Garibaldi and others who wanted to create a unified Italy with humanitarian ideals. Poverty and the oppression of the peasantry were wide spread, the standard of education was low, levels of taxation were unequal and the attempts at social reform appeared to be going no where. Even Garibaldi was to lament that: All my life I dreamed of a different Italy, not this wretched, poverty stricken, humiliated country that we see now, ruled by the dregs of the nation. The political situation in Italy could also be another factor in why Antonio decided to try and find his fortune in another country. During the period of 1848 to 1870 Italy was in a state of flux As people such as Giuseppe Mazzini, Giuseppe Garibaldi and Camillo Benso di Cavour struggled to unite Italy as a single nation state. Once in Paris in order to get work he had to report the Prefecture of the Police in order to obtain a 'passport' which would enable him to get work By the 15th August 1870 Antonio had arrived in Britain, possibly through the port of Glasgow, Scotland, as his passport bares the stamp of the Italian consulate there. At some point in 1870 it is thought that he moved to Bradford, Yorkshire and set up as a ice cream maker and confectioner, with a shop at 16a North Parade. However, there is one piece of evidence for the date of 1870, this is the top of an old bill slip which bares Antonio's business, address and the date 1870, but Antonio does not appear on the 1871 census for Bradford and the first time his name appears in the commercial directories for Bradford is 1877. Although, it must also be noted that one explanation for his absence from the 1871 census is that on that particular census night he was out of Bradford on business or some other reason. On the 1st February 1876 Antonio married Mary Caroline Davey the daughter of Richard Davey, in the Roman Catholic Chapel at Stott Hill, Bradford. Between 1876 and 1890 they had eight children, one of which died as a young child. By 1881 he had opened a second shop at 112 Manchester Road, Bradford and it is thought that he made ice cream and other confections for several big occasions in Bradford, including a party given by Sir Titus Salt. Although, it has to be noted that there is no physical proof for this, it is a 'fact' that has been passed down by word of mouth to Lilly Murphy (nee. Porrelli), Antonio's granddaughter. Antonio's life was cut short at the age of 38 by his death of Mitral Regurgitation (Dropsy) on the 16th July 1890 at Bradford Infirmary. He is buried in Undercliffe cemetery, Bradford, a private cemetery in which many of Bradford leading figures were buried.