18
Britalians
Britalians
Britalians or British-Italians can refer either to Italians residing in the United Kingdom, or more specifically to British people of full or partial Italian descent. In this thread I will focus more on people of both British and Italian descent, including not only residents of the United Kingdom but also any people of Italian and British/Irish descent around the world.
Britain and Ireland
Romano-British Times
Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and custom. It survived the 5th century Roman departure from Britain. Scholars such as Christopher Snyder believe that during the 5th and 6th centuries — approximately from AD 410 when the Roman legions withdrew, to AD 597 when St Augustine of Canterbury arrived — southern Britain preserved an active sub-Roman culture that survived the attacks from the Anglo-Saxons and even used a vernacular Latin when writing. So deep was the impact of the Romans in Britain that even one of the most important figures of the Brythonic mythology was said to be half-British/half-Italian: King Arthur.
During these times, British Romance was the Vulgar Latin spoken in southern Great Britain (what became England and Wales) in Late Antiquity (an era also known in British history as "Sub-Roman"). As an interesting point, we have Brithenig, that started as a thought experiment to create a Romance language that might have evolved if Latin had displaced the native Celtic language as the spoken language of the people in Great Britain.
Middle Ages to the 1500’s
One of the first proper Italian communities in England started from the merchants and sailors living in Southampton. The famous "Lombard Street" in London took its name from the small but powerful community from Italian Lombardy and northern Italy, living there as bankers and merchants after the year 1,000 AD.
In 1303, Edward I negotiated an agreement with the Lombard merchant community that secured custom duties and certain rights and privileges. The revenues from the customs duty were handled by the Riccardi, a group of bankers from Lucca in Italy.
This was in return for their service as money lenders to the crown, which helped finance the Welsh Wars. When the war with France broke out, the French king confiscated the Riccardi's assets, and the bank went bankrupt. After this, the Frescobaldi of Florence took over the role as money lenders to the English crown.
According to historian Michael Wayatt, there was "a small but influential community" of Italians "that took shape in England in the fifteenth century initially consisting of ecclesiastics, renaissance humanists, merchants, bankers, and artists.
Industrial Revolution to the World War II
Many Italians arrived in Britain during the 18th and 19th centuries. In Wales, Italian immigrants, mainly originating in the Apennine Mountains and in particular the town of Bardi, established a network of cafés, ice cream parlours and fish and chip shops in Wales from the 1890s onwards. In the Rhondda Valley they became known as 'Bracchis' after an early café owner. The brothers Frank and Aldo Berni, who started in business in Merthyr Tydfil, went on to found the Berni Inn chain.
Many Italian-Scots can also trace their ancestry back to the 1890s where their forefathers escaped drought, famine and poverty in their homeland for a better life in Scotland; yet it was not until World War I that a sizeable population of Italian-Scots—over 4,000—began to emerge, with Glasgow hosting the third largest community in the United Kingdom. Since then, there has been a steady flow of migration between the two countries.
When Second World War came the Italians in Great Britain had built a respected community for themselves. But the announcement of Benito Mussolini’s decision to side with Adolf Hitler’s Germany in 1940 had a devastating effect. By order of parliament all aliens were to be interned, although there were few active fascists. The majority had lived in this country peacefully for many years, and had even fought side by side with British soldiers in the First World War. Some had married British women and even taken British citizenship.
This anti-Italian feeling led to a night of nationwide riots against the Italian communities on June 11, 1940. The Italians were now seen as a national security threat linked to the feared British Union of Fascists, and Winston Churchill instructed “collar the lot!”. All Italian men between the ages of 17 and 60 were arrested after his speech. They were transported to camps across the country.
Nowadays
In the 1950s Italian emigration started again to some areas of Great Britain (like Manchester), even if relatively limited in number. It was made mainly of southern Italians. But in the 1960s it tapered off and practically stopped in the 1970s.
The region of the country containing the most Italian Britons is London, where over 50,000 people of Italian birth live. Then there are Manchester, where 25,000 Italians live and Bedford, where there are approximately 20,000 people of Italian origin.
Today the Italians of the United Kingdom are vibrant in all aspects of British life, contributing mainly to areas of media and entertainment, the arts, sport, business, research and innovation.
Examples:
Lawrence Dallaglio (1/2 Italian, 1/4 Irish, 1/4 English)
Claire Forlani (1/2 Italian, 1/2 English)
Peter Capaldi (1/2 Italian, 1/2 Irish)
Sergio Pizzorno (1/4 Italian, 3/4 English)
Louis Theroux (1/4 Italian, 1/4 French-Canadian, 1/2 English)
Tom Conti (1/2 Italian, 1/2 Scottish)
Sharleen Spiteri (1/2 Italian, 1/4 Maltese, 1/4 Irish)
Victor Spinetti (1/2 Italian, 1/2 Welsh)
Andrew Vicari (1/2 Italian, 1/2 Welsh)
Pino Palladino (1/2 Italian, 1/2 Welsh)
Brits in Italy
The opposite also happened, with some notable British presence in Northern Italy. Most of the British that went to Italy were either Scottish or English. One interesting case if of the village of Gurro, high in the mountains of Italy.
The village of Gurro, near the Swiss border, can trace its roots back to a group of Highland soldiers who made their home there nearly 500 years ago. Each one of the 310 villagers is a direct descendant of the Highlander Scots troops. As a result, they speak an Italian dialect containing 800 words of Gaelic origin. Even their names reflect their Scottish roots, with names such as Donaldi used to this day. Each year, the villagers remember their Scottish heritage with a festival of parades and parties.
Another town that is an example of British settlement is Barga. In August there is a festival called "Sagra delle pesce e Patate" (Fish and Chips) in celebration of the Barga/Scottish connection.
New Worlders
In the New World, due to the great number of immigrants leaving their homelands behind in order to sick for a better life, a considerable mixing occurred. Italian and British/Irish mixes are not an exception. Those mixes are found mainly in the Anglosphere, especially in countries that had a big Italian influx, like the United States and Australia. These mixes can also be found in other parts of the world, like in Argentina or Brazil.
United States:
Robert DeNiro (1/4 Italian, 1/4 Irish, 1/4 English, 1/4 Dutch)
Lindsay Lohan (1/2 Italian, 1/2 Irish)
Australia:
Rachael Leahcar (1/4 Italian, 3/4 British)
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (3/4 Italian, 1/4 British)
Brazil:
Giovanna Ewbank (1/2 Italian, 1/2 Scottish)
Rita Lee (1/2 Confederada, 1/2 Italian)
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Graham
Bookmarks