The Barga Genealogy Research Group (BGRG) was formed several years ago by people whose ancestors came from Barga and the neighboring villages. These ancestors left Barga to sell plaster statues, fish and chips and gelato in countries all around the world. The purpose of the BGRG is to foster interest in Barga and to help members discover their roots from this area.
The Group has grown to 72 members in seven countries: Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, Italy and the USA. The Group has its own website where genealogical data can be shared
All this week, the BGRG has been holding a reunion in Barga to meet each other and to give members a chance to see their ancestral home.
One of the BGRG’s projects is to digitally photograph all of the church records from the seven parishes within the Barga Comune (Albiano, Barga, Castelvecchio, Loppia, San Pietro, Sommocolonia, and TIglio). The records include baptism, marriage, death, and stato d’amine (census) and some go back to the 1400’s when they were written in Latin. The photographing of the records will help to preserve the original documents by reducing the need for people seeking their ancestry to handle them and also will facilitate research. (full article about the BGRG here)
For many it was their first trip to Italy. There were various functions: tours, meals with traditional dishes and other events. One of the key events was on Sept 9 at the Sagra Della Polenta e Uccelli in Filecchio where the group had dinner and raised a glass of wine with the members’ relatives who have remained in Barga. There were be more than 70 people visiting Barga during this week.
One of the members, Max Griffin, held an exhibit of the plaster statue studios founded by Barghigiani. It included pictures, catalogs and statues from various studios including the Caproni Studio which was a major studio in Boston during the early part of the 20th Century. (article here)
This morning in the Palazzo Pancrazi there was a final meeting of the group with the Mayor of Barga to formally close the weeks events. You can hear the Mayor’s speech in full by clicking on the link below (in italiano and english)
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Is that Laura Gonnella doing the translation?
Please say hello to her from the Montgomerys. We’ve tried to e-mail her a few times in the last couple of years, but haven’t gotten through.
hello Dan, yes it was Laura Gonnella translating … I have passed on your message, expect an email from her shortly .. ciao
Yes, that is Laura Gonnella doing the translating and she did an excellent job helping me with the Caproni Cast exhibit and getting posters and brochures made. If you’re anticpating an email response, she does not check her emails when in Italy so it may ne Thanksgiving before you hear from her.
A big thanks, too, to Keane for your help and support in spreading the message to the world about my exhibit and the BGRG.
The BargaNews website is terrific and will help us stay in touch with the happenings in Barga. Listening to the vocal replay of the Mayor’s closing speech with Laura translating took us back to the day it actually happened. I was extremely excited when I heard Laura’s voice again as she was a godsend to us all and contributed so much to the success of the Caproni family reunion and the BGRG. Grazie and grande kudos to Roger “Max” Griffin, during our trip we came to know you and love you, and Peter, Missy and I can’t wait to see you again, hopefully in Bordeaux for our next trip ? You are an amazing person, and we cannot thank you enough for the beautiful staging of the exhibit, sharing all of your knowledge of the Caproni family and business, showing your personal collections, and all of your time spent with us all during our fabulous week in Barga. How incredibly giving and unselfish of you, we will treasure this week as the most amazing time sharing this learning adventure with new and old friends and family. I am still reading literature, maps and documents that we received and wish we were there now. Until the next time, Ciao Julie Caproni
Hi Laura,
I am trying to find my grandfathers birthplace, which is believed to be in a village in the Barga area.
His name was Vittorio Gonnella, born 1867.
We don’t know when came to England, he married Maria Luise Butteri in England. She was born in Holborn/London.
Are you by any chance able to help me?
Thanks very much.
Kind regards
Tony Youngs, Colchster, England
Hello Laura and Tony
My name is David Elsmore and Vittorio Gonnella and Maria Butteri were my grandparents, I know very little about them as my mother Emma Gonnella died when I was only four months old. Can you give me any more information. I have a small amount of information which we are currently working on.
kind regards
David Elsmore, Littleton, Winchester
We are trying to find information about our grandparents who were from Barga. Our grandfather, Cesare Luchini, was born March 24,1876. He left for America in 1900, settled in Boston and worked for Pietre Caproni. He married Annina Ferranti who came to America in1898 with her parents Raffaello and Malderea. Any information would be appreciated. We hope to be in Barga in October to continue our search.
Thhank you,
Ann Luchini
Ann,
I have information on your grandfather. My grandfather Leo Toschi was a friend and I have a picture of them together. My grandfather also worked for Pietro Caproni. I am a member of the Barga Geneology Research Group and have found a wealth of information I would be happy to share with you. I have been trying to find another link between our families for quite a while because I found on one of the census reports that my great grandfather lived with your great grandparents from the time he was about 4 or 5. I am not sure how he was orphaned but I am very interested in the possible link and how he came to be raised by the Luccini’s who were also my grandfathers godparents. Please feel free to contact me at angela79@bellsouth.net and I’ll be happy to share what I have. I am leaving Tuesday 3/31 for vacation in Italy and will be back at the end of April.
Response to Ann:
I have info on Cesare Luchini. I am seeking info on all the Luchinis of Boston in the last half of the 19th century and first decade of the 20th century. These Luchinis were all statue makers and worked for Caproni.
I am trying to trace the pieri family who I believe originated from the barga area. In 2008 I visited the tourist office in barga where I was shown the archives of the family pieri. Unfortunately vincenzo Pieri who would be my great grandfather was not shown in the records. But his father paulo pieri was.(this was shown on his marriage certificate) it is possible that he changed his name when he came to the uk .There is an entry of pieri in the uk's 1881census which shows he was working for a John Alberti together with vettonio Alberti,Guiseppe Cavagnass' Luigi Daprato and Guiseppo Nardini also shown on the census and were all from Barga. I am assuming they all came over from Italy to work for John Alberti who was a Statue Manufacturer. Is there anyone who throw any more light on m,y search. The tourist office has suggested that I get my great grandfathers mothers maiden name but I have had no luck in this.
The link in the article above (http://barga.homedns.org:81/) doesn't work – any chance you could post the correct link – many thanks
S
try this one – http://www.bargagen.org/