Collections Online

Oral history recording with Antonio Di Giacomo. Recorded as part of the Italian Memories in Wales project (2008-10), delivered by ACLI-ENAIP and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Part 5 of 5 (AV 11394-11398)

00:00:20 Antonio recalls leaving Italy. There was a standard joke in Italy that in England all you needed to do was shake the trees for money, though he thinks the move was mainly for his benefit as he had contracted polio as a young boy. The journey was at least three days and three nights. From Calatafimi they went to Milan, to Calais, across on the ferry, and to Victoria station. They would have then got a train to Wrexham. They received help from others in a similar situation on the journey who could relate to them. The trains would be full, he describes the packed trains, swollen ankles due to standing up for the whole journey.

00:06:25 Antonio’s father would write to them about his situation in Wrexham and the difficulties he faced not speaking the language. He recalls a situation where the farmer asked his father to fetch the cows, the word is similar to cause, which in Sicilian slang means trousers, so his father turned to look at the washing line. He remembers how different the surroundings were. As neither of his parents spoke English his mother depended on him when she needed to communicate, he thinks that changed their relationship. His father would work on the farm, and have allotments which he enjoyed doing but also helped with money. The family also had a plot of land in Sicily and his father always had the thought that he would return to a life in Sicily when they had enough money but they never uprooted again.

00:14:39 He describes working on the land; getting up with the sunrise and going to bed when the stars were out. His father was strong as an ox until he died due to working on the land all his life. His parents worked just as hard in Britain as in Italy, though it was different type of work. He describes farm work all done by hand in Italy. He recalls as a little boy being left in a small tent that his mother made whilst the others worked on the land. They would tie the cat to a stake near Antonio in order to scare away snakes or lizards that would be searching for shade. In Wales his mother worked in factories.

00:20:30 Antonio continues to talk about poverty in Italy; everyone depended on everyone else yet their life didn’t become a lot easier when they moved to Wales. After working on the farm his father worked for the building contractors McAlpine; they employed a lot of Italians for cheap labour. His father could only speak pigeon English whereas is mother spoke good English as she would mix with English people.

00:24:40 There was a big Italian community in Wrexham, who would mostly meet through church. They also formed an Italian club; they would have dances, bingo, food yet this has diminished. His sister was younger when she moved over, at three years old she would have learnt at a young age. He recalls school experiences, teachers and discipline in Wales.

00:32:50 He thinks his upbringing was more strict than other families. Coming from a poor country they would have been more limited. The family had to make a lot of sacrifices as they had no money. At a young age the children learnt that they, as well as their parents had to sacrifice things and they accepted that. His sister Josie is seven years younger than him. His job was to look after her whilst his mother carried out the housework, she would spend a whole day making bread. He talks about the thorough way in which his mother and grandmother kept the house. His grandmother in Italy would wash for the neighbours, she was a strong character and was 95 when she died. In Wales she would enjoy the wrestling on the television.

00:43:00 He talks about the respect for elders, and that grandparents would live with their families and teach them about life. He hopes to carry on telling these stories to his grandchildren and hopes that they will tell them to their grandchildren. His daughters knew their grandmother so they got to know her and they try to maintain the Italian way of life in the house. Unfortunately the culture waters down through the generations and only a certain amount can be maintained through telling stories.