Livorno Non-Catholic indexes (1818-1865) silently updating… Sunday, Dec 2 2012 

The Livorno’s Non-Catholic Civil Births’ Index (1818-1865) has been silently updated in the past few days, after the initial release of letters A-E, and is now fully published online. The index is comprised of 6666 single entries and a little over 1000 different family names.

Some more information on this source can be found here (also accessible from the blog homepage), otherwise you can  directly access the Births’ Index.

Livorno Non-Catholic Birth, Marriage, and Death indexes (1818-1865) are online. Monday, Nov 19 2012 

For the first time this fundamental source for the history of Livorno is being gradually published on this blog. The first batch of the Births’ Index is already online and it includes letters A through E totalling a little more than 2000 individuals.

The plan is to publish the totality of the three indexes (Births, Marriages and Deaths) in batches like the first one, a few letters at a time. Once completed, it will be a priceless source covering nearly 50 years (1818-1865) of  existence of the non-catholic minorities in Livorno. All births, marriages and deaths of any individual professing a non-catholic faith were recorded and indexed in these civil registers, including but not limited to: Jews, Dutchmen, Germans, English, Huguenots, Waldensians, Muslims, Orthodox Greeks, Protestants, et al.

Some more information on this source can be found here (also accessible from the blog homepage). There you will find answers to the following questions and, of course, the links to access the indexes:

– What are the “non-catholic indexes” of Livorno?

– What information do they include?

– What information can I expect to find in a full act?

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If you already know the answers you can click directly on the Births’ Indexes.

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UPDATE (Nov. 21st, 2012): Added letters F – G – H – I – J – K

Gould Francis Leckie (c.1767-1850): the rediscovered grave and a biography. Sunday, Mar 4 2012 

In 2009, during frequent email exchanges with Professor Michela D’Angelo and Dr. Diletta D’Andrea of the University of Messina I was informed that Dr. D’Andrea was carrying out a research on an English Esquire named Gould Francis Leckie. He was a classic scholar and a publicist who lived in England between the end of the XVIII century and the beginning of the XIX. As Dr. D’Andrea had found out, he had also spent some years in Sicily and, later on, had moved to Tuscany where he had probably died, though nobody had ever known where or when exactly, so I was asked by them to check my sources for any further information.

Checking the Chapel Register vol. 2 (1784-1824) and the inscriptions at the Old English Cemetery of Livorno did not reveal any trace of his. Next possibility was to check the Registers of the New Cemetery. Indeed, I felt a strong emotion when I read “Leckie, Gould Francis, 4-9-1850” in the Burial Register kept by the caretaker of the New English Cemetery in Livorno. I made copies of the whole register and wrote down the reference to the location of the grave.

This happened in the winter 2009. The cemetery was completely overgrown. My first attempt at finding the grave ended as soon as I arrived close to the relevant section, where the tomb should be: the whole area was totally covered with brambles to a height of 7-8 feet.

I immediately advised (more…)