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Italians in Clerkenwell From The 1800s To The 1960s
(http://www.untoldlondon.org.uk/news/ART41527.html)
by
Verusca Calabria
14/11/2006
For the past year Verusca Calabria has been collecting an oral history of
Italians in London. Here she tells us the story of the Italian community that
settled in the Clerkenwell area of London from the 1800s onward.
19th century Beginnings
The 1880s was a time of mass migration from countries such as Italy, Spain and
Austria-Hungary. Italians chose to migrate predominantly to the Americas, and to
countries like France, Belgium, Germany and the UK. The reasons for migration
centred around the agrarian crisis in the kingdom of Italy and the increased
demographic growth coupled with the lowering of the death rate in the European
continent as a whole.
The settlement of Italians in any sizable numbers in London, Manchester (Ancoats
Little Italy), Scotland and Wales, started in the 1800s with the arrival of
skilled craftsmen from the north of Italy. In London, they settled in and around
Clerkenwell; they were quickly followed by a wave of poorer migrants from the
Apennines. Further communities settled in Manchester, Scotland and Wales.
The Italian ‘colony’ in Clerkenwell was mainly employed in trades such as organ
grinding, knife grinding, mosaic and terrazzo craftsmenship. As organ grinding
declined, it was replaced by the selling of food, often in the streets, which
gave rise to the import of chestnuts from the north of Italy and the migration
of Italian boys who sold them during the winter months.
Ice cream
Many changes were also taking place in the fabric of British society at this
time which had a direct influence on the new comers. Paid holidays were
introduced, creating leisure time that provided Italians with a market to sell
their ice cream by seaside resorts. Ice cream was the trade that helped Italian
migrants’ economic and demographic growth in the UK and was responsible for
tripling their numbers in Britain between 1880s and 1901. Carlo Gatti’s ice
company, which was situated where the
Canal Boat museum
is today, was also a large employer of Italians who would transport ice from
Norway to London for refrigeration use up to 1950s.
A society of mutual assistance was also formed, the Mazzini Garibaldi’s club, it
was first situated in Laystall Street and then moved to Red Lion Street. The
club is still running today for entertainment purposes only.
The
Italian church
in Clerkenwell Road was also established in 1883 and became a central focus for
Italians in London, becoming a place for ‘labour exchange’ on Sundays, after
mass. St. Peter’s school was opened in Back Hill, around the corner from the
church, as a day time English school for Italian and Irish children and after
school as an Italian language school for children of Italian migrants.
It became necessary to open the Italian hospital 1884 in Queen Square (WC1) to
cater for the growing number of Italians in London; this institution closed down
in 1980s. Furthermore, the Italian chamber of commerce opened in London in 1886
and in 1887 the first congregation of the missionary fathers to the migrants was
established, The Scalabrini Fathers, that settled in London. They are still here
today, in Kennington, London.
'Moral panic'
A growing moral panic ensued amongst the British middle classes; Italians were
seen as immoral, illiterate, and vicious by a select committee on emigration in
parliament in 1888. There was a problem with overcrowding in central London due
to the lack of housing coupled with the growing number of newcomers to the city
where manual labour could be found. Italians were recorded as living in
overcrowded conditions, and the British authorities feared epidemics would
spread. Slum clearance took place to a certain extent, but not enough houses
were built to meet the growing demand.
The growing fear about migrants led parliament to approve the first immigration
legislation to restrict entry to the UK, the Alien’s Act 1905. Predominantly
designed to stop Eastern European Jews, it was directed to a lesser extent at
Italians and Chinese. They had come to be seen as a national threat, even as an
‘alien invasion’. The Act required aliens to be vouched for by someone already
residing in the UK who could provide them with lodgings and a job. So one effect
of the Act was to reinforce the chain migration between the settled Italian
community in UK and their villages of origin.
War
During WW1 Italians fought alongside the British. With the advent of fascism
from 1920s onwards, the Italian government was keen to gain support from
Italians living abroad. Fascist party offices were set up wherever Italians
could be found on the continent and Italians were ‘forced’ to sign up to the
party’s membership lured by the prospects of free holidays to their ‘mother
country’ and as the only way to receive citizenship services by the Italian
state.
The outbreak of WW2 brought general immigration to a halt in Britain
dramatically increased government control over aliens. When Benito Mussolini
declared war against Britain on 10th May 1940, angry mobs attacked Italian
restaurants and ice-cream parlours in Britain. What ensued is captured by the
expression: ‘Collar the Lot’. This phrase is often quoted by Italians that had
been interned who are still alive to tell the tale (the expression has been
credited to Winston Churchill). All men between the ages of 16 and 60 were
interned in the Isle of Man, which had the effect of crippling the catering
trades for lack of manpower.
A decision was taken at the War Cabinet to export these internees to Canada and
Australia. In July 1940, around 800 Italians were sent on the boat ‘Arandora
Star’ that was to deport them to internment camps in Canada. However it was
torpedoed by a German submarine and 471 Italian men lost their lives. The
remaining survivors were sent to internment camps in Australia. It is to be
noted that many of these men had been born in Britain or lived and contributed
to British society for many years. They lost their lives tragically; a monument
to them has been erected outside the Italian Roman Catholic church in
Clerkenwell, London.
Workmen's cafes
From 1950s to 1970s new waves of Italians came into Britain to fill the
employment gaps in industry and agriculture and to a lesser extent in the
catering industry. Many people from Emilia Romagna came to London in the 1950s
through ‘chain migration’ - that is they were connected through family ties to
the 19th century Italian colony of Clerkenwell. This colony had established
itself in the catering industry, running the classic fish and chips shops and
workmen’s cafes. They provided a support network to people from Emilia Romagna
by guaranteeing them a place to live and a job so that they could be issued with
a 4 year work permit from the Home Office.
By 1960s, many Italians were able to afford their own cafes and restaurants that
had the classic Formica counters, symbol of consumer culture in Britain. They
worked very long hours for decades in order to afford their own homes and their
children’s education. They were responsible for introducing Italian cuisine to
Britain, from spaghetti Bolognese in the early 1960s to the introduction of
ciabatta bread in the early 1980s.
Gradually the first generation left the catering trade. The rising cost of
leases coupled with the increasing commercial values of cafés’ buildings in
central London signalled the end of the affordable cafes and restaurant culture
for workmen. Italians had become socially mobile and started to move out of
‘Little Italy’ in Clerkenwell towards more prosperous areas such as the boroughs
of Finchley and Southgate, although the Italian church of St. Peter’s in
Clerkenwell still remains a focus in the community, particularly the procession
of St. Mary of Carmel that has been taken place around the church on the third
Sunday of July since 1883.
An advertisment for Gennaro's
Restaurant, Old Compton Street, Soho in 1930 - "the restaurant
where you are greeted with a Smile and a Flower" |
Italian ice carters for the Gatti
Ice Company, King's Cross, London 1890s. Gatti himself was an
Italian-speaker from Switzerland.
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Exterior of St Peter's - the
Italian church in Clerkenwell, showing the names of all those
who drowned on the Arandora Star
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An Italian family in London in
the 1890s |
Italian 'Scampagnata' day out
organised bythe Mazzini Garibalidi club, England, 1930s |
Icecream barrow, London, 1920s |
Italian chefs at the Savoy Hotel
in the Strand, London, 1929
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Survivors of the Arandora Star
were brought to an internment camp in Australia in 1941 |
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MCMXCVIII - MMXI