I chose to post Nicola Piromallo today, as I received a long lost obituary from a distant cousin yesterday. Nicola is where my real interest and quest began. When I was very young my mother would always show me his calling card, and tell me how he was nobility. Nicola is my paternal grandmother’s father, and while I do not have a lot of first hand knowledge, I have found a lot of documentation. Below is the image of his card. My best guess is that this dates between 1900 and 1915,
I always presumed early on, that I would find a good deal of information about Nicola doing simple google searches. That was far from the truth. What happened was that I came across a Nicola Piromallo marrying Emilia Caracciolo in 1882, but that was under Caracciolo. Now plenty of children were listed throughout the lineage, but I did not see my grandmother. I finally realized that in all the nobility records, the children were always listed under the father. I then asked my older cousin Luisa, that lived with my grandmother, if she recognized the name Caracciolo. She said that she did and that our great grandmother was a Caracciolo. Little did I know how important that family is in Italian history.
Record of the marriage of Nicola Piromallo to Emilia Caracciolo (5C)
Here is the link to the Caracciolo di Torchiarolo Ancestry.
http://www.famiglienobilinapolitane.it/Genealogie/Caracciolo-Torchiarolo.htm
And the link to Capece Piscicelli with succession to Piromallo.
http://www.genmarenostrum.com/pagine-lettere/letterac/capece/CAPECE%20PISCICELLI.htm
As it turns out, Piromallo is not a common name in Italy. Searching google some more, I came across the Piromallo Capece Piscicelli. This family seemed the most logical fit, however, I could not find “my” Nicola. That being said, everything else, such as the family crest, dates, names etc. all pointed to this being my great grandfather’s family. I struggled with making this connection for years. My third great grandmother, Duchess Beatrice Capece Piscicelli, merged the to family names, when she inherited the title Duchess of Capracotta. As a result, only her son that inherited the title from her carried both family names. The rest of the children from her and Count Giacomo Piromallo, carried only the Piromallo name, including Saverio Giovanni, Nicola’s father.
Finally, I hired Alessandro, from www.bellaitaliangenalogy.com to help me find the missing records, which pulled this altogether.
Index Record for the Birth of Nicola Piromallo
Birth Record of Nicola Piromallo Page 1
Birth Record of Nicola Piromallo Page 2
The basic translation shows Nicola Piromallo born to Saverio Giovanni Piromallo. Along with marriage information. I am working on full translation.
Birth Record of Saverio Giovanni Piromallo
The year 1816, the 2nd day of the month of December at the hour of 23, before me, Giuseppe Pignatelli, an official of the town of Montecalvario, province of Naples appeared Signor Conte Don Giacomo Piromallo, age 40, a landowner living at Vico Campanile, number 22, and he said on this day at the hour of 10 Italian was born at the house of the declarant and Signora Contessa Donna Beatrice Capece Piscicelli, his legitimate wife, age 30, a male infant given the name Saverio Giovanni. This presentation and declaration was made in the presence of Cristofaro di Blasio, age 45, a coachman living at Strada Toledo number 373 and Gaetano di Berardino, age 24, a waiter living in the same place. After reading this act to all present, we all signed our names. Notation bottom right: The baby was baptized at the parish of Santa Maria Ogni Bene on the 3rd.
These records show the link from Beatrice and Giacomo to Saverio Giovanni to Nicola.
Record of Nicola Piromallo's Death
My best guess between 1923 and 1930.
Love your work! Have been doing the family tree for many many years but only data entry as I dont think my family was famous in any way but…. I have no way of knowing….. How do i access records prior to what has been digitalized?
Thanks Anna, I really appreciate that. I had a lead through Nicola Piromallo which helped me find all the nobility. That being said you can look for family names here http://www.stemmario.it/stemmario.php?q_t=0 also, if you find a hit search the region your family comes from.