TuttoGenealogia.it

Hello,

I was hoping that someone might help me find my great-great grandfather, Peter Paul Louis Venn (PPLV), born between 1824 and 1832, in Italy. I think PPLV immigrated to England in the 1850s, perhaps first to the Isle of Wight in Hampshire, as I have found him there in the 1861 census working as a millwright in a town called Newport. By 1863, he is stil a millwright and now living in Andover, Hampshire, where, on August 8, 1863, he marries my great-great grandmother, Elizabeth Dyer. His father was supposedly a man named Joseph Venn, a farmer. I have not found PPLV or his father Joseph (Giuseppe?)Venn in the 1841 or 1851 censuses of the UK. This is why I think he came to England after 1851.

My uncle, John Venn, who has DNA tested, has found that he matches a number of people with Italian ancestry and some with just Italian ancestry. Many of these people who match genetically my uncle seem to come from the Emilia-Remagna region. I tend to think that from the DNA testing that PPLV likely came from Northern Italy.

There is a family rumour that PPLV changed the spelling of his surname from Venne or Venné to Venn shortly after arriving in the UK, but it is just a rumour. I have no proof of this.

I have been researching him for many years, but with no luck. I would be so so grateful for any help or tips.

Thank you so very very much!

Erik Aasland
Canada

eaasland ha scritto: ↑

sabato 21 novembre 2020, 16:32

Many of these people who match genetically my uncle seem to come from the Emilia-Romagna region. I tend to think that from the DNA testing that PPLV likely came from Northern Italy.

I am sorry, I should have been more precise in the location from which I think PPLV came. I think his was from the Commune of Bardi in Emilia-Romangna Region.

Thank you again for any possible help.

Erik Aasland

Gli atti di battesimo a Bardi fra gli anni 1824 e 1832 sono quelli fra i numeri dal 195 al 666.

426/781
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... cat=521763

458/781
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... cat=521763

Io non sono riuscito a trovare Pietro Paolo Luigi Venn, ma puoi provare a controllare anche tu.

Sei molto gentile, grazie mille. Grazie per aver guardato!

Erik

Hello Erik,
the surname Venn seems to be not an Italian surname.
However on FamilySearch site I've come across a man named Joseph Venn, born in Italy in 1875 and naturalized in USA in 1903:

New York, County Naturalization Records, 1791-1980

Name: Joseph Venn
Type of event: Naturalization
Date of event: 1903
Place of event: St. Lawrence, New York, United States
Birth date: 1875
Birth place: Italy
Certificate number: 321
Volume: Declarations of intention 1895-1906 vol 1, no 1-586

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... AQP5T-YR1X

This Joseph Venn/Vann had a French father and an Italian mother, he's most likely not related to your English ancestors but this is, at the moment, the only connection I have found with Italy.

New York, State Census, 1905

Name: Joseph Vann
Birth date: around 1875
Birth place: Italy
Age: 30
Sex: Male
Race: White
Year of residence: 1905
Residence: Fine, St Lawrence, New York, USA
Relationship with the head of family: Boarder
Electoral District: 02
Family members:
Name Age
Geo Sternberg 45
Lura Sternberg 35
Erma Sternberg 12
Willmet Sternberg 10
Joseph Vann 30
Will Stocker 27



New York, State Census, 1925

Name: Joseph Vann
Sex: Male
Race: White
Age: 52
Birth date: around 1873
Birth place: Italy
Year of residence: 1925
Residence: Onondaga, Onondaga
Kinship: Head
Number of years in the United States: 50
Electoral District: 02
Line number: 12
Page number: 6
Family members:
Joseph Vann 52 yo Head
Nina Vann 51 yo Wife



New York, State Census, 1930

Nome: Joe Vann
Birth date: around 1871
Sex: Male
Race: White
Age in 1930: 59
Birth place: Italy
Civil status: Married
Relationship with the head of family: Head
Residence in 1930: Onondaga, Onondaga, New York, USA
Address: Cala Road
Residence number: 194
Family number: 196
Home owned or rented: Owned
Home value: 5000
Radio set: No
Lives on a farm: Yes
Age at first marriage: 40
Attended school: No
Able to read and write: No
Father's birth place: France
Mother's birth place: Italy
Spoken language: French
Year of immigration: 1888
Naturalization: Alien
Able to speak English: No
Profession: Farmer
Job sector: General Farm
Class of worker: Employer
Profession: Yes
Family members:
Nina Vann 60 Wife
Joe Vann 59 Head



I still haven't found out where exactly he was born, but what do you think about it?

Hello Erica,

Thank you so much, this is an excting lead! It'll take me a bit of time to look through it. Yes, I think you are absolutely correct, I never though Venn seemed too Italian and there is a family rumour that Venn was originally spelt Venné and that the é was dropped to make the name sound more English. The rumour also says that the first "Venn" in the family was French and had a Spanish mother, but the mother could well have been Italian (just as with the Joseph Venn you found!). So, I'll definitely take a closer look.

One thing I have noticed is that my uncle, John Venn, seems to have a lot of DNA matches to a family named "Costella" that comes from Gravago. It would seem that the son of one "Michele Costella" (b 1818, in Gravago), one "Giovanni Costella" (b Feb 15, 1846, in Gravago), ended up in California in 1872. Prior to arriving in California, this Giovanni lived from 1866 to 1870 in France and from 1870 to 1872 in England. Anyhow, I always wondered if Michele might have a brother named "Giuseppe Costella" who could be Peter Paul Louis Venn? Anyhow, that's just me thinking out loud.

Again, the earliest record I have of Peter Paul Louis Venn is him in the 1861 census of the UK. He is a millwright living in Newport on the Isle of Wight. I am convinced that Peter Paul Louis's father was indeed Joseph (Giuseppe) since Peter named his first son "Joseph Robert", with Robert being the name of his wife's father. His wife was Elizabeth Dyer.

Well, thank you so much again for all your help and the exciting lead you post, I'm going to take a very close look a this.

Best wishes!

Erik