From Italy to Scotland

My father was born in 1898 of peasant family origins from Tuscany Italy. He had an uncle who had emigrated to Scotland at the turn of the 20th century so instead of going to America to join his two older brothers, he decided to come here, at the age of 16, first to earn some money before going to join them in the U.S. But he liked Scotland so much he decided to stay. It has on the whole been a success story.

He started his own shop and was quite comfortablely off. He died in 1986. There was quite a lot of movement in those days after the Great War many Poles and Italians moved here. They soon became accepted, after some initial doubts because of language and cultural differences but these were soon overcome. But the major fact was their acceptance of the Scottish way of life coupled with their own culture that kept them on the straight and narrow. We are now Scottish through and through but have not forgetten our Italian blood and heritage.