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Author: RonMcEvoy56
Surnames:
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.casagrande/73/mb.ashx
Message Board Post:
Raphaello de Casagrande's background.
Born c1821 Genoa, Genova, Liguria, Italy
Died 08 Nov 1901 in Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumberland, England
Raphaello birth place is shown as Genoa, Italy, (he was an inmate in the local Genoa
orphanage). At the age of 14 he stowed away on a ship bound for England and disembarked
at Dover, Kent in 1832. Raphaello called himself Ralph Biggins until 1852 and bought,
sold brushes door to door, he moved to Newcastle upon Tyne and was successful enough to
eventually own three shops, one of which sold toys. There was a commemorative stained
glass window and set of tiles in Newcastle Cathedral; the window was blown out during a
German air raid during World War Two and is now being replicated by a contemporary stained
glass replacement. Raphaello left everything to his daughter Mary Teresa, (spinster) who
had run the business with her father.
Raphaello in his family home seems to have disappeared at the time of the 1871 to 1891
census returns.
As far as I can tell Raphaello's sir name changed from Casagrande to Biggins and then
onto de Casagrande. The de Casagrande 'with the de prefix' name appears to be
exclusively attributed to him and his antecedents.
Census returns
1851: - Claypath, Durham St Nicholas, Durham, England
1861: - Claypath, Durham St Nicholas, Durham, England
1901: - 51 Pitt Street, Westgate, Durham, England
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