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Terry Bosi (Codsall) works as a sales representative for a plywood importer in the Midlands, Married, with a son, he took up refereeing after injury ended his playing career. Graduated through the Wolverhampton Amateur and Works Leagues, the
Worcester Combination and West Midland League. Promoted to the League line in 1967 and the full Referees list in 1971 . On the line for a European Cup tie, Ajax v Hamburg in 1969 and in 1972 the F.A. Challenge Trophy at Wembley. A keen cricketer, he also plays bowls, table tennis and swims. During his playing career he played in the F.A. Amateur Cup and at centre half for Bomber Command during his National Service.

THE ITALIAN CONNECTION by Sandra Irene Harris (nee Bosi) Terry's sister

Published 16 February 2009, updated 26 August 2009

siharris1@icloud.com

INTRODUCTION
 
I was born in Wolverhampton in 1940, the daughter of an English mother, Kate Portsmouth (born 1907), and an Italian father (though by then, naturalised British), Bruno Bosi (born 1907).  I have an older brother, Tertence Peter Bosi, born in Wolverhampton in 1933.  Our father was a confectioner who owned a confectioner’s shop selling sweets, chocolates, homemade Italian ice cream and cigarettes. His father, Emilio Pietro Bosi (born 1876) had come to Britain as an economic immigrant towards the end of the 19th century, when he was just a boy.  We knew nothing of the history, only that he came from Barga in Tuscany and sold plaster statues door to door, to make a living.

Emilio Pietro obviously prospered here in the U.K. because, eventually, he became a confectioner, owning his own shops.  He married Irena Motroni from Barga, but we do not know where they married. They lived in Wolverhampton and raised three sons, Paris, Italo and my father, Bruno.  Paris and Italo were both born in Wolverhampton, but due to difficult confinements with the first two children (probably due to the language barrier, as Irena spoke very little English), she went back to Barga for my father’s birth.  She returned to Wolverhampton with Bruno when he was only 6 months old.  Sadly, he was never to return to his birthplace, although he did see service with the British Army in Italy in 1944.

The Bosi family became naturalised as British citizens in January 1921 and continued to prosper in Wolverhampton in the pre-war years. My grandfather, Emilio Pietro, became quite the man about town, mixing in business circles and playing crown green bowls for the Molineux club as well as for Staffordshire. In 1936, he won a national medal, whilst playing for Staffordshire against Yorkshire in the British crown green bowling national championship. My father, Bruno, left school and went straight into the business and was eventually set up with his own shop in Whitmore Reans, a suburb of Wolverhampton.

Bruno married my mother, Kate Portsmouth on 24th April 1930, at St. Anthony of Padua Church, Wolverhampton. My brother Terry was born on 28th February 1933 and I was born on 24th February 1940.  At the outbreak of war in 1939, Emilio Pietro’s business was at its peak when he owned four confectionary shops and three other properties.  However, during the war years the businesses declined. Emilio Pietro died of a heart attack in December 1951. In 1940 my parents moved to Oxley in Wolverhampton and opened a confectionery shop, which my father owned until his retirement in 1971, apart from his absence on military service during World War Two.  My mother, Kate, and my grandfather Emilio Pietro managed the business during those years. My father also became a crown green bowls champion, playing for Wolverhampton and winning trophies and died of a heart attack whilst playing in April 1986.

THE SEARCH
Although Terry and I knew little about our Italian roots, we became intrigued when Aunt Irma Bosi, nee Tazioli, former wife of Uncle Paris Bosi, who was my father’s eldest brother, sent me a postcard of the main church in Barga.  Irma told us that, as a child, she had attended our father’s christening there, which increasingly intrigued us over the years and so, eventually, we had a starting point from which to research our roots.  But sadly, my father died before we were able to even think about visiting Italy and researching our family.

My husband, Graham Peter Harris, and I had an opportunity to spend a holiday in Barga, in the summer of 1991.  We searched the churchyard, and asked around locally, but could not find any trace of the Bosi name.  We did not speak Italian at the time and this made our search more difficult.

In 2005, Graham and I, together with my brother, Terry and his wife Mavis, nee Kirkham, went on a holiday ‘Tour of Tuscany’, which was based at La Pergola Hotel in Barga.  Again, we found no direct Bosi connection, although I had now started to learn Italian but only had a basic knowledge of the language.  The holiday was a great success and served to whet our appetites for finding a family link.

We arranged a third visit to Barga in the summer of 2006, when Graham and I met our eldest daughter, Julie Harris and her partner, Lance Thompson, in Pisa.  We hired a car, drove up to Barga and spent a whole week exploring the mountain paths and researching family roots. By now, my grasp of Italian was improving, so we had the confidence to visit the priest at the church in Barga and view the christening records.  Though communication was difficult, the priest invited us into his record room, which held records going back many hundreds of years. Again, we were disappointed not to find my father’s and grandfather’s records.  Then, our first real breakthrough came when the priest informed us that there were no Bosi families in the little hilltop township of Barga. They were to be found just down the hill in the surrounding villages, which were still within the boundaries of the administrative area of the Barga Commune. It seemed that Aunt Irma might have remembered the wrong church.

However, whilst in Barga, we did trace the former home and the last resting place of my Aunt Irma’s sister, Anna-Rosa Vernolini (nee Tazioli), i.e. on my grandmother’s side of the family. Sadly, Anna-Rosa had passed away in October 2004, so she had been living in this house during our first two visits to Barga, but we had failed to find her, because we did not know of any links to that side of the family.

On the advice of the priest we searched the nearby churchyard at Loppia, just a mile or so down the hill from Barga where we found the graves of many Bosi families.  Alas, the church was locked and we could not find its priest.  As we had no names of my ancestors, we photographed the Bosi graves for future reference.

Back at the hotel, we were relating our story to an American woman, who was also on a genealogical quest.  She was able to direct us to the township of Coreglia Antelminelli, the next hilltop town just a few miles down the Serchio Valley which has a museum “Museo della Figurina di Gesso e del’Emigrazione” which was dedicated to the economic migrants who left the valley to make and sell plaster cast statues. We had found the key to understanding my grandfather’s story.

We visited the museum at Coreglia Antelminelli the next day and were able to establish the history of the migration around the turn of the 19th century. In medieval times, the Italian Peninsular was covered by a patchwork of city states, including Venice, Florence, Lucca, Rome, and Sienna, etc.  Outlying towns, such as Barga and Coreglia Antelminelli, pledged allegiance to one or other of these city states, in return for which they were empowered to raise local taxes in the form of road tolls for travellers and goods passing through their territory.  Such towns, which would otherwise have depended upon subsistence farming on marginal land up in the valleys, were financially supported by these taxes. However when modern Italy was formed in 1871, the city states were subsumed and their laws and regulations became defunct.  Hence the little towns lost their tax income overnight and were driven into poverty.

One very special skill that existed in the 19th century, in the Serchio Valley, was that of making plaster cast statues from hand carved wooden moulds. This had originated for the purpose of making religious statues for churches, known as “Figurine” and “Figurinai”.  So, the master craftsmen were sent out, with teams of very young boys, to make and sell these statues and return money to the valley. Initially, they walked through Italy as peddlers, selling from town to town, but soon they were over the Alps and selling across Europe. Eventually, mostly via the port of Genoa, they spread out across the world, settling in the U.K., U.S.A., South America, Australia and even China.  The migration into the U.K. was mainly into Scotland, possibly because the Transatlantic ships called in at Greenock, en route for New York.  Even now there are still strong cultural links between Barga and many parts of Scotland, particularly Ayrshire and Glasgow.

So we had an important clue as to why Emilio Pietro had left Barga, as a boy, selling statues.  Sadly, we now realised the significance of the two plaster statues of a shepherd and shepherdess, which had graced our parents’ lounge for many years, without an explanation by our parents, which had now long been discarded.

Whilst in Coreglia, we also visited the cemetery, and again found many Bosi graves, but still no priest to question. Again, we photographed these graves for future reference, but Lance observed that one or two of them looked recently tended.  He suggested that we compose a short introductory note in Italian, and leave a copy on the best-tended graves.  That evening armed with my trusty dictionary, I composed the following note (in Italian) and inserted copies into three waterproof bags:
"Perhaps I am related to your family?, my name is Sandra Harris (nee Bosi), English. My father, Bruno Bosi, was born in Barga 27.02.1907. My grandfather, Emilio Pietro Bosi, was born in Bargl 25.09.1876. His parents were Antonio and Paolina Bernardini Bosi. It would please me if you would write to Mrs. Sandra Harris, (contact details supplied). It would be nice to hear from you. Excuse my Italian.

With no great expectation of success, we left two of these notes on graves in Loppia and one in Coreglia Antelminelli, but went home happy to have discovered the story of the emigration.

SUCCESS
Shortly after our return home, we received a letter from a woman in Lucca saying that she had found our note, but didn’t believe that we were related as all her relatives had now died. I replied and thanked her anyway, pleased to have received a response.
Meanwhile, our interest in genealogy had led Graham to create the Harris family tree, which was published on a website This generated an e-mail contact from Duncan Ward, a long lost nephew of Graham’s, who was also researching family roots.  Duncan was able to provide us with a lot of information on Graham’s side of the family, but he had also made contact with the Vernolini family in Dunfermline, to whom I was related via the Motroni’s (on my grandmother’s side of our family).

My father had always told us that he had a cousin named Umberto Vernolini in Dunfermline, with whom he had lost touch.  On one occasion more than 40 years ago, whilst touring Scotland by car with my Mum and Dad, we had detoured into Dunfermline to try to find them, without success.  Now we made contact via e-mail, using the data provided by Duncan, with Umberto’s two sons Umberto ("Bert") and Frank and their wives, Isobel and Evelyn.  Family details and photos were exchanged and agreement reached to meet, when an opportunity arose.

In July 2007, we went to Fife with my brother Terry and his wife Mavis, for a birthday party at the home of Julie and Lance.  Afterwards, on our way home, we set up a rendezvous with Terry, Mavis, Julie and Lance and met the Vernolini's at North Queensferry, by the Forth bridge.  We had a very pleasant lunch and exchanged more photos and data. This was our first major step in the search for surviving relatives from the Italian side of my family. 

Several months later, we received a telephone call from Francesca, in Italian, but it was too much for me to follow.  A couple of days later, she called again, but this time using the translation services of a young neighbour Roberta, who was fluent in English.  It transpired that Francesca’s grandfather, Giovanni Bosi, was the brother of my grandfather, Emilio Pietro Bosi, so we were second cousins. She had found our note on her parents grave, Giovanni and his wife Eletta Chiappa, which was also the grave of her father, Adelsone Bosi.  Therefore, the note that we left on this grave had finally located our relatives in the Serchio Valley. 

We exchanged letters and family information and photos with Francesca and it transpired that Giovanni and Eletta had 9 children, all of whom had survived, so the potential for living relatives was huge.  We drew up the tree of our long lost relatives, but there were still huge gaps. After exchanging several letters with Francesca, we planned a further trip to Barga in 2008, so that we could meet up and and so had Sunday lunch together on 22nd June 2008.

My brother Terry and his wife Mavis could not travel with us on this trip, as Mavis was recovering from major heart surgery.  Graham and I met Julie and Lance in Pisa, hired a car and drove up the Serchio Valley to stay at La Pergola Hotel for another week.  However, we had no idea at this point that we were about to experience a huge family reunion.

THE REUNION
On arrival at La Pergola Hotel on the evening of 18th June, an elderly Italian couple were waiting in reception and introduced themselves as Bosi’s. It transpired that they were Francesca’s brother Antonio and his wife Emilia, nee Borgia.  They lived in the village of Silano, at the very top of the valley, and as they could not make it to lunch on Sunday, had come down to meet us and invite us back to their home for a meal. We set up a table outside under the grapevines and spent a happy couple of hours exchanging family information, but even with help from the hotel staff, this stretched my limited language skills to their limits.  However, Graham and Antonio seemed able to converse using mime and sign language and we all had a lot of fun. We finally agreed to visit Antonio and Emilia at their home for lunch on Monday.  Emilia promised to cook us some wild boar, so we had something new to look forward to.

On the Friday morning, Roberta, the English translator, phoned me to ask if Francesca and her family could come to see us at our hotel on the Saturday afternoon.  Again, we set up a drinks table outside under the grapevines and at 4p.m., Francesca arrived with her husband Mario Venturi, their daughter Daniela and her daughter, Davina.  They also brought their friend and neighbour, Roberta Sheldon, the translator.

We were all immediately struck by the similarity of facial looks, expressions and mannerisms of Francesca’s daughter Daniela Venturi, with those of my own younger daughter Mandy Thomas (nee Harris).  We were also surprised to learn that Francesca’s grandfather, Giovanni had come to England with his brother Emilio Pietro (my grandfather), but Giovanni had returned to the valley soon after. They also told us that the family home at the turn of the 19th century had been in the hamlet of Pedona, midway between Barga and Coreglia Antelminelli.  We enjoyed a very pleasant couple of hours swapping information.

Mario bought a bottle of bubbly with which we toasted the Bosi family and then invited us to join them back in Coreglia Antelminelli for a pizza supper at a nearby restaurant. We visited their old family house in Coreglia Antelminelli, which they maintain as a holiday home, as they now live on the northern side of the mountains in Reggio Emilia.  Here we met Daniela’s partner, Guido. Above the doorway were the remains of a small coat of arms, which they told was that of their family.

We then walked to the restaurant and enjoyed a lovely evening, with Mario introducing us to various Italian delicacies, whilst trying to watch a European Cup match on television out of the corner of his eye. They walked us back to the car park and showed us the rendezvous point for our lunch appointment at noon the next day. As we left, Mario hinted that Sunday lunch promised to be a rather large party and this was the first inkling that we had regarding a bigger family reunion.

On Sunday morning, we set off early for our lunch appointment and visited the hamlet of Pedona en route. We found a sleepy little village, again with a locked church and no priest to question.  The only couple that we could find knew of no Bosi resident there. This task to find Emilio Pietro’s house will have to wait until another visit. Having motored back up to Coreglia Antelminelli we parked and went to the rendezvous point a little ahead of time.  There was one man sitting there, who looked a little like my grandfather, with his high forehead and bushy moustache, so I immediately engaged him in conversation, but it transpired that he was not related, but we enjoyed trying to converse.

Mario and Francesca arrived with the Venturi family together with a crowd of other people and a series of introductions began with hugs and kisses being freely given.  Francesca’s eldest brother Gianfrancoi appeared to lead the family and he was almost speechless with emotion. We met Gianfranco’s children, Stephano, Emiliana and Barbara. Barbara was with her husband Andrea who, with a degree in English, was most helpful in translating the conversations. Francesca’s son Daniele Venturi was also present. From Pietro Guido’s family we met Elvira D’Alfonso, nee Bosi, with her daughter Betty D’Alfonso. From Ottavia Mazzoti’s family, we met Mauro Mazzoti, and her daughters Alder Togneri, nee Mazzoti and Anna Corradini, nee Mazzoti.  From Ultimato’s family we met Valerio Bosi and his wife Tizania, nee Gonella, Valerio’s brother Alberto Bosi and his wife Manuela, nee Biagioni.

What can only be described as a fantastic banquet then began, and went on for the whole afternoon, with countless courses being served. Late in the afternoon, we were honoured by the arrival of the last surviving offspring of Giovanni Bosi and Eletta Chiappa, when Ottavia arrived.  She was a charming old lady of 94 and seemed genuinely pleased to meet us, with more hugs and kisses, and to see our photos of her long lost Uncle Emilio Pietro. Mario Venturi, Francesca’s husband, proposed a toast to the Bosi family and Graham managed a short speech to thank all these relatives for coming to meet us, promising to return again with Terry and Mavis Bosi when this was feasible.  Once again, Roberta Sheldon was there to assist with the translation. 

Before leaving, we tried to get Francesca and Mario to agree to visit us in England, but she said that she was scared of flying, so we told them to come by train. Julie and Lance made similar offers to entertain some of the younger members of the family at their cottage in Fife, Scotland.  We hope that some of this will happen. Finally, Valerio Bosi asked if he could come and see us in our hotel in Barga before we went home, as he had some old family photos to show us.  A meeting was set for Tuesday evening.
We then said our goodbyes and returned to Barga, having experienced an unforgettable day.  I felt like a long lost daughter returning to the fold, rather than a distant cousin whom no one had heard of.

THE WILD BOAR EXPERIENCE
On Monday morning, Graham, Julie, Lance and I (plus dictionary) set off to drive up the valley to meet Antonio Bosi and Emilia Borgia Bosi, at their home in Silano, with very little idea of where they actually lived. Our plan was to find the village and then ask around. The drive up the Serchio Valley was magnificent, although the one way system in the town of Castelnuovo was a nightmare, which managed to tie Lance’s Sat Nav up in knots.  We passed a series of picture post- ard villages, and then as we approached Silano, which is the very last village before the top of the ridge, we saw Antonio and Emilia standing at the roadside waiting for us, outside their house. We were made very welcome and given a conducted tour of the house, which was like a Swiss chalet. Inside, the living room was full of trophies, including a couple of wil -boar heads, at which point we began to realise that hunting was an important part of Antonio’s life. In fact, he and his friends had been the regional champion wild boar hunters for the last two years – not bad at 72 years of age.

We chatted about family; they had five children, Cinzia, Katia, Ricardo, Alberto and Monia. We were shown their photographs, together with their five grandchildren.  We took copies by photographing their photos and did the same thing with a print of the Bosi coat of arms, which was hanging in their hall. Without the help of translators, all this proved somewhat slow, but very enjoyable. Emilia then called us to the dining table and proceeded to serve up yet another generous banquet. Poor Lance was driving, so he had to concentrate on double helpings of food!

After lunch Antonio took us a beautiful ride to the top of the valley, which was about ten minutes drive from their home.  Here the ridge represented the border between the provinces of Lucca and Reggio Emilia.  We returned to the house for coffee and tried to get Antonio and Emilia to agree to visit us in the U.K.  It was clear that they had no aspiration to travel and that they were very cosy in their mountain retreat. Besides, as Antonio said, he could never leave his hunting dogs. They, in turn, invited us to go back and stay with them, whenever we had the chance. We motored back to Barga after another fantastic day.

DOCUMENT SEARCH
On Tuesday 24th June, we visited the Barga "Registry Office" seeking copies of any Bosi family birth or marriage documents and hoped that my improving language skills would help us to succeed. We were pleasantly surprised to find one member of staff spoke fluent English. They were able to find and copy Emilio Pietro Bosi’s birth certificate and his brother, Giovanni Bosi and Eletta Chiappa’s wedding certificate.  They had no access to any earlier records, but suggested that we contact the priest down at his presbytery adjacent to the new church in Fornaci di Barga from where he covers the churches of Loppia, Pedona and Fornaci di Barga. As there was no time left on this trip to follow up on this important lead, we have to put it on hold until our next trip,hopefully in 2009. 

That evening, we met with Valerio Bosi and his wife Tizania at our hotel. Valerio came armed with many photo's, from which it became clear that he was a football fan, who took great pride in the Italian team. Although they spoke very little English, we had by now developed the skills required to communicate. Valerio showed us a photo of himself in a local team, whose strip was red and white stripes, “like Sunderland”.  We then told him that Lance was from Newcastle, to which he replied “Alan Shearer”.

Valerio’s old photos included one of his father, Ultimato, wearing Italian military uniform in 1942, plus one of his grandfather, Giovanni, in uniform during the Italian invasion of Albania in WWI. He helped us to complete the family tree under Ultimato’s leg of the family and we exchanged addresses so that we could send photographs from this visit. It transpired that they live just a few kilometres below Fornacia de Barga, very close to the Pedona turn off, so there are still members of the Bosi family living very near to where we believe Emilio Pietro began his emigration. We said our goodbyes to the last members of the family, again asking them to come and visit us in the U.K. and promising to meet again when Terry and Mavis were ready to travel.

On Wednesday, the last night of our holiday, the four of us held a celebratory dinner at our favourite restaurant in the old town of Barga and hoped to be back there again very soon. On reflection, Graham, Julie, Lance and I agreed that we could not have hoped for a more successful visit.  It had been an unforgettable experience, which the four of us had been privileged to share.

MANY THANKS BOSI FAMILY
Since this last visit, we have been able to keep in touch with Francesca, Valerio and Stephano by e-mail, and with Antonio and Emilia by post.  We have exchanged photos of the visit and eagerly await the opportunity to re-visit our long lost relations.

THE ITALIAN CONNECTION - PART 2

TERRY’S ITALIAN REUNION, JUNE 2009

INTRODUCTION
After our successful visit of 2008, we simply had to return to the Serchio Valley in the spring of 2009, to introduce my brother Terry to all of his long lost Bosi relatives. This trip was made possible because Mavis, Terry’s wife, was now fit to travel again.  Prior to travelling, we had advised our cousins, Valerio Bosi, Stefano Bosi, Antonio Bosi and Francesca Venturi of our trip, and we were all looking forward to meeting the new family members again. Firstly, we planned our trip to give us 4 days in Levanto, in Liguria, on the Italian Riviera, followed by 7 days in Barga.  We flew from Luton to Pisa, thereafter using a hire car in Italy.

FIVE LANDS – 30th May
Whilst staying in Levanto, we made trips by train to three of the famous “Cinque Terra” towns, namely Vernazza, Monterosso and Manarola (the other two were Corniglia and Riomaggiore) all of which were delightful. We also made a trip by car to Portovenere, which must be the most beautiful resort in the Mediterranean. Then, after four days of rest and relaxation, with lots of sun, good food and wine, we set off for another Barga adventure with our batteries fully recharged.

RETURN TO BARGA – 4th June
On the Thursday, we left Levanto, heading for Barga, but did a detour via Aulla, and Fivizzano to find the Castle at Verrucola, which, according to the internet, was occupied by the Bosi’s from around 11th to 13th centuries. For such an ancient building, we expected to find the usual pile of bricks. However, Terry and I were quite overwhelmed to find a superb building in such an excellent state of repair with our family name attached to it. Unfortunately we could not get into the castle, as it was only open on Friday afternoons, by appointment, and this was Thursday. After much posturing by the "Count and Countess of Bosi" we tried to get into the nearby Villa La Pescigola, which is famous for its gardens and was also a former Bosi residence c1100.  However it was not yet open for the summer, and a large guard dog soon saw us off.  Perhaps another time?

Due to bad weather in the mountains, we decided to go back down to the autostrada to drive the long way round to Barga.  On our way up the Serchio Valley, we stopped at Pedona, which is the hamlet were we believe that our grandfather, Emilio Pietro Bosi, and his brother, Giovanni – Francesca’s grandfather, had lived as boys. Then further on, on our way up the mountain road, we stopped off at Loppia Cemetery, to show Terry and Mavis, the first Bosi graves that we had found in 2007. Finally, we arrived in Barga and were made very welcome again by the staff at La Pergola Hotel, where we dined at their refurbished and much improved restaurant. On Friday we spent leisurely around Barga and Mavis surprised us all by walking very confidently up and down the hilly streets in the beautiful mediaeval town. Before we left the hotel, we received a telephone call from Roberta Sheldon, confirming that Francesca and Mario, who now live in Reggio-Emilia, would join us for Sunday lunch, but unfortunately, Daniela was unable to travel because she had chicken pox. Later in the afternoon, at our hotel who should arrive to see us but Valerio & Tiziano. Introductions were made and I was kept busy with my dictionary. Valerio and Tiziana then invited us to join them for dinner at their home in Ghivizzano, on Wednesday evening.  This was ideal, as it would be our last night in Italy. We went into dinner at La Pergola Restaurant when, halfway through our meal, Antonio (Francesca’s middle brother) arrived. He invited us to join Emilia and himself lunch at their home in Silano, an hour’s drive up the mountain, on Monday.  What a wonderful, enjoyable, hectic evening we had – my dictionary was working overtime.

LIVORNO REUNION – 6th June
On Saturday – 6th June, we travelled by car to Livorno, for our pre-arranged lunch date with Gianfranco Bosi’s family (son Stefano, daughter Emiliana, and daughter Barbara and her husband Andreas). Graham was delighted with our trusty Sat Nav that took us right across the city, to within ten yards of our destination, which was at Barbara and Andreas’s flat in Via Danesi.  Gianfranco and the rest of the family joined us, and after a warm welcome and exclamations of how alike Gianfranco and Terry were, we went by car to the sea front and strolled along the beautiful promenade. After our walk, we went by car along the sea front to the southern edge of the town, where we lunched in the famous Ristorante Sassoscrito sea food restaurant, which was situated on the cliff tops and has with fantastic sea views.  We enjoyed an excellent meal and much conversation - in English this time, thanks to an excellent translation service from Andreas. Finally, to complete our visit to Livorno, the Bosi family took us up the mountain behind the city, to visit the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Montenero, where Barbara and Andreas had been married. The church was hung with mementos of countless miracles, which had been attributed to the Madonna, the patron saint of Tuscany. Gianfranco and the family said that we would be very welcome to visit them anytime we came back to Tuscany. We returned to Barga in a thunderstorm and, after such a wonderful meal could only manage one large pizza to share between the four of us in the restaurant.

BARGA REUNION – 7th June
On Sunday, we entertained Francesca (nee Bosi) & Mario Venturi and granddaughter Davina to lunch at our hotel.  Roberta Sheldon (and her daughter Martina) joined us to assist with the translating. They were all delighted to see us again and so pleased to meet Terry and Mavis. After introductions we enjoyed a lovely five course meal. This was finished off with a couple of bottles of Asti Spumante, but Mario was red carded by Terry for shooting a cork across the restaurant. After lunch, Francesco asked if we would like to take a short trip down towards Loppia to meet another cousin, Anna.  She is the daughter of Lina Bosi and lives in a huge house with spectacular mountain views.  She has two sons, but they live and work away as mountain guides and only visit her occasionally. Anna was an amazingly sprightly 83 year old, who made us very welcome. Mario then invited us back to their holiday home in Coreglia Antelminelli and then onto a nearby Pizzeria for supper.  Terry and Mavis enjoyed seeing the old house, which had belonged to Francesca’s mother, and still bore the coat of arms of the Antognelli family.  We then followed Mario up a winding mountain road until it petered out almost at the top of the ridge, where we found La Pizzeria at about the same altitude as Mount Snowdon. We decided not to return to Barga via the unsurfaced road which contoured the ridge, choosing instead to go the long way round by dropping down into the Serchio valley and climbing back up via the main roads. Our Fiat limo was definitely not built for mountain roads.

SILANO REUNION – 8th June
On Monday we set off in the car to the town of Castelnuovo (or Newcastle as we call it), en route to Silano to our lunch appointment with Antonio and Emilia.  On our arrival, Antonio and Emilia were out on the road to greet us before we could even get out of the car. Emilia then treated us to one of her spectacular lunches. Emilia was disappointed that Lance was not with us, as she needs someone to mother. We began to discuss the Bosi family tree and photographs were compared all round.  Although Antonio and Emilia did not speak English, between Antonio’s excellent hand gestures, Sandra’s Italian, Emilia’s clear, slow Italian, a good dictionary and the digital translator, we all managed. At last, it was time to leave. We drove up to the top of the ridge, which forms the provincial border between Reggio Emilia and Lucca and said our goodbyes in stunning mountain scenery.   

CHURCHYARD & MUSEUM – 9th June
On Tuesday, we went back up to the village of Coreglia Antelminelli and stopped off at the cemetery there to visit the grave of Francesca’s grandparents and father (Giovanni & Eletta Bosi and Adelsone Bosi).  This was where I had left the letter in 2007, which led to us finally locating the family. We found at least another twenty Bosi graves here, so it was very fortunate indeed that I had chosen the correct one on which to leave the message. I decided it was fate.

The Figurine Museum was our next port of call, where the surprising extent of the emigration from the Serchio Valley could be seen.  The Museum had been extended since our first visit and now included a workshop, showing how the alabaster figures were made in various types of moulds.  Much to my surprise there was a shepherd and a shepherdess, just like the two figures my parents had always had beside the fireplace in our family home. Unfortunately, I had never been told of their significance within the family as my father did not know much about his family history, and so the figures were discarded when the family house was sold. Then, in the church of San Michele Arcangelo, we were very surprised to notice that a fairly new looking statue of a Franciscan Monk was dedicated to an Alberto Bosi, but for the present, we cannot tie him in to the family tree.  Another puzzle to be solved.

GHIVIZZANO REUNION – 10th June
On the Wednesday morning, we drove up the somewhat precarious road to Sommacolonia, the village that overlooks Barga.  We had walked to this village from Barga with Julie and Lance, one hot day last year, and the views of the Serchio Valley from the terrace there were spectacular.  Mavis and I enjoyed the view while Terry and Graham climbed up to see the remains of the German gun emplacement above the church.  It looked to be virtually impregnable and reminded us that the battle to liberate Italy was a very hard one. We looked around the church, which was beautifully kept and quite big for such a small village.  There were no cafes or shops. Then, back to Barga and off for our last meeting with the family, the "Grand Finale Dinner" at Valerio & Tiziana’s house down in Ghivizzano. It was a delightful surprise to find that Valerio had invited his brothers and their families (Alberto & Manuela Bosi, together with Nedo & Alessandra Bosi and their sons Alessandro and Alessio) to join us for dinner.  This made the translation task very much easier, as both of the boys spoke English. We settled down to another fantastic meal, After dinner, family photographs were viewed, including several from Terry’s career as a referee, and lots of Valerio’s long distance running events, especially the London marathons 2007 and 2008. Graham presented Valerio with a Wolves shirt, to commemorate their promotion to the Premiership, whilst Terry nipped out to change into his Referee’s shirt.  On his return he gave Valerio a yellow card, which he then upgraded to a red for dissent.  The boys loved it, because, apparently, Valerio had something of a reputation for red cards, during his soccer career. After another memorable evening, we said our last good byes, and, after being asked to come back and visit everyone again another year, we returned to Barga for the last time.

MANY THANKS FAMILY BOSI
So, once again, our Bosi relatives have made us so very welcome in Tuscany.  We sincerely hope that some of them will be able to come and visit us in the U.K. as we had extended an open invitation.  We eagerly await the opportunity to re-visit them again.  This was a memorable holiday, enjoyed by us all, that’s me (Sandra), Graham, Mavis and Terry.  Lots of love until we meet you all again.

Both at Footes Lane, Guernsey, on the same day for the first time

Women 10.30 - Abby Georgia Dearden (Blackburn), Tom Nerac (Jersey), Geoff Ogier (Guernsey), Luke Pattimore (Guernsey)
Tom Nerac late sub for brother Luke (injured) and Luke Pattimore late sub for Steve Hutchison (stranded in Jersey by ferry failure)

Men 15.00 - Darren Lee Handley (Bolton), Richard Dyer (Jersey), James Lihou (Guernsey), Derek Gilman (Guernsey)

Lancashire Telegraph

4th June 1998

Sporting Jim dies

Sporting gentleman Jim Warburton has died, aged 70, after a long illness.

Tyldesley born Jim was a Sale Lane United footballer in the 1940s and 50s before injury forced him to quit playing.

He started refereeing with the Leigh and District Association Football Referees Society and progressed through the Leigh and District S.S. League (now the Leigh Amateur League) through the Bolton Combination and Lancashire Combination to the Football League.

He officiated at many F.A. Cup and county matches and was an international linesman. But he never forgot his roots and when not involved at the highest level could be seen refereeing local league games. When he hung up his whistle his experience became invaluable as a referee assessor and he was always willing to offer advice to those starting out in the game.

His service earned him the Referees Association meritorious service award and the Lancashire F.A. order of merit. He was a life member of the Leigh Referees Society and Leigh Amateur League, having also served as League secretary.

A founder member of Atherton Sports Council Jim's interests covered a variety of sports.

Roy Birchall, president of Leigh and District Association Football Referees Society, paid tribute:"The district has lost one of its sporting gentleman and I a sporting colleague and friend. Long may his memory live on."

Grandfather Jim leaves a wife, Jean, and a daughter, Margaret. The funeral took place on Friday at Overdale.

Burnley Express

John McNabb: October 12th 1924 - August 22nd 2018

Born in Burnley John McNabb attended St. Mary's Roman Catholic School, leaving at the age of 14 to join the RAF "as soon as he was old enough" according to his son, John, and going on to serve in the 911 squadron as an airman first class with the Lancaster Bombers during the Second World War.

He never really spoke a lot about what went on in the war, said John (64) of his father, who died at the age of 93. Occasionally he'd tell you bits like how they'd all be at a bar, singling around a piano one night then the next night half of them weren't there. He went deaf because bombs are fairly noisy things, but when somebody mentioned to him that he could get a war pension, he was having absolutely none of it; he said he came home, a lot of them didn't.

After the war, John joined the Burnley Youth Organisation, scheduling football matches between the clubs and refereeing plenty of the games himself, which caught the eyes of the Burnley Referees Association of which he eventually became president, a position he held until his death. Bearing in mind he was quite young, he got rapidly promoted, John said of his father's refereeing career. He refereed from local league to the Lancs Amateur League, then to Lancashire Combination and the Northern Premier League. In the 1950s, he went on to the Football League and stayed until he was too old in 1971.

He got international "caps" - in 1966 he refereed East Germany v Romania and he refereed in UEFA so he got some other games in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Even when he finished he continued refereeing for children's games as a volunteer.

Honoured for 50 years of service to refereeing, John received a medal from The F.A. in 2005, presented to him at Turf Moor by former Scotland international and Manchester United manager, Tommy Docherty.

John married Alice Patricia in 1952 with the couple having John as well as three grandchildren - Harry, Olivia, and Rory. Always one for socialising, John was a member of Belvedere & Calder Vale Sports Club from its inception as well as a member of the Knights of St. Columba - becoming a knight in 1949 - and a season ticket-holder at Turf Moor.

He would go in the Vice Presidents Lounge until his legs got so bad that he wouldn't make it up and down the stairs John said of his father's time on the Turf. He was a Burnley lad, born and bred who would come up the Kettledrum - his local since the 1960s - and sit on a bar stool and chat away to his old mates.

He did a lot, did my dad; he went out and had a good time and met a lot of people along the way, John added. He told me last year that he'd thoroughly enjoyed life, and he had.

Continuing the decade by decade research

There were 390 officials listed for 1965-66
81 referees and 74 linesmen who later became F.L. referees have already researched

That leaves 235 "new" names

23 NOT FOUND

Arranged in alpha order by county

275   Lewis   D J   March   CAM
166   Carter   J   Ilford   ESS
172   Clark    F   Cranham, Upminster   ESS
198   Evans   R E   Upminster   ESS
185   Davies   J R   Cockett, Swansea   GLA
230   Harvey   E   Mill Green, Warboys   HNT
356   Stewart   A J   East Barnet   HRT
273   Leech    R   Moston, Manchester   LAN
346   Shorrock   J   Witton, Blackburn   LAN
387   Wilson   H   Higher Walton, Preston   LAN
202   Findlay    A (Sgt) Millbank, London SW1   MID
206   Franklin   K D   Kenton, Harrow   MID
256   Jenkins   T   Newport   MON
277   Long           R A   Northampton   NHA
220   Griffiths   J   Witney, Oxford   OXF
257   Johnson    A   Warley, Smethwick   STA
306   Morris   G H   Whiteheath, Blackheath   STA
131   Ball           D G   Tolworth, Surbiton   SUR
337   Reid           J   Morden   SUR
365   Thomas   D J   Olton, Solihull   WAR
125   Alderson   J E   Horbury, Wakefield   YOR
289   Matthews   M   Sheffield   YOR
314   Newton     R      Scawthorpe, Doncaster YOR

Thursday 25th August 2022

Palace Shield Cricket News (Blackpool / Preston)

The Competition is saddened to hear of the death of Terence Leonard Morris

Terry was a Football League referee who graduated to officiate in Division One in the 1980's.
He took charge of such teams as Manchester United & Nottingham Forest in the Brian Clough era.
He left to join the Football League at Lytham.

He was also a good cricketer, wicket keeper/batsman for Wrea Gree & Freckleton
He was also a fine administrator being Secretary & Treasurer for both clubs.
He attended our management meetings for many years as the club representative
He also lectured in Business Studies at Blackpool & Preston colleges.

He suffered from Parkinsons in later years and was cared for by his wife Nancy.
She died two years ago and Terry was in a care home for his final years.
They had no children.

Born in Rotherham he was a lecturer and course director in home and institutional studies at Leeds Polytechnic
F.L. line 1973-76, also Supplementary ref in the last of those and then Full ref 1976-82
although he left in October 1981 to work for the Football League.
He refereed the F.A. Vase Final (Blue Star 2, Barton Rovers 1) in 1978 at Wembley.

Interview with him here - page 10 of 12 of Leeds Student (10th Nov 1978) takes a few seconds to load
http://digital.library.leeds.ac.uk/10076/1/LUA-PUB-002-LS-196_000.pdf

Former Darwen professional referee dies

5th July 2017

Photo - referee Ray Chadwick gets ready to officiate a match in his pomp

A football referee who rose from the ranks of local league matches to officiating at big games throughout Europe has died aged 82

18th March 1935 - 28th June 2017

Ray Chadwick, from Darwen, who died after a short illness, developed his interest in football as a youngster when he played in the Darwen League.

He worked at Shaws Newsagents on Railway Road before buying the business.  His wife, Marina, whom he married in 1958, and father to Garry and Pam, ran the shop while Ray pursued his refereeing career, even though he initially refused!

One of his favourite stories was when Leeds and Scottish international Joe Jordan once threw himself horizontally two-footed off the ground right under Ray’s nose. He initially blew up for dangerous play, but as the ball flew into the top corner, and the Elland Road crowd went wild he decided that his whistle was just perfect to signal not a free-kick, but a goal!

He was also the man in the middle at the infamous game between Derby and Fulham at the old Baseball Ground. Fulham needed victory at Derby to stand any chance of winning promotion to the First Division; Derby needed all the points to be sure of avoiding relegation to the Third. At half-time, the game was goalless but the 21,142 crowd were very tense. It was Ray who complained to police that not only was the linesman on the Pop Side covered in spit, he had also been struck by a salt cellar thrown from the home crowd.

And in another memorable moment, he was once running the line at a big League match with a ref who was overbearing and officious. He made the mistake of wagging his finger at the other linesman at the half-time break. The lad picked him up and slammed him against the changing room wall. He explained very carefully that ex-Barnsley miners don’t take too kindly to that kind of admonition.

As well as football, he was a keen athlete and helped to organise early triathlon events in Darwen in the mid-80s. Marina won the second one held in 1985.

A requiem mass will be held at St Joseph’s at 10.45am today, followed by interment at Darwen Eastern Cemetery. Mourners are asked to wear brightly-coloured football shirts.