ERNEST CHARLES HUNT AND THE ITALIAN CONNECTION

Ernie was born in 1916 in Holborn, Clerkenwell, London. His Dad was Robert James Hunt and his Mum Angelina Juliet De Maria. He had two sisters, Ida (who died of diphtheria at the age of six) and Grace. His Dad died when Ernie was just 7 years old and his Mum asked his Dad’s brother if he would adopt Ernie, but he refused.

Guiseppe was born in 1822 in Naples, Italy and immigrated to England sometime between 1851 and 1861. At the age of 38 and a professional confectioner by trade he lived with his wife Eliza Plew and six month old son Guiseppe Giovanni in Westminster. Eliza was 23 at the time and was born in Deptford. How they met is not known but Guiseppe was disowned by his family for marrying a non catholic.

They had two more children, Ernesti Guiseppe born about 1862 and Lizza born about 1867. It is thought they had a shop selling cold meats in the West End called De Maria. Sometime in the four years following Lizza’s birth her mother died and Guiseppe is recorded as being a widower and retired by 1871.

Ernesti, the second son, moved to St. Pancras where he married Juliet Mound in 1888. He was a decorator/artist and shortly after their marriage Juliet gave birth to a daughter ‘Angelina Juliet’ born September 11th 1888.

Ernesti with his daughter Angelia (Ernie’s Mum) at 2½ years old. Photo taken on Hampstead Heath in April 1891.

At the age of 23 Angelina married Robert James Hunt aged 27 at Holborn Register Office on August 7th 1912. They lived at Claremont Square, Clerkenwell where Robert was a wine cellar man and also a special police constable between 1914 -1918.

Nan – “There was lots of money there but as his dad had died when Ernie was only 7 he had to come out from the private school and his mum had to go to work as a cook.

His mother’s mother and father brought him and Grace up. His grandfather was an artist; he used to paint at the Royal Naval Club. Do the motifs and that on the ceilings. He used to take your granddad with him and he said he can always remember getting game pie.

I think Ernie’s mum (Angelina) came from a French family Mound. She tried to teach your mum (Joyce) French. I can’t remember what Ernie’s Gran did for a living. I know the old chap used to do the paintings and murals. He never really spoke a lot about them. I don’t think there was much of a family life there. They kept themselves to themselves. You could never have a good laugh with them, they couldn’t take a joke! Just before we got married my dad said ‘don’t act with him like you do with us because he hasn’t got a sense of humour’. I mean Horry and I were jitterbugging, well as much as I could jitterbug, at a party. And he said to me you stop doing that your showing your knickers! He was really staid and bloody miserable in a sense (laughs). It was his way”.

His mum (Angelina) Ernie and Grace originally came from the City Road, Finsbury near where I lived but they got bombed out. They found a couple of rooms but were only there for about two weeks and they got bombed out again.

Angelina got two rooms in Grafton Terrace, Hampstead and her mum (Ernie’s Grandmother) got two rooms in the same road. Ernie couldn’t get a van, so had to have a barrow and he could only move a certain amount each time, and by the time he’s come back a lot of his stuff had been pinched. A lot of silver dishes; a sewing machine, his clothes etc., There was so much bombing, you sort of had to look after your own and that was it.

Granddad’s sister Grace married a chap from the RAF (Bob Grindley) and they moved to the Elephant and Castle. After a while they moved into Grafton Terrace with Angelina (Nanny Hunt). The house at Grafton Terrace had a basement and three more floors, so Grace and Bob had the basement and first floor, Angelina had two rooms on the second floor, with another couple on the top floor.

Bob was something to do with the radar at the RAF station.

Grace and Bob had a daughter Angelina (Angie) in 1947.

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