Francisco Codoni Pulcinella Performer born c1752

WCodona

Hello, I don't have much information, unfortunately.
My gggg grandfather Francisco Codoni or Cadoni/Cardoni died age 97 in 1849 in Birmingham, UK. As he was a Pulcinella performer, I would assume that he was born in Northern Italy. His wife's name was Leonora/Ellen Lamb. There appear to be no marriage records in the UK that match so I have to assume that they were married abroad. The first records in Scotland were in 1797 and 1798 that mention Francisco's children's births. The family went on to become one of the most famous names in circus and fairground history, and Punch and Judy performing in Scotland but the name changed from Codoni to Codona in the mid 1800's which is interesting.
Any help whatsoever would be fantastic.
Many, many thanks
William Codona

nuccia

Wow - gotta love English Records! DO you have an actually copy of Francesco's death? There are a few very good sites which provide free access to Italian Civil records from Northern Italy. Unfortunately since he was born before civil records you would probably need to search Church records or Catasti (land tax census) but without a town that isn't going to be easy. Have you been able to obtain Naturalization records for him? Maybe they will list where he was born? On castlecarden.org there are some people with the surname that went to the USA - Maybe that will offer some clues for you.

Last name First name Age Sex Arrival Date Place of last residence
CODONI AUGUSTE 15 M 6 Dec 1877 U
CODONI MARIA 58 F 30 Sep 1900 CORIPPO
CODONI FRANCESCO 35 F 30 May 1892 MOBERLY MO
CODONI GUISEPPE 18 M 25 Nov 1885 U
CODONI MARIA 58 F 30 Sep 1900 CORIPPO
CODONIS LEONIDAS 20 M 11 Mar 1904 PATRAS

WCodona

Hi Nuccia, thanks for the reply and also the information. I do have a copy of his death certificate but the problem I have is tracking him to which area of Northern Italy he was from. I'm certain the name was Codoni but it may well have been Cadoni, Cardoni, Cadony, Cadone, Codone, Codony etc. there have been so many spelling errors with the name, it is very difficult to get it exact. What is certain is that he was a performer, in particular, circus skills and punch and judy shows. It may be helpful to find other Italian performers whose names are one of any of the above - that would be a good clue!
Many thanks
William

nuccia

I did a google search on this came up on google books - have you seen it? The Renfrewshire Magazine

WCodona

Nice find Nuccia, well done!!!

I also found this dated 1828

newspaperarchive.com/l...-19/page-3

Bottom of column 4

He is listed as Cadoni in this article