Travels through Naples with stories of BHC

Now I am the first to admit that the link between British Home Children and Naples is tenuous, but that should be no reason to miss out on a story.

Inside the church, 2019

Added to which more accurately we are in Pompeii, and not Naples, and it is the modern city of Pompeii, rather than the one destroyed in 79 AD when Vesuvius threw a wobbler.

And having established all of that, the focus for the story is The Basilica of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary, Santuario della Madonna del Rosario, and the “good works” of Bartolo Longo who restored a dilapidated church and transformed it into what it is today.

What caught my eye was one of those little information panels which announced that
Bartolo “wanted to help children whose parents were incarcerated in prison by providing a place where young people could learn a trade and have a good base for a better future.  Some girls would stay until they got married, and their wedding dresses were provided by the charity”.

It is of course nothing new and religious institutions have from the beginning, provided for the “poor, the needy and the disposed”, but standing there I was transformed back to stories of BHC and my own great uncle who shipped out for Canada in 1914.

Approaching the Santuario della Madonna del Rosario, 2019

By which time, the programme of migrating young people across the Atlantic had been well under way for a quarter of a century having begun a little before Bartolo Longo embarked on his charitable work.

I would like to know more about that work, and how it compared with what was going on in the UK.

But my Italian is poor and as, yet I have no experience of dealing with Italian archives, but in the fullness of time I will go digging, if only because one side of the family comes from Naples.

So less a helpful contribution to the study of British Home Children and more “wot I did on our holidays”.

Location; The Basilica of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary, Pompeii

Pictures; The Basilica of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary, 2019 from the collection of Balzano

Postcard as promised, bought in romantic Sorrento, posted in romantic Manchester

So who still ends picture postcards?  

Now I know I don’t, and I guess that is true of many.

After all texting, camera phones, and the internet all instant ways of telling someone you are having a
wonderful time on holiday.

Of course back in the late 19th and early 20th century it was still the cheapest and most reliable way of sending a message.

Cheap postage, and frequent collections and deliveries meant a card sent from Blackpool in the evening would arrive the following morning.

So you could not only warn the family you would be home for breakfast but also arrange to meet a friend later in the day.

Today all that has changed, so it was nice to receive this in the post today.

It is of a place that I still find fascinating,  a period of history which always draws me in. and is a postcard the first of the year.

No more needs to be said other than an apology to Joe and Bron for not sending them a similar card when we were in Sorrento in July

Potscard; from Joe and Bron.

Walking the streets of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD

The Forum looking towards the Temple of  Jupiter © Kim Traynor

I have never lost my fascination of all things Roman.  

Now I know there are some pretty iffy bits to the Romans ranging from slavery to military conquest and a fairly ruthless system of government under the Empire.

But much the same can be said of many societies in the past including our own.

So with that out of the way It’s time to indulge my love of almost all things Roman and give a plug to the new exhibition opening on Life and death Pompeii and Herculaneum at the British Museum March 28-September 29th http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/pompeii_and_herculaneum.aspx

“AD 79. In just 24 hours, two cities in the Bay of Naples in southern Italy were buried by a catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

A street in Pompeii, © Paul Vlaar

Preserved under ash, the cities lay buried for just over 1,600 years, their rediscovery providing an unparalleled glimpse into the daily life of the Roman Empire.

From the bustling street to the intimate spaces of a Roman home, this major exhibition will take you to the heart of people’s lives in Pompeii and Herculaneum.”

And if like me you don’t fancy the trip to London, then the film of the opening will be shown in cinemas across the country on June 13th introduced live by British Museum Director Neil MacGregor and featuring Mary Beard, Rachel de Thame, Giorgio Locatelli and Exhibition Curator Paul Roberts who bring extraordinary objects to life in this unique event.

“The exhibition will give visitors a taste of the daily life of the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum, from the bustling street to the family home. The domestic space is the essential context for people’s lives, and allows us to get closer to the Romans themselves. 

This exhibition will explore the lives of individuals in Roman society, not the classic figures of films and television, such as emperors, gladiators and legionaries, but businessmen, powerful women, freed slaves and children. 

The baker Terentius Neo with his wife 

One stunning example of this material is a beautiful wall painting from Pompeii showing the baker Terentius Neo and his wife, holding writing materials showing they are literate and cultured. Importantly their pose and presentation suggests they are equal partners, in business and in life.

The emphasis on a domestic context also helps transform museum artefacts into everyday possessions. Six pieces of wooden furniture will be lent from Herculaneum in an unprecedented loan by the Archaeological Superintendency of Napels and Pompeii. 

These items were carbonized by the high temperatures of the ash that engulfed the city and are extremely rare finds that would not have survived at Pompeii – showing the importance of combining evidence from the two cities. The furniture includes a linen chest, an inlaid stool and even a garden bench. Perhaps the most astonishing and moving piece is a baby’s crib that still rocks on its curved runners.

Detail from a wall in the Hall of the Mysteries © Lord Pheasant

The exhibition will include casts from in and around Pompeii of some of the victims of the eruption. A family of two adults and their two children are huddled together, just as in their last moments under the stairs of their villa. The most famous of the casts on display is of a dog, fixed forever at the moment of its death as the volcano submerged the cities.

Sponsored by Goldman Sachs”**



**http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/news_and_press/press_releases/2012/pompeii_and_herculaneum.aspx

Pictures; the Forum looking towards the Temple of Jupiter, by Kim Traynor, July 2012, A street in Pompeii, by Paul Vlaar, June 2003, the baker Terentius Neo with his wife. Italian National Archaeological Museum of Naples (cat. no. 9058 ) & detail from a wall in the Hall of the Mysteries by Lord Pheasant November2006