Entry 45: Basilia Pintabona (Part 4) - Nonna Carmela Ricciardo, Not Yet Married
- Basilia Staltari
- Jul 20
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 24
Location: Sicily
Date: 1863
Continuing from Entries 39 and 40, a breakthrough with Basilia Pintabona’s (b.1897) ancestral family occurred after the discovery of the marriage registration of her parents. Information recorded in this archived document provided research leads that not only enabled the family tree to be expanded back to 1789, but also, and more significantly, unveiled the origin of Basilia’s name. Her parents, Antonino Pintabona and Rosaria Princiotto, broke a well established custom by naming her in honour of someone other than a grandparent - an unusual choice, especially given that Basilia was their firstborn child. Therefore, it may seem an odd thing to do at this point, maybe even contradictory, but this entry is dedicated to one of those overlooked grandparents – Basilia’s paternal nonna, Carmela Ricciardo.
In the intricate, tangled web of life, personal experiences become more challenging when your path deviates from the norm and ricochets away from the culturally embedded, rigid expectations imposed by others. This was the case for Carmela.
In 1863, Carmela was an “aging” 31-year-old spinster living in the Sicilian town of Piraino with her mother (and possibly other siblings). Traditionally, men were the providers of a family, but her father was deceased, so life was very difficult.
The previous year, she met a man seven years younger than herself, named Basilio Pintabona. He lived in the neighbouring town of Sant’Angelo di Brolo and worked both as a ‘fallegname’ (carpenter) and a ‘bracciale’ (labourer). A premarital relationship developed between them and she became pregnant. Today, this generally isn’t a significant issue, but in Carmela’s time, acceptable relationships were strictly confined to a singular, narrow pathway involving chaperones and arranged marriages. Straying from this custom often resulted in severe consequences, including the risk of abandonment by your own family. Unmarried, pregnant women carried the heavy burdens of shame and disgrace, faced cruel and harsh moral judgements and were subjected to harmful, damaging gossip.
Without doubt, Carmela found herself in a complicated and terrifying predicament. Fortunately, her many fears and worries were ultimately eased by the best solution imaginable - taking responsibility, Basilio committed to stand by Carmela and provide his full support and care. Their daughter was born on 3 March 1863 and the next day, Basilio dutifully registered her birth at the Comune of Sant’Angelo di Brolo, acknowledging himself as the father. The birth registration below reveals that they named the baby “Basilia” - tracing the origin of the name back to 1863.
A few months later, in May 1863, Carmela Ricciardo and Basilio Pintabona were officially married at the local church in Piraino. The marriage registration, displayed below, has been cropped to focus on relevant details found in the document - specifically the names of Basilio's parents: Carmelo Pintabona and Basilia Princiotto. This information verifies that Carmela and Basilio followed tradition by naming their first child after a paternal grandparent - that is, their daughter, Basilia Pintabona had been named after Carmela's future mother-in-law. Further searches of other documents made it possible to determine the estimated year Basilia Princiotto was born, tracing the name "Basilia" back to around 1811.
Carmela and Basilio's son Antonino was born nearly a decade later in 1872. This brings us back to the task of discovering who Antonino and his wife Rosaria named their first born child (my grandmother) after. Having discovered two possibilities, the questions to be considered are: Which “Basilia” had the greatest impact on Antonino during his lifetime? Was it his grandmother, Basilia Princiotto, or his sister, Basilia Pintabona? Current research hasn’t uncovered the life spans of either woman, making it impossible to determine their importance in Antonino's life. However, his decision to name his firstborn after one of these women clearly indicates a significant connection, strong enough to make her a priority over his own mother, Carmela Ricciardo.
Serving as a helpful reference, the family tree illustrates the relationships among the family members that have been discussed.
In conclusion, based purely on intuition and with no supporting evidence, I feel Antonino named his firstborn after his sister. That is:
My grandmother, Basilia Pintabona who was born in 1897 was named in honour of her aunty, who was also named Basilia Pintabona (born 1863).
As for Carmela, much like Italian mothers today, witnessing such a strong bond between her children would have been something she valued, so she probably approved of Antonino's decision to break with naming traditions.
EXTRA INFORMATION 1
Antonino and his wife Rosaria later named their second and subsequent children after grandparents.
EXTRA INFORMATION 2
There is compelling evidence suggesting that CARMELA RICCIARDO was unaware of her exact date of birth. Inconsistencies are located in the following documents:
In the March 1863 birth registration of her daughter, Basilia Pintabona, Carmela's age was recorded as “26” when she was actually 31.
In her May 1863 marriage registration, Carmela's age was listed as “31” when she had actually turned 32 ten days earlier.
In the 1872 birth registration of her son, Antonino Pintabona, Carmela's age was noted as "38", when she was actually 41.
However, a common element in all three documents is that her age consistently showed she was older than her husband.
Archived birth records for Carmela Ricciardo show that she was born on 15 May 1831.
EXTRA INFORMATION 3
Marrying older women had occurred previously in the Pintabona family: Basilio’s mother, Basilia Princiotto, was four years older than her husband.
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