107 records, read one at a time

Register

Every record this archive has actually put its eyes on, with what it says and where it is. Assembled from the files the reading was recorded in, so it cannot fall behind the work.

A family tree is not evidence. These are the documents behind it — civil acts from two Italian towns, a Queensland index, a passenger list, a cemetery register — and the point of listing them together is that you can see how few there still are against how much the tree asserts. What is not here is on Searched and Open questions.

Scilla — the civil register	Reggio Calabria	43
Piedimonte Etneo — the civil register	Catania, Sicily	7
Queensland births, deaths and marriages	the Australian end	6
Sicily — records found for people who had none	Piedimonte Etneo and around	10
FindMyPast — the New York years	New York County	10
Passenger records	National Archives of Australia	12
Nudgee Cemetery burial register	Brisbane	19
All of it		107

Reggio Calabria

Scilla — the civil register 43

Birth and marriage acts read image by image off the Antenati films. The Arena and Polistena quarters both come out of this one town, so these are the acts that separate them.

Year Act Who Father Mother

1861 228 Rocco Arena, b. 20 December 1861 Francesco Antonio Arena, 42, marinaro, son of Filippo Serafina Arlotta, 28 Documented
1883 206 Giovanni Polistena, b. 16 September 1883 Camillo Antonio Polistena, 48, pescatore Giovanna Romano, filatrice Documented
1861 209 Arena Domenica — — index only
1870 81 Domenico-Giovanni-Camillo Arena, b. 24 April 1870 Giuseppe Arena di Domenico, 30, cordaio (ropemaker) Serafina Vita di Giovanni, 20, donna di casa Documented
1892 230 Giuseppe Arena, b. 6 October 1892 Giovanni Arena, 33, pescatore Concetta Russo, filatrice Documented
1859 46 Domenico Arena, b. 10 February 1859 Orazio Arena Giovanna Zirilli Documented
1859 111 Maria Arena, b. 1 May 1859 Giosafatto Arena Rosaria Longordo index only
1859 205 Annunziato Arena, b. 15 September 1859 Santo Arena Giovanna Gioffre index only
1859 — GIOVANNI ARENA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND — — negative
1851 — MICHELE DONATO — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND — — negative
1892 162 Annunziata Donato, b. 6 July 1892 Michele Donato, 36, pescatore Maria Sofi, filatrice Documented
1893 22 Anna Arena, b. 17 January 1893 Rocco Arena, marinaro (no age given) Generosa Costa, filatrice Documented
1856 180 Domenico Arena, b. 3 September 1856 Orazio Arena Giovanna Zirilli Documented
1856 — ROCCO ARENA di ORAZIO — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND — — negative
1856 — MICHELE DONATO — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND — — negative
1859 — MICHELE DONATO — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND — — negative
1875 — GIUSEPPI POLISTENA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND — — negative
1858 60 Rocco Arena, b. 23 April 1858 Santo Arena Giovanna Gioffre Documented
1858 — GIOVANNI ARENA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND — — negative
1860 45 Giuseppe Arena, b. 5 March 1860 Francesco Antonio Arena Serafina Arlotta Documented
1860 161 Maria Annunziata Arena, b. 27 August 1860 Orazio Arena Maria Giovanna Zirilli Documented
1860 43 Domenico Arena, b. 2 March 1860 Giovanni Arena Maddalena Longordo Documented
1860 — GIOVANNI ARENA and ROCCO ARENA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND — — negative
1857 100 Filippo Arena, b. 9 May 1857 Giovanni Arena Maddalena Longordo Documented
1857 68 Clemente Arena, b. 16 March 1857 Antonio Arena Giuseppa Adaloro Documented
1857 — GIOVANNI ARENA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND (and the search is now closed) — — negative
1819 186 Francesco (Antonio) Arena, b. 25 November 1819 Filippo Arena Domenica Costa Documented
1859 M — FRANCESCO ANTONIO ARENA x SERAFINA ARLOTTA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND — — negative
1858 M — FRANCESCO ANTONIO ARENA x SERAFINA ARLOTTA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND — — negative
1833 1 Orazio Arena, b. 4 February 1833 Bonaventura Arena Marianna Romano candidate
1833 — SERAFINA ARLOTTA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND — — negative
1821 10 Orazio Arena, b. 14 December 1821 Giuseppe Arena Teresa M[igliara?] — surname uncertain candidate
1853 2 Domenico Arena, b. 24 March 1853 Francesco Antonio Arena Serafina Arlotta Documented
1853 6 Teresa Arena, b. 17 October 1853 Orazio Arena Giovanna Zirilli Documented
1854 1 Giovanni Arena, b. 20 April 1854 Antonio Arena Rosa Arlotta candidate
1855 — NO ARENA OF FRANCESCO ANTONIO OR ORAZIO — — negative
1854 — NO ARENA OF FRANCESCO ANTONIO OR ORAZIO — — negative
1852 48 Filippo Arena, b. 14 February 1852 Francesco Antonio Arena (written 'Ant.o') Serafina Arlotta Documented
1852 — NO CHILD OF ORAZIO ARENA — — negative
1851 M 13 Francesco Arena (31, marinaro) x Serafina Arlotta (20) — promise 7 February, celebrated 16 February 1851 HIS: Filippo Arena, marinaro, and Domenica Costa HERS: Giovanni Arlotta, marinaro, and Maria Costa Documented
1818 M — FILIPPO ARENA x DOMENICA COSTA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND — — negative
1819 M — FILIPPO ARENA x DOMENICA COSTA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND — — negative
1830 2 Serafina Arlotta, b. 13 June 1830 Giovanni Arlotta Maria Costa Documented

Catania, Sicily

Piedimonte Etneo — the civil register 7

The Mazza acts. Each one carries the father's age, which is how a birth year can be recovered for a man who has no birth act of his own.

Year Act Kind Subject Father

1877 164 birth Antonino Mazza Pasquale Mazza, 48 Documented
1877 168 birth Orazio Mazza Rosario Mazza, 31 Documented
1879 167 birth Rosaria Mazza Pasquale Mazza, 50 Documented
1879 205 birth Venerio Mazza Salvatore Mazza, 34 Documented
1880 66 birth Gaetano Mazza Rosario Mazza, 32 Documented
1876 5 marriage Salvatore Mazza & Concetta Sciacca Innocenzio Mazza, — Documented
1874 26 marriage Antonino Mazza & Rosa Raiti Innocenzio Mazza, — Documented

the Australian end

Queensland births, deaths and marriages 6

Index entries, with the registration number, so each can be ordered as a certificate. Where the index garbles a name the garble is kept and named.

Date Kind Name Registration Parents

14 November 1926 death Michali Mazza 1926/C/3983 Salvatori Mazza × Maria Lecota Documented
19 March 1986 death Rosario Mazza (b. 1899) 1986/2455 Salvatore Mazza × Maria Concetta Nicotra Documented
24 September 1963 death Maria Nicotra Mazza 1963/B/61348 John Nicotra × Venera Cassaneti Documented
3 August 1968 death Mary Rosa Mazza 1968/B/936 Sebastiano Mazza × Domenica Postamo Documented
2 December 1939 marriage Maria Mazza 1939/C/4207 — × — Documented
8 January 1949 marriage Rosario Mazza 1949/B/20688 — × — Documented

Piedimonte Etneo and around

Sicily — records found for people who had none 10

Each of these closed a hole the family tree had left open.

Who What Detail Source

Rosario Mazza DEATH RECORD — the archive had none Died 15 NOVEMBER 1924 at PRESA, Piedimonte Etneo, aged SEVENTY-NINE, a CONTADINO; certificate number 15. Aged 79 in November 1924 gives a birth in 1845, at Piedimonte Etneo -- which matches the ages the marriage proclamations gave him in 1898, 1902 and 1910 and CORRECTS the family tree, which says 1850. His father is named as MARIANO and his mother as MARIA CATALANO; his wife as LEONARDA BONANNO. Italy, Catania, Catania, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1866-1929 — FamilySearch 1:1:XWTK-5R8Q Documented
Mariano Mazza and Maria Catalano THE NAME LINE CONFIRMED FROM A RECORD The archive reached Mariano Mazza and Maria Catalano by inference from marriage proclamations that call Rosario 'di Mariano'. Rosario's own death act names BOTH parents outright -- Mariano and Maria Catalano -- which converts the deepest Sicilian generation from an inference into a documented fact. Italy, Catania, Catania, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1866-1929 — FamilySearch 1:1:XWTK-5R8Q Documented
Mariano Mazza (the younger) A SON THE ARCHIVE DID NOT HAVE The Acireale diocesan registers carry a parish record naming ROSARIO MAZZA and LEONARDA BONANNO as the parents of a MARIANUM MAZZA -- a son named for his paternal grandfather, exactly as Sicilian custom predicts for a first son. The family tree does not have him. Italy, Catania, Diocesi di Acireale, Catholic Church Records, 1560-1950 Documented
Salvatore Mazza x Maria Nicotra THE PARISH MARRIAGE, 25 APRIL 1898 The parish register of Piedimonte Etneo records the marriage in LATIN: Salvator Mazza, son of ROGERIUS MAZZA and LEONARDA BONANNO, to MARIA NICOTRAM, daughter of JOANNES NICOTRAM and VENERA COSENTINO. Rosario appears as 'Rogerius', which is why a search for 'Rosario' in these registers returns nothing. Piedimonte Etneo parish register, Marriage Records 1777-1911 — FamilySearch 3:1:3QS7-99ZG-7XNZ Documented
Venera, Maria Nicotra's mother A THREE-WAY CONFLICT, NOT A TWO-WAY ONE The archive already held two readings of Maria Nicotra's mother: 'Monti Venera' from the 1898 civil proclamation and 'Venera Cassaneti' from the Queensland death index. The parish register of the same 1898 marriage gives a THIRD: VENERA COSENTINO. The given name Venera is constant across all three; the surname is read three different ways. Cassaneti and Cosentino may be the same word badly read. Unresolved. Piedimonte Etneo parish register; 1898 civil proclamation; Queensland BDM unresolved
Rosario Mazza x Leonarda Bonanno THEIR MARRIAGE — FOUND. PIEDIMONTE ETNEO, 30 APRIL 1871, ATTO 14 The act the archive has wanted for a fortnight. On 30 APRIL 1871, at four in the afternoon in the casa comunale of Piedimonte Etneo, before Barone Mariano, sindaco, ROSARIO MAZZA and LEONARDA BONANNO were married. Both are called CELIBI -- neither had been married before -- both BORN AND RESIDENT there, and both BRACCIANTI: she worked the land alongside him. He is entered as twenty-six, she as twenty-six. HIS PARENTS ARE NAMED: figlio di MARIANO e di MARIA CATALANO. HERS ARE NAMED FOR THE FIRST TIME ANYWHERE: figlia di GAETANO e d'ANNA CAVALLARO. Witnesses: Salvatore Greco, 38, calzolaio, and Antonino Di Lava fu Giuseppe, 46, bracciante. Act 15 follows at half past four the same afternoon, so the register was doing a run of weddings that day. The parish register was the wrong door: the film's own index held no marriage for the pair. Civil registration began in 1866, so an 1871 marriage is a CIVIL act, and the civil act is the one that names all four parents. Piedimonte Etneo, Matrimoni 1871, atto 14 — Antenati ark an_ua83392, images 13-14 Documented
Rosario Mazza's children in the parish registers FOUR MORE, UNDER FOUR SPELLINGS OF HIS NAME The Acireale diocesan registers carry several children of Rosario Mazza and Leonarda Bonanno, and the father's name is transcribed differently almost every time: ROGERIUS Mazza with a son Salvator; ROSARIUS Mazza with a son HORATIUS (Orazio); JOANNES Mazza with LEONORA Bonanno and a son Joannem (Giovanni); GASPARE Mazza with Leonarda Bonanno and a son SANTO. The last is the more interesting: SANTO MAZZA is one of the two sons this archive found missing from the family tree, and here is a parish record of him. The lesson for searching these registers is that the given name is unreliable and the WIFE'S name is the stable handle. Italy, Catania, Diocesi di Acireale, Catholic Church Records, 1560-1950 Documented
Rosario Mazza HIS BIRTH ACT — BORN 2 JUNE 1845, ATTO 64 Found by working backwards from the marriage. ATTO DI NASCITA no. 64 of 1845, Comune di Piedimonte, distretto di Acireale, Provincia di Catania: MARIANO MAZZA, DI ANNI TRENTASEI, di professione BRACCIALE, appeared before the sindaco Antonino Grassi and presented a boy born to MARIA CATALANO, of thirty-six, and to the said Mariano Mazza, on the SECOND DAY OF JUNE 1845 at eleven in the morning, NELLA CASA DI LORO ABITAZIONE, and gave him the name ROSARIO. The baptism column has the parish of the Chiesa Maggiore returning the notice the same day, 2 June 1845, for ROSARIO MAZZA. This is the whole of the deepest Sicilian generation in one page: it CONFIRMS the death act's Mariano and Maria Catalano from an independent register, it FIXES Rosario's birth to a day, and it dates MARIANO MAZZA HIMSELF to about 1809 and MARIA CATALANO to about 1809. Piedimonte Etneo, Nati 1845, atto 64 — Antenati ark an_ua72387, image 66 Documented
Gaetano Bonanno and Anna Cavallaro A WHOLE GENERATION THE TREE DOES NOT HAVE Leonarda Bonanno has stood in this archive as a name with a father's first name attached -- 'daughter of Gaetano', from the 1910 marriage proclamation. The marriage act of 1871 gives her BOTH parents outright: GAETANO BONANNO and ANNA CAVALLARO of Piedimonte Etneo. They are the Bonanno equal of Mariano Mazza and Maria Catalano, and like them they are ENTIRELY ABSENT FROM THE FAMILY TREE. Piedimonte Etneo, Matrimoni 1871, atto 14 Documented
The Piedimonte Etneo birth registers, 1820-1863 THE WHOLE SERIES IS NOW LISTED, AND ITS INDEX IS BETTER THAN AN INDEX Fifty volumes of Piedimonte births, 1820 to 1863, with their Antenati arks, are now written down in data/pe-arks.tsv. Two things make this series unusually cheap to work. First, each volume ends with a REGISTER OF THE WHOLE YEAR -- not an alphabetical tavola but a ruled table, six openings long, listing every birth IN ACT ORDER with the child, the comune, BOTH PARENTS and the day. A year of births can be read in six page-loads. Second, the index is a finding aid for PARENTS, not just children: to find every child of Mariano Mazza and Maria Catalano it is enough to read the parents column down each year. That is the next sweep, and it will give Rosario's brothers and sisters. Antenati, Stato civile della restaurazione, Piedimonte (oggi Piedimonte Etneo), serie 72189 method

New York County

FindMyPast — the New York years 10

The branch that went to America rather than to Australia, and what became of it.

What Result Reference

FOUND Serafina Arena — baptism Baptised 1898, OUR LADY OF LORETTO, New York County New York Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms, US/NY/CATH/PR/BAP/01054593. Rocco Arena and Generosa Costa's daughter, born 14 August 1898 and dead by 30 January 1900. Our Lady of Loretto is the Italian parish on Elizabeth Street in Little Italy -- minutes from the Mulberry Street address the 1899 manifest gives for Rocco. THE FAMILY'S NEW YORK PARISH IS NOW KNOWN.
FOUND Clementina Arena — baptism Baptised 1901, OUR LADY OF LORETTO, New York County US/NY/CATH/PR/BAP/01057021. Born 18 December 1900. Same parish as her sister.
FOUND Clementina Arena — a crossing in 1921 Ellis Island, 1921, US/PASS/NY/ELLIS2/000191616/3 Born in Manhattan in December 1900, so twenty when she crossed. The family had gone back to Scilla by then -- this looks like her returning to the country of her birth. NOT IN THE FAMILY TREE, which does not have her at all.
FOUND Generoso Arena — a crossing in 1903 Ellis Island, 1903, aged about 9 (b. 1894) Not obviously ours, but the given name is Generosa Costa's in masculine form and is rare. Recorded, not claimed.
CORROBORATED Prostamo in the Australian passenger index Five records: Caterina 1969, Domenico F 1956, Francesca 1957, Francesco 1957, Rocco 1949 EXACTLY the five the National Archives' own site gave, from a separate index. AND STILL NO DOMENICA PROSTAMO IN 1951. Two independent indexes now agree she is not there under her maiden name, which strengthens the reading that she travelled as MAZZA.
NEGATIVE Rocco Arena in the 1910 US census Not there With the 1900 census placing the household in Manhattan and Antonino born there in October 1902, his absence in 1910 supports the family going home to Scilla between 1902 and 1910 -- which is when Anna must have returned to marry Giuseppe Arena.
NEGATIVE Italy Births & Baptisms 1806-1900, and Marriages, and Deaths DOES NOT COVER SCILLA The cleanest possible test: ZERO Polistena in any of the three Italian sets. Polistena is a Scilla surname with six emigrants in the Ellis index alone. The sets are FamilySearch-derived and their Italian coverage is Sicilian and mainland-northern, not Reggio Calabria. DO NOT COME BACK HERE FOR SCILLA.
NEGATIVE Italy Marriages 1809-1900 for Rosario Mazza Four Rosario Mazza marriages, none after 1862 The archive wants a marriage about 1870-72 to Leonarda Bonanno. There is no Leonarda Bonanno marriage in the set at all, and no Mariano Mazza birth. Coverage of Piedimonte Etneo is absent or negligible, though 110 Nicotra marriages show the set does reach the Catania area.
NEGATIVE Queensland Marriages 1829-1939 Ends too early Nine Arena, nine Cavallaro, seven Coco, five Nicotra, four Micale, two Mazza -- but the set stops at 1939 and this family's Queensland marriages are mostly 1949 and later. It does independently carry Maria Mazza and Rosario Coco in 1939, which the Queensland BDM index already gave.
PAYWALL New York Roman Catholic Parish transcripts Indexed but locked The index entries are visible on the trial; the transcripts -- which would give the godparents, and godparents in an Italian parish are usually kin -- require a higher subscription tier than the trial provides.

National Archives of Australia

Passenger records 12

The family tree recorded eighteen crossings and not one ship's name. These are the ones the index gave back — and where the tree and the record disagree, both are shown.

Who Ship Sailed from Arrived The tree said

Michele Mazza PALERMO Messina 21 Apr 1925, Brisbane 21 April 1925, Fremantle, Western Australia Documented
Sebastiano Mazza TOSCANA Genoa 04 Oct 1949, Melbourne 4 October 1949, Fremantle, Western Australia Documented
Antonino Polistena SURRIENTO Naples 17 Jun 1949, Australia 17 June 1949, Brisbane, Queensland Documented
Carmelo Armanno NAPOLI Naples 08 May 1949, Australia —, — Documented
Angela Polistena SURRIENTO Naples 17 Jun 1949, Australia 17 June 1949, Brisbane, Queensland Documented
Mariano Cavallaro RAVELLO Messina 13 May 1951, Brisbane May 1951, Fremantle, Western Australia Documented
Domenica Prostamo UGOLINO VIVALDI Genoa 01 Mar 1951, Australia March 1951, Fremantle, Western Australia Documented
Salvatore Mazza UGOLINO VIVALDI Genoa 01 Mar 1951, Australia —, Fremantle, Western Australia Documented
Venera Cavallaro SURRIENTO Italy 23 Sep 1953, Fremantle 6 October 1953, Brisbane, Queensland Documented
Luciano Cavallaro SURRIENTO Italy 23 Sep 1953, Fremantle 6 October 1953, Brisbane, Queensland Documented
Rocco Arena SYDNEY Genoa 27 Dec 1953, Fremantle December 1953, Brisbane, Queensland Documented
Francessco Prostamo ROMA Genoa 10 Oct 1957, Fremantle 10 October 1957, Fremantle, Western Australia Documented

Brisbane

Nudgee Cemetery burial register 19

Including the four consecutive plots — V-1026 to V-1029 — that hold the four Italian great-grandparents, buried in the order they died.

Name In the register as Plot Born Died

Maria Mazza Maria Coco CHAP-117-A3 1 October 1922 25 June 2012
Antonio Micale Antonio Micale CHAP-207-CL 1 March 1924 24 September 2016
Maria Antonia Tropeia Antonia Micale CHAP-207-CR 17 January 1927 29 January 2000
Luciano Pagano Luciano Pagano V-0036 — —
Maria Nicotra Maria Mazza V-0044 — —
Angela Cupo Angela Mazza V-0116 — —
Rosario Mazza Rosario Mazza V-0117 — —
Mary rosa Mazza Maria Mazza V-0165 — —
Venera Cavallaro Venera Cavallaro V-0395 29 March 1916 6 September 2013
Carmelo Armanno Carmelo Armanno V-0718 22 October 1924 28 April 2019
Angelina Pagano Angelina Armanno V-0719 20 April 1933 9 October 2008
Sebastiano Mazza Sebastiano Mazza V-1026 22 October 1920 2 April 2002
Domenica Prostamo Domenica Mazza V-1027 3 May 1928 29 January 2010
Angela Polistena Angelina Arena V-1028 22 January 1925 18 September 2018
Rocco Arena Rocco Arena V-1029 12 October 1924 29 October 1999
Giovanna Polistena Giovanna Bova V-1038 13 December 1918 31 July 2012
Rocco Bova Rocco Bova V-1039 25 August 1916 28 May 2002
Clemente Arena Clemente Arena V-1338 15 July 1929 13 June 2002
Mario Salvatore Arena Mario Salvatore Arena V-1456 7 March 1937 18 August 2012

Every row here is a document somebody read. Where a row carries a confidence it is the one the reader recorded at the time, in the five words this archive shares with its six siblings.

Year	Act	Who	Father	Mother
1861	228	Rocco Arena, b. 20 December 1861	Francesco Antonio Arena, 42, marinaro, son of Filippo	Serafina Arlotta, 28	Documented
1883	206	Giovanni Polistena, b. 16 September 1883	Camillo Antonio Polistena, 48, pescatore	Giovanna Romano, filatrice	Documented
1861	209	Arena Domenica	—	—	index only
1870	81	Domenico-Giovanni-Camillo Arena, b. 24 April 1870	Giuseppe Arena di Domenico, 30, cordaio (ropemaker)	Serafina Vita di Giovanni, 20, donna di casa	Documented
1892	230	Giuseppe Arena, b. 6 October 1892	Giovanni Arena, 33, pescatore	Concetta Russo, filatrice	Documented
1859	46	Domenico Arena, b. 10 February 1859	Orazio Arena	Giovanna Zirilli	Documented
1859	111	Maria Arena, b. 1 May 1859	Giosafatto Arena	Rosaria Longordo	index only
1859	205	Annunziato Arena, b. 15 September 1859	Santo Arena	Giovanna Gioffre	index only
1859	—	GIOVANNI ARENA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND	—	—	negative
1851	—	MICHELE DONATO — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND	—	—	negative
1892	162	Annunziata Donato, b. 6 July 1892	Michele Donato, 36, pescatore	Maria Sofi, filatrice	Documented
1893	22	Anna Arena, b. 17 January 1893	Rocco Arena, marinaro (no age given)	Generosa Costa, filatrice	Documented
1856	180	Domenico Arena, b. 3 September 1856	Orazio Arena	Giovanna Zirilli	Documented
1856	—	ROCCO ARENA di ORAZIO — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND	—	—	negative
1856	—	MICHELE DONATO — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND	—	—	negative
1859	—	MICHELE DONATO — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND	—	—	negative
1875	—	GIUSEPPI POLISTENA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND	—	—	negative
1858	60	Rocco Arena, b. 23 April 1858	Santo Arena	Giovanna Gioffre	Documented
1858	—	GIOVANNI ARENA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND	—	—	negative
1860	45	Giuseppe Arena, b. 5 March 1860	Francesco Antonio Arena	Serafina Arlotta	Documented
1860	161	Maria Annunziata Arena, b. 27 August 1860	Orazio Arena	Maria Giovanna Zirilli	Documented
1860	43	Domenico Arena, b. 2 March 1860	Giovanni Arena	Maddalena Longordo	Documented
1860	—	GIOVANNI ARENA and ROCCO ARENA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND	—	—	negative
1857	100	Filippo Arena, b. 9 May 1857	Giovanni Arena	Maddalena Longordo	Documented
1857	68	Clemente Arena, b. 16 March 1857	Antonio Arena	Giuseppa Adaloro	Documented
1857	—	GIOVANNI ARENA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND (and the search is now closed)	—	—	negative
1819	186	Francesco (Antonio) Arena, b. 25 November 1819	Filippo Arena	Domenica Costa	Documented
1859 M	—	FRANCESCO ANTONIO ARENA x SERAFINA ARLOTTA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND	—	—	negative
1858 M	—	FRANCESCO ANTONIO ARENA x SERAFINA ARLOTTA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND	—	—	negative
1833	1	Orazio Arena, b. 4 February 1833	Bonaventura Arena	Marianna Romano	candidate
1833	—	SERAFINA ARLOTTA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND	—	—	negative
1821	10	Orazio Arena, b. 14 December 1821	Giuseppe Arena	Teresa M[igliara?] — surname uncertain	candidate
1853	2	Domenico Arena, b. 24 March 1853	Francesco Antonio Arena	Serafina Arlotta	Documented
1853	6	Teresa Arena, b. 17 October 1853	Orazio Arena	Giovanna Zirilli	Documented
1854	1	Giovanni Arena, b. 20 April 1854	Antonio Arena	Rosa Arlotta	candidate
1855	—	NO ARENA OF FRANCESCO ANTONIO OR ORAZIO	—	—	negative
1854	—	NO ARENA OF FRANCESCO ANTONIO OR ORAZIO	—	—	negative
1852	48	Filippo Arena, b. 14 February 1852	Francesco Antonio Arena (written 'Ant.o')	Serafina Arlotta	Documented
1852	—	NO CHILD OF ORAZIO ARENA	—	—	negative
1851 M	13	Francesco Arena (31, marinaro) x Serafina Arlotta (20) — promise 7 February, celebrated 16 February 1851	HIS: Filippo Arena, marinaro, and Domenica Costa	HERS: Giovanni Arlotta, marinaro, and Maria Costa	Documented
1818 M	—	FILIPPO ARENA x DOMENICA COSTA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND	—	—	negative
1819 M	—	FILIPPO ARENA x DOMENICA COSTA — SOUGHT, NOT FOUND	—	—	negative
1830	2	Serafina Arlotta, b. 13 June 1830	Giovanni Arlotta	Maria Costa	Documented

Year	Act	Kind	Subject	Father
1877	164	birth	Antonino Mazza	Pasquale Mazza, 48	Documented
1877	168	birth	Orazio Mazza	Rosario Mazza, 31	Documented
1879	167	birth	Rosaria Mazza	Pasquale Mazza, 50	Documented
1879	205	birth	Venerio Mazza	Salvatore Mazza, 34	Documented
1880	66	birth	Gaetano Mazza	Rosario Mazza, 32	Documented
1876	5	marriage	Salvatore Mazza & Concetta Sciacca	Innocenzio Mazza, —	Documented
1874	26	marriage	Antonino Mazza & Rosa Raiti	Innocenzio Mazza, —	Documented

Date	Kind	Name	Registration	Parents
14 November 1926	death	Michali Mazza	1926/C/3983	Salvatori Mazza × Maria Lecota	Documented
19 March 1986	death	Rosario Mazza (b. 1899)	1986/2455	Salvatore Mazza × Maria Concetta Nicotra	Documented
24 September 1963	death	Maria Nicotra Mazza	1963/B/61348	John Nicotra × Venera Cassaneti	Documented
3 August 1968	death	Mary Rosa Mazza	1968/B/936	Sebastiano Mazza × Domenica Postamo	Documented
2 December 1939	marriage	Maria Mazza	1939/C/4207	— × —	Documented
8 January 1949	marriage	Rosario Mazza	1949/B/20688	— × —	Documented

Who	What	Detail	Source
Rosario Mazza	DEATH RECORD — the archive had none	Died 15 NOVEMBER 1924 at PRESA, Piedimonte Etneo, aged SEVENTY-NINE, a CONTADINO; certificate number 15. Aged 79 in November 1924 gives a birth in 1845, at Piedimonte Etneo -- which matches the ages the marriage proclamations gave him in 1898, 1902 and 1910 and CORRECTS the family tree, which says 1850. His father is named as MARIANO and his mother as MARIA CATALANO; his wife as LEONARDA BONANNO.	Italy, Catania, Catania, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1866-1929 — FamilySearch 1:1:XWTK-5R8Q	Documented
Mariano Mazza and Maria Catalano	THE NAME LINE CONFIRMED FROM A RECORD	The archive reached Mariano Mazza and Maria Catalano by inference from marriage proclamations that call Rosario 'di Mariano'. Rosario's own death act names BOTH parents outright -- Mariano and Maria Catalano -- which converts the deepest Sicilian generation from an inference into a documented fact.	Italy, Catania, Catania, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1866-1929 — FamilySearch 1:1:XWTK-5R8Q	Documented
Mariano Mazza (the younger)	A SON THE ARCHIVE DID NOT HAVE	The Acireale diocesan registers carry a parish record naming ROSARIO MAZZA and LEONARDA BONANNO as the parents of a MARIANUM MAZZA -- a son named for his paternal grandfather, exactly as Sicilian custom predicts for a first son. The family tree does not have him.	Italy, Catania, Diocesi di Acireale, Catholic Church Records, 1560-1950	Documented
Salvatore Mazza x Maria Nicotra	THE PARISH MARRIAGE, 25 APRIL 1898	The parish register of Piedimonte Etneo records the marriage in LATIN: Salvator Mazza, son of ROGERIUS MAZZA and LEONARDA BONANNO, to MARIA NICOTRAM, daughter of JOANNES NICOTRAM and VENERA COSENTINO. Rosario appears as 'Rogerius', which is why a search for 'Rosario' in these registers returns nothing.	Piedimonte Etneo parish register, Marriage Records 1777-1911 — FamilySearch 3:1:3QS7-99ZG-7XNZ	Documented
Venera, Maria Nicotra's mother	A THREE-WAY CONFLICT, NOT A TWO-WAY ONE	The archive already held two readings of Maria Nicotra's mother: 'Monti Venera' from the 1898 civil proclamation and 'Venera Cassaneti' from the Queensland death index. The parish register of the same 1898 marriage gives a THIRD: VENERA COSENTINO. The given name Venera is constant across all three; the surname is read three different ways. Cassaneti and Cosentino may be the same word badly read. Unresolved.	Piedimonte Etneo parish register; 1898 civil proclamation; Queensland BDM	unresolved
Rosario Mazza x Leonarda Bonanno	THEIR MARRIAGE — FOUND. PIEDIMONTE ETNEO, 30 APRIL 1871, ATTO 14	The act the archive has wanted for a fortnight. On 30 APRIL 1871, at four in the afternoon in the casa comunale of Piedimonte Etneo, before Barone Mariano, sindaco, ROSARIO MAZZA and LEONARDA BONANNO were married. Both are called CELIBI -- neither had been married before -- both BORN AND RESIDENT there, and both BRACCIANTI: she worked the land alongside him. He is entered as twenty-six, she as twenty-six. HIS PARENTS ARE NAMED: figlio di MARIANO e di MARIA CATALANO. HERS ARE NAMED FOR THE FIRST TIME ANYWHERE: figlia di GAETANO e d'ANNA CAVALLARO. Witnesses: Salvatore Greco, 38, calzolaio, and Antonino Di Lava fu Giuseppe, 46, bracciante. Act 15 follows at half past four the same afternoon, so the register was doing a run of weddings that day. The parish register was the wrong door: the film's own index held no marriage for the pair. Civil registration began in 1866, so an 1871 marriage is a CIVIL act, and the civil act is the one that names all four parents.	Piedimonte Etneo, Matrimoni 1871, atto 14 — Antenati ark an_ua83392, images 13-14	Documented
Rosario Mazza's children in the parish registers	FOUR MORE, UNDER FOUR SPELLINGS OF HIS NAME	The Acireale diocesan registers carry several children of Rosario Mazza and Leonarda Bonanno, and the father's name is transcribed differently almost every time: ROGERIUS Mazza with a son Salvator; ROSARIUS Mazza with a son HORATIUS (Orazio); JOANNES Mazza with LEONORA Bonanno and a son Joannem (Giovanni); GASPARE Mazza with Leonarda Bonanno and a son SANTO. The last is the more interesting: SANTO MAZZA is one of the two sons this archive found missing from the family tree, and here is a parish record of him. The lesson for searching these registers is that the given name is unreliable and the WIFE'S name is the stable handle.	Italy, Catania, Diocesi di Acireale, Catholic Church Records, 1560-1950	Documented
Rosario Mazza	HIS BIRTH ACT — BORN 2 JUNE 1845, ATTO 64	Found by working backwards from the marriage. ATTO DI NASCITA no. 64 of 1845, Comune di Piedimonte, distretto di Acireale, Provincia di Catania: MARIANO MAZZA, DI ANNI TRENTASEI, di professione BRACCIALE, appeared before the sindaco Antonino Grassi and presented a boy born to MARIA CATALANO, of thirty-six, and to the said Mariano Mazza, on the SECOND DAY OF JUNE 1845 at eleven in the morning, NELLA CASA DI LORO ABITAZIONE, and gave him the name ROSARIO. The baptism column has the parish of the Chiesa Maggiore returning the notice the same day, 2 June 1845, for ROSARIO MAZZA. This is the whole of the deepest Sicilian generation in one page: it CONFIRMS the death act's Mariano and Maria Catalano from an independent register, it FIXES Rosario's birth to a day, and it dates MARIANO MAZZA HIMSELF to about 1809 and MARIA CATALANO to about 1809.	Piedimonte Etneo, Nati 1845, atto 64 — Antenati ark an_ua72387, image 66	Documented
Gaetano Bonanno and Anna Cavallaro	A WHOLE GENERATION THE TREE DOES NOT HAVE	Leonarda Bonanno has stood in this archive as a name with a father's first name attached -- 'daughter of Gaetano', from the 1910 marriage proclamation. The marriage act of 1871 gives her BOTH parents outright: GAETANO BONANNO and ANNA CAVALLARO of Piedimonte Etneo. They are the Bonanno equal of Mariano Mazza and Maria Catalano, and like them they are ENTIRELY ABSENT FROM THE FAMILY TREE.	Piedimonte Etneo, Matrimoni 1871, atto 14	Documented
The Piedimonte Etneo birth registers, 1820-1863	THE WHOLE SERIES IS NOW LISTED, AND ITS INDEX IS BETTER THAN AN INDEX	Fifty volumes of Piedimonte births, 1820 to 1863, with their Antenati arks, are now written down in data/pe-arks.tsv. Two things make this series unusually cheap to work. First, each volume ends with a REGISTER OF THE WHOLE YEAR -- not an alphabetical tavola but a ruled table, six openings long, listing every birth IN ACT ORDER with the child, the comune, BOTH PARENTS and the day. A year of births can be read in six page-loads. Second, the index is a finding aid for PARENTS, not just children: to find every child of Mariano Mazza and Maria Catalano it is enough to read the parents column down each year. That is the next sweep, and it will give Rosario's brothers and sisters.	Antenati, Stato civile della restaurazione, Piedimonte (oggi Piedimonte Etneo), serie 72189	method

	What	Result	Reference
FOUND	Serafina Arena — baptism	Baptised 1898, OUR LADY OF LORETTO, New York County	New York Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms, US/NY/CATH/PR/BAP/01054593. Rocco Arena and Generosa Costa's daughter, born 14 August 1898 and dead by 30 January 1900. Our Lady of Loretto is the Italian parish on Elizabeth Street in Little Italy -- minutes from the Mulberry Street address the 1899 manifest gives for Rocco. THE FAMILY'S NEW YORK PARISH IS NOW KNOWN.
FOUND	Clementina Arena — baptism	Baptised 1901, OUR LADY OF LORETTO, New York County	US/NY/CATH/PR/BAP/01057021. Born 18 December 1900. Same parish as her sister.
FOUND	Clementina Arena — a crossing in 1921	Ellis Island, 1921, US/PASS/NY/ELLIS2/000191616/3	Born in Manhattan in December 1900, so twenty when she crossed. The family had gone back to Scilla by then -- this looks like her returning to the country of her birth. NOT IN THE FAMILY TREE, which does not have her at all.
FOUND	Generoso Arena — a crossing in 1903	Ellis Island, 1903, aged about 9 (b. 1894)	Not obviously ours, but the given name is Generosa Costa's in masculine form and is rare. Recorded, not claimed.
CORROBORATED	Prostamo in the Australian passenger index	Five records: Caterina 1969, Domenico F 1956, Francesca 1957, Francesco 1957, Rocco 1949	EXACTLY the five the National Archives' own site gave, from a separate index. AND STILL NO DOMENICA PROSTAMO IN 1951. Two independent indexes now agree she is not there under her maiden name, which strengthens the reading that she travelled as MAZZA.
NEGATIVE	Rocco Arena in the 1910 US census	Not there	With the 1900 census placing the household in Manhattan and Antonino born there in October 1902, his absence in 1910 supports the family going home to Scilla between 1902 and 1910 -- which is when Anna must have returned to marry Giuseppe Arena.
NEGATIVE	Italy Births & Baptisms 1806-1900, and Marriages, and Deaths	DOES NOT COVER SCILLA	The cleanest possible test: ZERO Polistena in any of the three Italian sets. Polistena is a Scilla surname with six emigrants in the Ellis index alone. The sets are FamilySearch-derived and their Italian coverage is Sicilian and mainland-northern, not Reggio Calabria. DO NOT COME BACK HERE FOR SCILLA.
NEGATIVE	Italy Marriages 1809-1900 for Rosario Mazza	Four Rosario Mazza marriages, none after 1862	The archive wants a marriage about 1870-72 to Leonarda Bonanno. There is no Leonarda Bonanno marriage in the set at all, and no Mariano Mazza birth. Coverage of Piedimonte Etneo is absent or negligible, though 110 Nicotra marriages show the set does reach the Catania area.
NEGATIVE	Queensland Marriages 1829-1939	Ends too early	Nine Arena, nine Cavallaro, seven Coco, five Nicotra, four Micale, two Mazza -- but the set stops at 1939 and this family's Queensland marriages are mostly 1949 and later. It does independently carry Maria Mazza and Rosario Coco in 1939, which the Queensland BDM index already gave.
PAYWALL	New York Roman Catholic Parish transcripts	Indexed but locked	The index entries are visible on the trial; the transcripts -- which would give the godparents, and godparents in an Italian parish are usually kin -- require a higher subscription tier than the trial provides.

Who	Ship	Sailed from	Arrived	The tree said
Michele Mazza	PALERMO	Messina	21 Apr 1925, Brisbane	21 April 1925, Fremantle, Western Australia	Documented
Sebastiano Mazza	TOSCANA	Genoa	04 Oct 1949, Melbourne	4 October 1949, Fremantle, Western Australia	Documented
Antonino Polistena	SURRIENTO	Naples	17 Jun 1949, Australia	17 June 1949, Brisbane, Queensland	Documented
Carmelo Armanno	NAPOLI	Naples	08 May 1949, Australia	—, —	Documented
Angela Polistena	SURRIENTO	Naples	17 Jun 1949, Australia	17 June 1949, Brisbane, Queensland	Documented
Mariano Cavallaro	RAVELLO	Messina	13 May 1951, Brisbane	May 1951, Fremantle, Western Australia	Documented
Domenica Prostamo	UGOLINO VIVALDI	Genoa	01 Mar 1951, Australia	March 1951, Fremantle, Western Australia	Documented
Salvatore Mazza	UGOLINO VIVALDI	Genoa	01 Mar 1951, Australia	—, Fremantle, Western Australia	Documented
Venera Cavallaro	SURRIENTO	Italy	23 Sep 1953, Fremantle	6 October 1953, Brisbane, Queensland	Documented
Luciano Cavallaro	SURRIENTO	Italy	23 Sep 1953, Fremantle	6 October 1953, Brisbane, Queensland	Documented
Rocco Arena	SYDNEY	Genoa	27 Dec 1953, Fremantle	December 1953, Brisbane, Queensland	Documented
Francessco Prostamo	ROMA	Genoa	10 Oct 1957, Fremantle	10 October 1957, Fremantle, Western Australia	Documented

Name	In the register as	Plot	Born	Died
Maria Mazza	Maria Coco	CHAP-117-A3	1 October 1922	25 June 2012
Antonio Micale	Antonio Micale	CHAP-207-CL	1 March 1924	24 September 2016
Maria Antonia Tropeia	Antonia Micale	CHAP-207-CR	17 January 1927	29 January 2000
Luciano Pagano	Luciano Pagano	V-0036	—	—
Maria Nicotra	Maria Mazza	V-0044	—	—
Angela Cupo	Angela Mazza	V-0116	—	—
Rosario Mazza	Rosario Mazza	V-0117	—	—
Mary rosa Mazza	Maria Mazza	V-0165	—	—
Venera Cavallaro	Venera Cavallaro	V-0395	29 March 1916	6 September 2013
Carmelo Armanno	Carmelo Armanno	V-0718	22 October 1924	28 April 2019
Angelina Pagano	Angelina Armanno	V-0719	20 April 1933	9 October 2008
Sebastiano Mazza	Sebastiano Mazza	V-1026	22 October 1920	2 April 2002
Domenica Prostamo	Domenica Mazza	V-1027	3 May 1928	29 January 2010
Angela Polistena	Angelina Arena	V-1028	22 January 1925	18 September 2018
Rocco Arena	Rocco Arena	V-1029	12 October 1924	29 October 1999
Giovanna Polistena	Giovanna Bova	V-1038	13 December 1918	31 July 2012
Rocco Bova	Rocco Bova	V-1039	25 August 1916	28 May 2002
Clemente Arena	Clemente Arena	V-1338	15 July 1929	13 June 2002
Mario Salvatore Arena	Mario Salvatore Arena	V-1456	7 March 1937	18 August 2012