The Bristol Italians

Sometime in the 1800s, a small number of largely impoverished Italians, some from the mountainous regions of Northern Italy (mainly around Tuscany), made their way to England on foot. A few seem to have come to Bristol earning a living as street musicians and street traders with an increasing number from Southern Italy by the century’s end. Their distinctive traditional costumes made a vivid impression on the locals, as this illustration of Bristol’s cathedral choirmaster dating from later in the century demonstrates.