An Ascolian Kitchen
I grew up loving my Italian sounding name, Ascoli, but our family had no known Italian ancestry or culture. We were just an Aussie born family, cooking Aussie food, but knowing that a grandfather, Alf, had a childhood story about being orphaned, aged seven years. Albert and Susannah Ascoli, 50th Wedding Anniversary, Maclean, 1947 Alf (Albert Ernest Ascoli, 1872-1956) believed that his parents died on a ship coming to Australia and he was separated from his brother and baby sister. The children were “taken in” by different families. There was no legal adoption or links between the families, and he was unable to trace his siblings. He never saw his baby sister again. But when Alf was in Queensland, hundreds of miles from his home in Maclean, NSW, a butcher recognised the unusual Ascoli name, and Alf met up with his brother, Frank. This was a joyous family reunion and was noted in Alf's obituary. My genealogy research later discovered that Alf was born in Syndey and that Frank was no