Vincenzo Lombardi

Carmen Wood contacted me recently saying, “Hello Paul. My name is Carmen Wood.The names on this headstone are my maternal grandparents. Sadly my Uncle Carlo, their youngest son died last March, and I am unable to find proof of ownership of this lair. (bereavement services have informed me that it was NOT my grandmother who bought the lair, so ownership has not passed down to Carlo. (because of data protection the Council will not tell me who the original owner was) Consequently I cannot bury Carlo’s ashes or indeed any engraving/cleaning on the headstone It is getting a wee bit complicated and I wondered if we could have a chat about things in general about my  family?”

Vincenzo Lombardi looks to have come to Blantyre in the early 1920’s. The Lombardi family were in Springwells as early as the mid 1890s, so Vincenzo, also known as Vincent was likely settling down in an area with family nearby. A family of retailers, shopkeepers, business people. He married Vincenza Santoro.

By 1925, Vincent was living at 6 Glasgow Road, an address at Springwells and had opened a shop at 244 Glasgow Road, somewhere he would continue to work until his death.

By 1930, he was working at 244 Glasgow Road as a fishmonger and owned his own machinery. Renting the shop from Thomas McTavish of Burbank.

In 1940, Vincent lived at 8 Station Road, renting a house there. He was still working that year at 244 Glasgow Road (on the northside), in the lower floor of a tenement in a shop rented for £26 per annum.

Vincenzo died on 6th March 1942 at the age of just 48 and is buried in High Blantyre Cemetery.  That same year a baby with surname Lombardi died in Blantyre though i have not worked out if there was a connection. This beautiful memorial stands at his grave and he’s buried along side his wife. His wife passed away in 1979, some 37 years later leaving just over £36,360 in her will.

As a suggestion, the lair may have been passed down to eldest son of the family, rather than youngest.

Featuring Blantyre Project Social Media with permission. Strictly not for use by others on or offline, our visitors said:

John Cornfield Vinci’s chippy owner
Jane McKendrick Carlo was my neighbour for a while. Lovely man x
Mary Kirkbride I worked in the chippy for a few years in the 60s worked with vinc his wife mary and daughter ulanda
Cullen Shaw I lived at 7 Station Rd between 1964 and 1976. Vince had the chip shop on Glasgow Rd at that time and lived in the flat above it along with Mary & Ulanda. Carlo lived in an adjacent flat that was above the bookies/barber shop at 2/4 Station Rd at the same time and lived there for years after I left. My parents were still in 7 Station Rd until 2012.
Alan Robert Webb My grandparents were married at no6 in June 1918 and my mother was born there in June 1921
Ann Higgins Crossar Bereavement Services should tell you who is all in the lair (might be others not noted on headstone) this might provide a clue as to who bought the lair – maybe the baby who died that year is in the lair first…… So the baby’s father (Vincenzos son?) would have bought the lair – I’ve found that happen in my family and that then became the family lair as the older family members died first. Best of luck.
John Breen I remember goan tae Vinci’s fur a bag of chips
Wishing it wiz a fish supper. I wiz 43 b4 I could afford that
Anne Marie Murray Is there not a no or name at the side or back saying who put the headstone up.
Kevin Kelly My mother worked in Vinci’s chip shop, the boss at the time was Bert Lombardi, she worked in the chippy with wee Mary McNeil and Mary Rooney
Arlene Campbell It is usual that the lair could have passed to the eldest sibling of the grandparents or the eldest child in the family
Linda Halpin Mum used to love that headstone we passed it many a time when we visited x
Francis Devine V interesting. There’s tons of research needing done on the Italian community in Scotland, especially in its heartland which was Glasgow and Lanarkshire.
Yvonne Mcdade Landa lives in Hamilton