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Marchese (Terini) Family History, Part I

The family name (cognomen) Marchese means "Marquis" in Italian. It dates back at least as far as 1651, but in 1675 the alternate name Terini appeared and was used interchangably with Marchese--sometimes even within the same record. Between 1688 and 1697 "Marchese or Terini" was frequently recorded and the interchange between names (which I have yet to determine a reason for) continued until 1724, spanning the tenures of eight vicars. The name settled back on Marchese but ultimately went extinct 50 years later with the death of Giovanni Bartolomeo Marchese who died childless in 1777.

The earliest existing parish census of 1692 records three Marchese households, enumerated in succession, and a widow, Giovanna Marchese, who lived with the widow Giacomina Stolfi. The father of our line had already died by 1692 but here the elders of all four households are shown in birth order. Others who died before 1692 have also been added for comparison, but lack page references:

Giovanni MARCHESE (I)¹

1. Giovanni Marchese (I)¹ was likely born in Giumaglio, Ticino canton, Switzerland. He is only known from one record--the baptism of grandson Giovanni Antonio Marchese. In that record he was not identified as being deceased so he may have lived beyond 1668, however, no death record has been found.^{[Bap 1668]}

In 1651, Giovanni, or perhaps his son, who was about the age of 15, and Pietro Janzino were reportedly tortured because of accusations by a witch.

Giovanna MARCHESE (IANZINI) (~1625-1696)

A. Giovanna Marchese is first recorded in the first parish census of 1692 when she was enumerated at the age of 67 with the widow Giacomina (Stolfi) Ianzini, age 42. As such, she would have been born about 1624 or 1625. Supposing that Giovanna was Giacomina's mother-in-law, her son (Giacomina's late husband) would have been:

Following this possibility further, a Giovanna Ianzini died on May 17, 1696, in her home reportedly at the age of 69. While women were usually recorded with their maiden name, every so often they were only recorded with their married name. This Giovanna was buried in the cemetery of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.^{[Dth 1696]}

Giovanni Antonio MARCHESE (< 1671)

B. Giovanni Antonio Marchese was likely born in Giumaglio, Ticino canton, Switzerland, in the early 17th Century. He is recorded to have had at least two children:

Antonio died sometime before 1671 when he was first identified as the deceased father of Domenica when she was named as godmother in the baptism record of Giovanni Maria Cerini^{[Bap 1671]} and again two years later when Domenica wed.^{[Mar 1673]} He also had a son Giovanni who wed in 1681 and named his deceased father.^{[Mar 1681]} In comparison, our Giovanni (I) married in the mid-1660s, some 6 years prior to Domenica and around 14 years prior to Giovanni, suggesting that he could have been a younger brother to our Giovanni (I) or even a much older brother to our Giovanni (II).

Continue on to Part II