Gasparo Grimani

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: 1729, Venice, Italy

Notes:

According to the story handed down through the family, Gasparo was born in Venice, second son of the Marquis Grimani of the noble and ancient Grimani family. There are two books which contain versions of his flight from Venice, both written some time after his death by his descendants. Research has however failed to confirm this, and other documents suggest that he came instead from Bologna.

It seems Gasparo had intended to become a priest and studied in Rome, but fell foul of the Church for reasons unknown and fled from Italy (about 1755). In a letter to the Pope (about 1779) he pleads for reconciliation.

Gasparo married twice. His first wife was Antonia Fabbri, daughter of ... Fabbri of Lyon. They were living in London in 1769, when Gasparo was imprisoned for an unpaid debt of £17 which he claimed he did not owe, and in 1773, when he and Antonia were godparents at an Italian christening. They also lived in Paris, from about 1774. Gasparo taught physics as well as languages. They had two children: a son, Guglielmo or William (b. about 1759), and a daughter, Maria Rosalba (born Livorno 27 June 1763), said to have been kidnapped in Paris and never found. Antonia is said to have fallen ill shortly after this and died in Paris (about 1776). After this Gasparo travelled a lot, for a while making a living from exhibiting a model of Rome he had made. This 'plan-relief' still exists and is at the Museum of National Antiquities of Sainte-Germain-en-Laye near Paris, but is not on display.

Gasparo married Cecilia Wagner on 6 Aug 1781 in Old Church, St Pancras, London. Cecilia was born in 1751; died in Mar 1838 in Strabane. Ireland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Julia Ann Grimani was born in 1785 in Paris, Île-de-France, France; died on 17 Jul 1806 in Manchester, Lancashire; was buried in Prestwich Churchyard, Lancashire.