Julio or Giulio, Nardo or Leonardo with sister Valentina 1896Valentina Maria Quilietti was born on1st December 1895 at 24 Greenside Place, Edinburgh. She is the third born of the family of three boys and three girls. Her father was Emilio Quilietti and her mother Valentina Brattessani. Her two baby sisters were to die in infancy, Eletta in 1899 and Amelia in 1900.This is a record extracted from the archives of St. Mary’s. It is baptism of Valentina Maria Quilietti, daughter of Emilio Quilietti and Valentina Brattesani. Sponsors were Giulio Giulianotti and his wife Rosa Brattesani. The Giulianotti Clan moved to Aberdeen after the death of Emilio in 1898. Giulio was informant at Emilio’s death. The families remained close.Adolfo, Giuseppi and Augusto in Edinburgh Augusto with brother in law PETER DANTE in Edinburgh,We do know that despite Valentina only being only a youngster when her father Emilio died she did keep in touch with her uncles, her father’s brothers in Italy and in Rhode Island. We know that Emilio’s two brothers Giuseppe and Adolfo were in Scotland sometime after Emilio’s death. With them also was their brother-in-law Peter Dante who had married their sister Ermenia in 1900 in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. This meeting with her uncles would have a profound affect of Valentina and we know that she wrote to them and kept in touch with them in these early years of the 20th century. We believe that the event they had travelled for was perhaps the re-marriage of Valentina Quilietti to her first-cousin Santi Brattessani. This took place in April 1901 and all the Quilietti brothers were in Edinburgh at the time. Augusto Quilietti and his wife Francesca and daughter Angelina were also involved in the festivities at this time. Augusto and Emilio QuiliettiSo the young Valentina Maria Quilietti would now be living at the new Quilietti address of 9 Greenside Place with all her Brattessani relations. Her mother had re-married to her cousin Sante Brattessani. The following four years would see her mother lose another four children to this cousin. We cannot imagine how this would have affected the young Valentina to see her mother lose these babies, and of course to see her mother die with the complications of childbirth in the year 1905.Her brothers however were still there for her and her aunts and uncles took on the role of parents. But when her step-father Sante returned home to Italy he married his childhood sweetheart things took a turn for the worse. This new wife came back to Edinburgh and came to live in the family home at 9 Greenside Place. She in turn threw out all the belongings of Valentina, his first wife, threw all the photographs into the bin to be disposed of. It was only the quick thinking of Valentina Maria to rescue these personal things from the bin, which included photographs taken of her uncles at the wedding and to send them on to America which gives us now these wonderful relics of this time. Thanks to her we now have these wonderful photographs to look at, to see the faces of the Quilietti brothers. They were returned to Carel and Betty [QUILIETTI] Van Druten in 1992. We can only imagine how distraught Valentina must have been at this act. Not only had she lost her parents, but also six siblings and her maternal grandparents all in a very short span of time.Valentina was best maid at the wedding of Joseph Quilietti and Catherine Kelly in 1915.The early part of the 1914-1918 war saw many rushed marriages and the Quilietti family were no exception to this rule. Joseph Angelo, her younger brother married in January 1915 to Catherine Kelly. Leonardo, her older brother had married in 1912 and already had two young children.
By the year 1915 she had met a young Scotsman by the name of Alexander Murray. They married on 12th February 1915 at St. Patrick’s R.C. Church, Cowgate, Edinburgh. Alex. then went off to the War and Valentina, or Tina as she was now known, grew close to her new sister-in-law Catherine. Catherine’s baby Duncan Quilietti was born on 31st December 1915 at 1 Dunbar’s Close, Canongate, Edinburgh. Valentina played a great part in helping Catherine with her new baby at this time and grew fond on her new nephew. Tragedy again was to hit the Quilietti family when on 4th November 1918 Catherine was to die with complications after a bad bout of flu. The rest is history as Valentina and Alex. took on the role of Parenting. When Joe returned from the War he met and married Jeannie Boyle and the rest is history.After the death of sister in law Katie, wife of Joseph Angelo, Valentina put this into the local paper. She adopted Duncan and brought him up as her eldest son, which indeed he was.Valentina Quilietti was the daughter of Emilio Quilietti and Valentina Brattesani. Here is is photographed on her Wedding Anniversary with all her children stretched out behind her. She is remembered with great fondness and a kindly person who just lived for her family At the front is Valentina with Alex behind her, then.May, Vally, Eddy, Minnie, Jimmy, Joe, Leo, Margaret, Alec, Tommy, Duncan, Bob, Bill ..I think
Their children were
DUNCAN QUILIETTI MURRAY 1915-1974
ALEXANDER MURRAY 1916 – 1916 died shortly after birth
VALENTINA MARGARET MURRAY 1920-1990
WILLIAM LEONARDO QUILIETTI MURRAY 1921-1998
ALEXANDER EDWARD DOW MURRAY 1922-2001
LEONARDO MURRAY 1924-1992
MARGARET MURRAY 1926-Canada
MINNIE MURRAY 1928-1985
ROBERT CAMERON BRUNTON MURRAY 1930-1999
JAMES JOSEPH MURRAY 1931-? is this Joe below
JOSEPH MURRAY 1932
EDWARD BRUCE WILSON MURRAY 1934-2016
MAY MURRAY 1936-
THOMAS MURRAY 1941-
Valentina became especially close to her brother Nardo. She had by now lost her other two brothers Julio in 1936 who never really recovered from the traumas of WW1, and Joe who died during WW2.The Murray Clan were and still are a real hospitable family and need no excuse for family get togethers to catch up and of course enjoy these wonderful family photographs.Tommy, May and Joe 2020 the last three of the childrenTina with her niece Theresa Quilietti. Theresa was quite a girl and they remained close throughout her life
..I think
