A Short History of the Forte Family

( How a family of Italian origin became highly respected members of the Usworth & Washington Mining Community )

Giovanni Forte's Family:  Maria (Mary),  Maria-Teresa,  Baby Rosina (Rosie),  Antonio (Anthony),  Giovanni,  Giulio

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THE FORTE FAMILY
by Bernadette Bell
(née Forte)

Part 1

Giovanni Forte was born in London in 1885.  His father, Giaccomo enjoyed travel and lived and worked in many European countries such as France and Belgium.  With his wife Theodora and their children, they travelled across Europe.  Eventually all the family returned to Italy where Giaccomo remained until he died in 1952.

Giovanni returned to England in the 1900s, firstly to London and then eventually to the North East.  In 1912, Giovanni met and married Maria Teresa Dorazio.  Maria-Teresa was born in a village near Sora in Italy in 1893.  Her family came to England in 1909, when Maria was 16 years old.  They set up an ice-cream business in West Cornforth, County Durham.

Giovanni and Maria-Teresa had 5 children: Giulio (born 1913), Maria (1914), Anthony (1916), Rosina (1918) and Frank, who died in infancy. The family lived in West Cornforth near to Maria-Teresa's family and helped to run the business until they moved to Washington after the Great War.  The children grew up in a very close Italian community, where their first language was Italian.  They later learned English when they started school.

During the first World War Giovanni joined the British Army.  He fought in France in the trenches.  He received 2 medals for his service there. When he returned home, he and the family settled in Washington, and set up an ice-cream parlour and confectionery shop in Station Road (now Station Terrace).  Giovanni wanted to be part of the Washington Community and so joined the local Working Men's Club.  Washington locals came to know him well and respect him.

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N.B. This historical account was written by a member of the Forte family, Mrs Bernadette Bell.  She later made it freely available to the people of Washington.

 

A Short History of the Forte Family

 

A Short History of the Forte Family

Anthony Forte selling ice-cream in the 1930s

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THE FORTE FAMILY
by Bernadette Bell
(née Forte)

Part 2

The Forte's made their own ice-cream using special machines for boiling milk etc.  They did not use barrels as other ice-cream makers may have done!  Giovanni's youngest son Anthony would sell the ice-cream from the back of a horse-drawn cart.  In fact Anthony was the only member of the family who got the horse (Flint) to work for him!

Everyone knew what time Anthony would be on his round in their part of the village, hearing the clip-clop of the horse as it came up the lane and Anthony blowing his whistle.  The cart was soon surrounded by eager children with their hae' pennies to buy that special cornet or a penny sandwich if you were lucky, as Anthony laughed and joked with them.  Only Italians could make the best ice-cream!

Running the shop was a full-time family operation and consequently the Forte family became well known in Washington.  On one such occasion, whilst Maria-Teresa was serving in the shop, a man asked her about the photograph in the locket hanging about her neck.  ''Who is this?'' he demanded.  Maria-Teresa was quite frightened by him and she rushed into the house to find Giovanni.  It turned out that the photograph was of Giovanni and the customer was an old army friend.  Each of them believed the other to have been killed during the war and ironically both had ended up living in Washington!  It was a wonderful reunion.

During the General Strike in the 1920s, many of the miners in Washington suffered great hardship.  Giovanni's strong sense of community led him to offer some support and comfort to these men.  He would open the shop and allow them to stay by the fire for as long as they wished and supplied them with tea and coffee, which was very much appreciated by the local mining community.

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N.B. This historical account was written by a member of the Forte family, Mrs Bernadette Bell.  She later made it freely available to the people of Washington.

 

A Short History of the Forte Family

Giovanni Forte, with his sister Maria and daughter Mary, outside their premises in Station Terrace, Usworth Station Road
Customers in the billiard room window: Matty Bolam, Tom Nayden and Henry Bannister

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THE FORTE FAMILY
by Bernadette Bell
(née Forte)

Part 3

In about 1935, Giovanni moved his family to new premises at 2-3 Victoria Road (not Victoria Place).  The premises in Station Road continued to trade as an ice-cream parlour.  The new shop was also an ice-cream parlour.   They sold coffee and tea, had confectionery and also had 5 billiard / snooker tables.  The business continued to be very successful and well thought of.

During World War 2 the Forte children joined the war effort.  Giulio joined the R.A.F., Maria joined the A.T.S., Anthony enlisted in the Army and Rosina became a nurse.  Giulio was an R.A.F. navigator, flying on the Whitley bomber at the beginning of the war.  He was in 56th Squadron under Squadron Leader Pickard.  He later became Warrant Officer and trained officers in Morse Code.

Before the war, Anthony was employed by the G.P.O. as a telephone engineer.  During the war he was a sergeant, working to keep the lines of communication going.  He was in the 8th Army under General Montgomery and served three years in the desert.  He did not return home for the entire length of this service and consequently never met his own son until he was three years old.

The Forte family made a great contribution to the war effort.  As Giovanni was a British citizen, the family were never threatened with internment as many Italian families were at that time.

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N.B. This historical account was written by a member of the Forte family, Mrs Bernadette Bell.  She later made it freely available to the people of Washington.

 

A Short History of the Forte Family

Giulio in the family's Anderson shelter at the rear of the Victoria Road shop

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THE FORTE FAMILY
by Bernadette Bell
(née Forte)

Part 4

The shop continued to trade during the war, despite the difficulties of rationing.  Giovanni was always loyal to his customers and would not sell cigarettes to anyone that he did not recognize as a regular!  In fact he was known to telephone the local Chemical Works when the cigarette rations arrived so that the workers could be let out early to visit Forte's and get their cigarettes.   As well as the adults, children would benefit from Giovanni's thoughtfulness.  Chocolate bars were only for children.

As part of the war effort, the shop on Station Road was taken over as a First Aid station.  At the end of the war it was converted into two flats with Anthony living upstairs and Giulio downstairs.  Giovanni, Maria-Teresa and their daughters continued to live in the premises on Victoria Road.

After leaving the Army, Anthony returned to his previous employment with the G.P.O., where he continued to work until he retired at 65.  Rosina continued her career in nursing, where she trained to be a midwife.  Maria and Giulio joined the family business which was thriving after the war.

In 1949 Giovanni died of a brain tumour.  He was just 65 years old.  It was a great loss to the family, however, everyone pulled together to keep the business going, including Rosina who left her nursing career to work in the shop.

Over the years, Forte's became a well established meeting place for the residents of Washington.  Local snooker tournaments were commonplace and adults as well as children enjoyed playing.

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N.B. This historical account was written by a member of the Forte family, Mrs Bernadette Bell.  She later made it freely available to the people of Washington.

 

A Short History of the Forte Family

 

A Short History of the Forte Family

Giulio Forte outside the Victoria Road premises  (1993)

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THE FORTE FAMILY
by Bernadette Bell
(née Forte)

Part 5

During the 1980s, the long tradition of making ice-cream came to an end.  The ice-cream machine broke down and so the family had to go elsewhere to buy ice-cream.  By the 1990s no ice-cream was sold in Forte's at all.  It was the end of an era.  It was also around this time that the family suffered another loss.  Maria-Teresa died in 1986, aged 93 years.

With the development of The Galleries, business in Concord began to drop off and Forte's suffered from this decline.  People visited the shopping centre more than Concord.

In November 1998, Giulio passed away.  It was unexpected and a great shock to many patrons of Forte's.  He was 85 years old.  Giulio's brother Anthony died in 2000 after an illness at the age of 84.

In 2001 Forte's shop was sold.  It was one of the last 'old' businesses left in Washington.  The family had been in Washington for a total of 81 years!  Although many patrons expressed their disappointment in the decision to close, it was a necessary move.  Maria and Rosina, having never retired (like their brother Giulio), were both in their eighties.  It was time for a rest!

Although it is now gone, Forte's continues to live fondly in the memories of many customers, both young and old.  The family are proud that they have been a part of the history of Washington and that so many people enjoyed visiting their shop.

© Bernadette Bell (née Forte) 2005

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N.B. This historical account was written by a member of the Forte family, Mrs Bernadette Bell.  She later made it freely available to the people of Washington.

 

A Short History of the Forte Family

Forte's Café, Confectionery Shop & Billiard Hall  -  Victoria Road, New Washington  (c.1950s)