Case Study
Grandela Genealogy
About the project
In April 2023, I received a telephone call from Martin Bowman at Grandela Genealogy based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.
As the company name suggests, Grandela is active in all aspects of genealogy: family trees and reunification, people tracing as well as estate administration.
In this particular case, Martin was contacting me because he needed to prove a family connection between his client and his client’s great-uncle born in Italy in the late 1800s.
This involved obtaining a certificate from the comune (municipality) in Italy, which was proving much more difficult than expected. Seemingly, Google Translate was not having the desired effect…
With help from one of my Italian colleagues, we produced an authoritative well-drafted request in Italian that Martin could send to the comune.
Fast-forward a few months and Martin returns with news. The comune had agreed to send out a copy of the birth certificate but… it hadn’t arrived. So back we go with another request for a copy, this time to be sent by recorded delivery and a few days later … success!
The next stage was for me to produce a certified translation of the birth certificate, which could then be submitted to the Government Legal Department.
Outcome
Martin was able to prove the family connection and his client’s entitlement to his relative’s unclaimed estate.
Here’s what the client said:
“We had contacted the Italian Authorities numerous times over a period of months, only to be met with deafening silence. Without the certificates we could not prove entitlement for our client, so we needed help and Allegro came highly recommended. Andrew suggested a tactical change and drafted an accompanying letter which together prompted the authorities into action. International cases often generate unexpected hurdles, but having someone who knows the local language and customs is often the difference, as it was here.”
Martin Bowman – Grandela Genealogy
Here’s my perspective:
“Martin was delighted that the impasse that he had reached with the Italian authorities could be overcome and that through our joint efforts we could make the breakthrough needed to make a big difference to someone’s life.”
Client: Grandela Genealogy
Source language: Italian
Source language: English
Document: 19th century birth certificates
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