Have you ever had an ancestor suddenly appear in the records hundreds of miles from home? Usually when this happens, you go through an exhaustive process of elimination, ruling out everyone of a similar age and name until, several days and several jars of coffee later, you finally decide, ‘yes, it’s them!’ or, more likely, ‘no, it’s not and we’re back to square one’.
But when your ancestor’s name is John Anthony Riboldi, there’s no question about it. The entry I found at FreeBMD to be my 2x great-grandfather. There’s no one else of that name, and the fact that in 1853 the Irish newspapers place John Riboldi in Limerick, giving evidence at an inquest, and then, five years later, he turns up in Gravesend, Kent – where he’s for goodness’ sake!
