Ugo GONELLA [c.1891-1952]

Submitted by jill on Tue, 08/31/2021 - 01:28
Names
Given
Ugo
Family
Gonella
Sex
Male
Status
Deceased
Born
Date
(Day, Month, & Year are approximate.)
Birthplace (country)
Italy
Died
Date

Ugo Gonella was an architect in partnership with Ernest Manning Hazeland. Together they formed the company Hazeland & Gonella. Ugo Gonella appears in Tony Lam's list of accredited Hong Kong architects. St Margaret's Church at the bottom of Broadwood Road was his unique project. Ugo married Grace Thereza Murray, one of the five daughters of Patrick and Lucretia Murray. Patrick Murray gifted him one of his properties, rem. part. I.L. 1551. Grace predeceased Ugo aged only 32. If I understand Carl Smith's card no. 00148697 correctly, it gives his death in Vercelli, Italy in 1952 aged 61, but Tony Lam's list of authorised architects gives his death as 1944 in Stanley Internment Camp. Carl Smith devotes several cards to him. His daughter Maria is named as his "universal heir to honour the debt owed to the very Rev. Giuseppe Granpa, resident of Hong Kong". Smith's wonky typewriter and faint writing sometimes makes the details difficult to interpret. They may need correcting. 00103557 GIF seems to give Aloysius and Felicitata Gonella as the probable parents of Ugo, but the 1894 baptism at St Anthony's Church seems to be of a brother, Citus Petrus Jacob Gonella, unless that was Ugo's baptismal name. Another card gives his father as Luigi Gonella. I'm sure there will be more to add about Ugo and his family.

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Jill, it's interesting that you were able to get all this information on Ugo Gonella.  It would seem more likely that he remained in Hong Kong until his death since his daughter Maria was there.  I wonder what year Ugo and Grace were married, when Maria was born and when Grace died. During the war I was told that Margaret Bond stayed at the Italian Convent as she did not travel to Macau with my father and the others. I am not certain but thought Maria was also with her at the convent during that time.  Maria was very attached to Aunty Maggie as we all called her.  Aunty Maggie lived with us after the war and eventually went to live with Maria and her husband Jan Huysman until she passed away in 1971 at 92.

Maria and Jan left Hong Kong for Belgium sometime after 1971 and we stayed in touch.  She arranged for the family graves at St. Michael's cemetery to be repaired and cleaned, and sent me photos of the graves before and after the restoration. In a close-up photo of the Gonella grave before restoration I could make out two names and words that appear to be in Italian showing the birth and death dates: Gonella Grazia, nata Murray with a date I cannot make out, and morta, followed by the date. Under this is the following name:  Gonella Luigi, nato and morto followed by the dates, again hard to read.  I see no mention of Ugo's name or his mother's name.  At the back of the photo after restoration, Maria wrote: "My mother's grave after repairs, etc."  I will forward the photo to Jill for her scrutiny and possible upload as appropriate.

The information on Ugo Gonella can be accessed through the Carl Smith cards and through the Gwulo search window. Ugo and Grace were married on 6 May 1919 cf Carl Smith ref. 00103557 GIF The Carl Smith cards are an invaluable resource. If you go to "Where to find Hong Kong's History" in the left hand margin of the Gwulo site it will take you to the Carl Smith link in the right hand margin and then to the grs link itself. Read Vanessa's recommendation to enter the name you are looking for in the format: Ugo AND Gonella. There are at least 5 cards worth looking at - possibly more re Maria and Grace. Tony Banham has kindly confirmed that there is no record of a Gonella in Stanley, so the Carl Smith record that Ugo died in Italy must be correct. I'm afraid I can't tell what the dates on the Gonella graves are. It would be worth asking St Michael's to consult their records. There may also be a record of the deaths in the Catholic Cathedral archives.

Thanks for the above Information, Jill.  I'll check out the cards you mentioned.  That's interesting that Tony Banham confirmed there was no record of a Gonella at Stanley.  If Ugo did indeed go back to Italy where he died, that explains why his name is not included on the Gonella grave at St. Michael's cemetery.  Thanks also for confirming the date of Ugo and Grace's wedding.

I note that Ugo Gonella gave his address as 161 Wanchai Road in the 1924 Jurors List. I have mentioned elsewhere that 161 Wanchai Road was the address given on the death certificate of Ellen Olson, the then wife of my great-grandfather, John Olson. Lucretia Murray was the owner of 161 at the time and perhaps letting the property or running it as a boarding house, as it was one of five adjacent Wanchai Road houses owned by the family. Lucretia had died by 1924 and had maybe left the house to Ugo, her son-in-law. 

I found photocopies that my cousin Mary Rita Engesser sent to me from Toronto of her father, Arthur Augustus Reed's birth certificate as well as her parents' wedding certificate. The birth certificate shows her father was born on July 28, 1908, at 167 Wanchai Road, also listing this address to be the residence of his parents, Amaro John Reed and Maria Rita nee da Silva.  It would be interesting to find out when the Reed family moved to 8 Broadwood Road. I believe Patrick Murray and his wife Lucretia and their family lived in an adjacent house at 7 Broadwood Road but did reside at 165 Wanchai Road prior.

It's not possible to tell from the Rate Books when the Reed family moved to 8 Broadwood Road. The Rate Payer remained Margaret Annie Bond in the records that I have seen. In the 1927-28 book, the space for the name of the Rate Payer for no. 7 has been left blank. 1927 was the year that Patrick Murray died. His wife, Lucretia, was already dead. Perhaps family members know whether the Murray children inherited the house. 

Another unexplained mystery as to why Grace died at 209 Wanchai Road and not at 161 Wanchai Road where her husband's address was listed in the 1924 Jurors List.  I read elsewhere that Patrick Murray gave one of the Wanchai properties to his son-in-law, Ugo Gonella.  Ugo was one of the mourners at Patrick's funeral. 

Admitted as partner in the business and under the style of "Hazeland and Gonella, Civil Engineers, Architects and Surveyors" from 1 September 1923.

Source: Notice in Hong Kong Telegraph, 3 September 1923.

In the Jurors Lists in 1915 through 1918, Ugo Gonella was an architect at E.M. Hazeland at 33 Queen's Road Central. 

The Jurors Lists from 1920 to 1923 showed that Ugo worked as an architect at Brossard, Mopin & Co., with his home residence given as 161 Wanchai Road after his marriage to Grace Murray on 6 May, 1919.

Hugo became a partner at Hazeland and Gonella in September 1923.  In the Jurors Lists in 1926, 1928 and 1929, his address was given as 209 Wanchai Road, although the 1927 Jurors List still showed his address as 161 Wanchai Road.

Interestingly, in the Jurors Lists from 1930 to 1933 his address was at 16 Broadwood Road.  From 1934 through 1939 his address was given as 3 Dragon Terrace which could be the firm address of Hazeland and Gonella.

Grace Murray Gonella passed away on 9 May, 1926 at their 209 Wanchai Road residence.  As per Carl Smith's card, Ugo died in Vercelli, Italy in 1952 at age 61.  It not clear as to when he departed Hong Kong for Italy.