Antonio Ralli
(1812-1882)
23 December 1860
During the mid-nineteenth century, a large community of merchants from the Mediterranean island of Chios made London their home in the aftermath of the massacre or enslavement of some 100,000 Greeks by Ottoman troops on the island in 1822, during the Greek Wars of Independence. It is estimated that some 20,000 Chiots escaped the island, many of them finding new homes in countries where they had already established a mercantile presence and trading connections.
By the 1860s those who had fled to Britain were based principally in the district of Bayswater and many of them frequented Silvy’s studio. It is possible that they were first introduced to the studio through two of their number, Basil and Terpsichore Melas, who lived in the lower part of the house that Silvy occupied.
There are several sources on the Internet that give more information about the Greek Dispora in the nineteenth century; there is a particularly good one curated by the British journalist Christopher Long at https://www.christopherlong.co.uk
Volume 2, page 132, sitting number 1827.
Born in 1812 on the island of Chios (often called Scio in English), Antonio (Antonios in Greek) Alexander Ralli was one of three brothers (the others were Eustratios and Alexander) who in the mid-nineteenth century founded a dynasty of merchants and bankers in London. Their father was Alexander Antonios Ralli (1785-1822).
On 23 January 1838 at the Church of Our Savour, London Wall, he married firstly Minusca (‘Mina’) Tamvaco, daughter of Georges Tamvaco. This marriage produced four children. 'Mina' Ralli died in 1845.
Antonios became a naturalised British citizen on 12 February 1848.
On 4 July 1849, at the Church of Our Saviour, London Wall, he married secondly Nina Mavrocordatou, daughter of Pavlos (‘Paul’) Mavrocordato [Greek female surnames are typically in the genitive, denoting possession.] This marriage produced a further nine children.
In 1851 Antonios and Nina were living at 42 Finsbury Circus with children Pandia (8), Polymnia (6) and Fanny (8 months). The household also included three servants.
The family appear on the 1861 census living at 102 Westbourne Terrace, London.
Also present on the night of the census were four live-in servants, all female.
Antonios Ralli died, aged 70, on 4 July 1882 at 102 Westbourne Terrace, London.
He left an estate valued at £437,114, The will was proved by his sons, Antonio Alexander Ralli and Pandia Antonio Ralli; and by Theodore Emanuel Schilizzi. The bulk of his fortune was divided amongst his children, with bequests to his servants and two of his clerks. He also made provision for a school and two hospitals on Chios.
Antonios Alexander Ralli was buried in his family mausoleum in the Greek Orthodox enclosure in West Norwood Cemetery, South London.