Albert Street, built in around 1848 and named after Queen Victoria’s virtuous husband, was the red light district of mid Victorian Old Swindon. At the centre of this maelstrom of depravity was the Rhinoceros public house, once described in court as ‘the most notorious house in town.’ The first landlady at the Rhinoceros when it opened in July 1845 was Lucy Rogers, a former dressmaker. Frequently the scene of bad behaviour where landlords flaunted licensing laws and one was even accused of the manslaughter of his mother in law.
One person who tried to make a difference in this den of iniquity was Angelo Vitti. Born in Settefrate, a small village in the Province of Frosinone, just south of Rome, Vitti stopped off in France before moving to England in the early 1890s. He purchased the former Rhinoceros, by then a lodging house, and eventually bought up the adjoining cottages as well.
Angelo Vitti married Mary/Maria Carter in 1895. In 1901 they were living with their three young children at the Lord Raglan public house, Cricklade Street where Angelo was the licensed victualler.
The 1911 census lists them as living at 22 Albert Street where Angelo worked as a lodging house keeper and grocer. He and Maria had been married for 21 years and sadly, five of their 11 children had previously died.
‘Swindon has lost a colourful and romantic personality by the death of Mr Angelo Vitti,’ the North Wilts Herald reported following Angelo’s death on Sunday April 21, 1940. As a lodging house proprietor he became the friend, and earned the respect, of thousands of men and women, a genuine family man and a friend of poor people.
Death of Mr A. Vitti
Long Residence In Swindon
Swindon has lost a colourful and romantic personality by the death of Mr. Angelo Vitti, lodging house proprietor and provision merchant, of Albert-street, Swindon which took place on Sunday night.
Mr Vitti, who would have been 79 on 10 May next, was born at Settefrate, Italy, and as a young man left his home and his country to carve out his own career. He arrived in France, but after a short time in that country, came to England nearly 50 years ago.
He claimed many adventures before coming to settle down in Swindon in 1893.
Friend of the Poor
As lodging house proprietor he became the friend, and earned the respect, of thousands of men and women, for he had the happy knack of combining a sense of strict efficiency with a genial personality. He helped many men on their way and, had he wished, could have told many stories of the thousands of wayfarers who sought refuge under his roof. One man who claimed his hospitality was stated to have been a remarkably fine linguist, being a fluent speaker of five languages; another told how he had placed the whole of his £5,000 fortune on a horse which had finished down the course!
Angelo Vitti was a genuine family man, and it was his one desire that all his children should ever remain close by his side. All six children – two sons and four daughters – are now married, but they have respected those wishes by making their homes within a stone’s throw of their father’s premises.
Mr Vitti’s parents were both centenarians. His mother died at the age of 108 and his father in his 101st year. He leaves a widow and six children, and there are eight grandchildren.
The Funeral
Following a requiem mass, the funeral service took place on Wednesday at Holy Rood Church.
The interment was at Radnor-street cemetery, Swindon.
The funeral arrangements were carried out by Messrs. A.E. Smith and Son, 24, Gordon-road, Swindon.
Extracts from North Wilts Herald, Friday, 26 April, 1940.
Angelo Vitti was buried on April 24, 1940 in grave plot C4709 where he lies with his wife Mary/Maria who died in 1944.
Radnor Street Cemetery 