Interviews of Paul Soriani

Identifier	EERC/DG/DG4/18
Interviewer	Muir-Watt, Julia
Dates	interview: 2013-04-23 coverage: 20th century
Extent	1 digital audio file(s), 1 digital photograph(s), 1 papers
Subject	Childhood Working life Business Community Life World War, 1939-1945 Farming Whithorn Sorbie
Interview summary	Biographical interview with Paul Soriani, whose grandparents started the Central Café in Whithorn. Paul's mother and uncle were also interviewed by Julia Muir-Watt (see DG4/20). Paul provides some history of the family and the Italian community in the west of Scotland. He describes how new arrivals from Italy would first run established businesses for a short time to allow the owners to return to Italy for extended holidays. Through this practice they would learn the business skills to then run their own business. Paul's grandparents did this and eventually bought a building in Whithorn and developed their business from there. Paul recalled that the family had good local support. When Paul's grandfather was interred during World War 2, the police who came to take him away apologised to the family. Paul talks about how the business and building have changed over the years. He recalls his Aunt Olga's memories of the busy times during the Glasgow Fair and how the changing community around Whithorn has continued to support the business. He talks also about the importance of tradition and his pride that the business, which is now 80 years old, continues to thrive.
Access	Open
Usage Statement	We give permission for the re-use of our collections material for non-commercial purposes under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial 4.0 International Licence.
Audio links and images
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Interviews of Paul Soriani

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