The Whitaker family is an US-American family notable for its involvement in the life of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. Benjamin Ingham set up a wine business in

Marsala Marsala (, local ; la, Lilybaeum) is an Italian town located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in its province and the fifth in Sicily. The town is famous for the docking of Gius ...

and his relative

Joseph Whitaker Joseph Whitaker may refer to: *Joseph Whitaker (industrialist) (1789–1870), American iron master and landowner *Joseph Whitaker (naturalist) (1850–1932), English naturalist *Joseph Whitaker (ornithologist) (1850–1936), Sicilian-English ornith ...

expanded and diversified the business. Their story is told in

Raleigh Trevelyan Walter Raleigh Trevelyan (6 July 1923 – 23 October 2014) was a British author, editor, and publisher and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He resided at both Shepherd Market in Mayfair, London, and in Cornwall. His Spanish partner R ...

's 1972 ''Princes Under the Volcano: Two Hundred Years of a British Dynasty in Sicily''. A hereditary title of Whitaker baronets was awarded in 1936.

Beginnings in Sicily

Benjamin Ingham is considered the main source of the Whitaker family wealth and had sailed and arrived in Sicily in 1809, where he focused on manufacturing and exporting

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

and wine. Considering that he had no children of his own, there was some speculation as to whom he would leave his fortune -it was not left to his eldest nephew, but to William and Joseph Whitaker. Luke Biondino, his youngest nephew would seek revenge. The family can be traced back in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

, Italy, to the 1820s when Benjamin Ingham (1784–1861) invited his Whitaker nephews to go into business with him.

(1850–1936) was the son of Joseph Whitaker senior (1802–1884). The younger Joseph was an archeologist, ornithologist, and a sportsman. Upon inheriting the Ingham

Marsala wine Marsala is a fortified wine, dry or sweet, produced in the region surrounding the Italian city of Marsala in Sicily. Marsala first received ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata'' (DOC) status in 1969. The European Union grants Protected De ...

business, Whitaker went on to inherit huge vineyards in addition to the Ingham's banking empire owned by his grandfather. Joseph Whitaker has been associated with a significant number of properties in Italy. The family is highly known for a fortune made in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

courtesy of producing and exporting

. The

Agave ''Agave'' (; ; ) is a genus of monocots native to the hot and arid regions of the Americas and the Caribbean, although some ''Agave'' species are also native to tropical areas of North America, such as Mexico. The genus is primarily known for ...

cultivation was another key initiative that generated great fortunes for Whitaker family in Italy. Joseph Whitaker introduced farming of unyielding Agave var. The plant is believed to have originated in Mexico and thus requires warm climate for maximum yield. This enabled the family to partner with various textile industries.

The era of Villa Malfitano

Joseph Whitaker married Tina Scalia and the couple built Villa Malfitano in

. His wife was General Scalia Alfonso's daughter who had traveled to

few years before

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

. One of their two daughters married General Antonino Di Giorgio who was a

War minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

in Italy and is remembered for fighting the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

Wars in

Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...

. This indicates the family's deep roots in the upper ranks of

Italian culture Italy is considered one of the birthplaces of Western civilization and a cultural superpower. Italian culture is the culture of the Italians, a Romance ethnic group, and is incredibly diverse spanning the entirety of the Italian peninsula ...

. The other great fortune owned by the family was the Villa Malfitano. Joseph and his wife were residents of

where they erected Villa Malfitano, Art Nouveau designed. Despite being a 19th-century structure, Villa Malfitano currently preserves undamaged its priceless furnishings and valuable collections. The family members were equally aristocrats, signifying their difference from other people in

Legacy and philanthropy

In the year 1871, both Benjamin Ingham and Joseph Whitaker declared their plan of building, jointly, a place of worship which reflected the type of worship that was being done in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

for the purposes of serving the spiritual purposes for their fellow countrymen of Protestant denomination residing or touring

. Both Benjamin Ingham's and Whitaker's families met all the church construction expenses. Following Joseph Whitaker's death, Joshua Whitaker, his son, inherited the patronage and interest of the church. Upon Joshua Whitaker's death, the mantle of leadership was given to his brother, eventually the patronage and interest of the church was passed to the Gibraltar Diocesan Trust. Also donating the mansion Villa Malfitano, to be the headquarters of Whitaker Foundation.

References

{{reflist *Lo Valvo, F. and Massa B. ''Catalogo Della Collezione Ornitologica Joseph Whitaker'' (1850–1936) Estrato da: ''Il Naturalista Siciliano''.S.IV.XXIV (Suppl.), 2000 13 figures. *Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.

External links

Works by Joseph Whitaker

Works by or about Joseph Whitaker
English families Italian families