He was born in 21/10/1899 in Guardavalle (in Calabria), his father was Francesco Alfarone and his mother was Caterina Barletta. Pasquale was the first son they had, after his sisters Vittoria, Rosaria and Maria.
In his childhood and youth he used to give some help to his family in their laboratory for the production of arts and crafts made from clay (consider that at that time clay had to be taken and carried by women (on their heads) or animals such as donkeys and mules, in change of money or some products).
The time of his youth wasn’t a very happy period for Italy, because of the First World War (1915-18) and the establishment of the Fascist regime (1922). In the years 1919-24 Italy colonized (or tried to do) Libya, but in this country there was a constant state of war, because of the resistance of Libyan army, so many italian youngs had been sent there as soldiers.
To this dramatic situation it has to be added the centuries-old state of poverty and backwardness of southern Italy, in which there was still a sort of feudal system of distribution of lands.
That’s why Pasquale decided to emigrate (as many people did from decades, they left south Italy to reach mainly north America, Argentina and Australia) and to try his luck in America.
So he arrived in Jamaica in 1922, and his family had some trouble with authority because he was declared a “deserter”. He chose to go in Jamaica because there lived his sister Vittoria, who was married with Vincenzo De
Maria.
In Jamaica Pasquale met and married (in 1926-27) Mary Coniglio, a woman whose origins were from Calabria too (she was from Bivongi, a town near Guardavalle). They had seven children, whose names (for some of them) are the same of Pasquale’s parents (according to an ancient tradition which, in south Italy, starts to be broken just in these last years): Catherine, Theresa, Frank, John, James, Pasquale jr. and Salvatore.
Pasquale loved music, he entered in an orchestra and then teached to Theresa and James to play some instruments.
He had never forgotten Italy and his family that he left there, as we can see from the letters he sent to his father in 1944-45, to his mother in 1945-46 and subsequently to his sister Erminia.
The 28/08/1944 Pasquale wrote a letter to his father, telling his family that he had sent some money to improve their life conditions (as we know there was a war going on). He also wrote that a new era was going to begin for him, because he had created a “laboratory” for the production of pipes, and he had good incomings, 25 people worked for him and he had bought a beautiful house…
In december 1946 Pasquale went back in Italy. But when he came back he found out that his partner in business, a jewish man, had sold almost everything and had disappeared. He had to work hard to repair damages and find a new job.
In 1954 he made an exhibition of earthenware created by himself.