The Moltenos are descended from a small community who, at least since Roman times, have lived in the little hilltop village of Molteno just south of Lake Como near the Alps. In the 1780s, or a little earlier,  George Anthony Molteno, from whom almost every Molteno outside Italy alive today is descended, moved from Milan to London and opened his printselling business in Pall Mall. Moltenos and their related clans – the Jacksons, Bissets, Andersons, Murrays, Stanfords and others – have always been conscious of their distinctive origins. This website tells the story of this remarkable family.

Robert Molteno, who spent a great deal of the last decade researching the history of the family, passed away in 2022 sadly. He was responsible for creating and updating this website. To find out just how remarkable he was, read his obituary here Robert Molteno (1943 – 2022)

Robert was in the process of writing a book about the History of the Family. He had been working on this over many years but unfortunately never got to finish it. Reading through his draft copies is fascinating and gives one such an excellent overview of the family and their many remarkable achievements. Robert didn’t feel that these drafts were ready for sharing yet but we think it would be a great shame if they were not upladed for all to enjoy. They are well worth reading, despite the fact that they are unfinished. You can find the draft chapters here The Family History (The book being written)

For a thumbnail sketch of the family’s history, do read The Migrant’s Story – A mini-history of the Molteno Family.

In an attempt to keep track of the generations, we have developed a new interactive Family Tree. If you would like to delve in a bit deeper, please send us an email (using the contact us link) and we will send you the login details. (Please also let us know if any details need correcting or updating)

Finally if you would like to connect with more of the family, please join our Facebook community, we would love to hear from you – The Molteno Family