Veneto market gardeners 1927

Recently one of the descendants of a Veneto market gardener was talking about her grandfather and reflected that he had arrived nearly 100 years ago. It is true, the group of Veneto men who arrived alone (apart from the one married couple, Francesco and Margherita Marchioro and their baby daughter, Mary) and who are the focus of my research, arrived in Adelaide between 1926 and 1928 – nearly 100 years ago.

The image above is of the Rossetto family in Bigolino, taken about 1920.
Photo supplied by Maria Rosa Tormena.

Arrival – July 1927
I looked at the list of arrivals of the group and realised that in July 1927, three Rossetto brothers, Gelindo, Adeodato and Angelo arrived in Adelaide with their brother-in-law, Brunone Rebuli. They had all left from the village of Bigolino and were sponsored by Domenico Rossetto who had arrived a year earlier.

The story of the Rossetto family has been the subject of other blogs and it is an example of the challenges faced by a family who opposed fascism and who were living in an area that had been devastated by the military campaigns of the First World War. Eight of nine siblings had migrated to Australia by the time World War II had begun. They took the risk to make a new life at a time of economic difficulties in Australia.

A family reunited

 

After four years, Brunone Rebuli was reunited with his wife Giovanna (nee Rossetto) and their eldest three children, Dorina, 8 years, Albino, 7 years and Elvio, 6 years. When he sponsored his family, Brunone was working on a farm in Kingscote, Kangaroo Island. The fourth member of the family, Guido, was born in Adelaide in 1938.

 

 

The histories of Veneto market gardeners
The histories of the group of Veneti who made the decision to migrate to Adelaide in the 1920s are the subject of my book, “‘I buy this piece of ground here’: An Italian market-gardener community in Adelaide 1920s – 1970s.” The book covers the motivation of the Veneti to migrate, their early difficult years during the Depression, the coincidence of the families leasing land within 3 kilometres of each other, the importance of building family life along with the development of market gardens using new methods of cultivation including growing tomatoes in glasshouses which were not used in the Veneto region.

The paese or the village-like community that grew in the area of Lockleys – or Kidman Park and Flinders Park created security for the families who were dislocated from their own kin in the Veneto region.

The community negotiated the impacts of the Depression in Australia, the impact of fascism and the racist environment experienced by Italians during World War II, the influence of the White Australia Policy that created a culture of exclusion before  the Australian Government introduce new legislation in the 1960s and the Whitlam Government established a policy of multiculturalism in 1973.

The cover of the book

The couple featured on the cover of the book are Costantina (nee Visentin) and Giovanni Santin. He had arrived in August 1927. The photo was taken in the mid 1940s on land that the Santin family was subleasing from another Veneto market gardener, Gino Berno.

The family were reunited in 1935 when Costantina and the four children, Lui, Vito, Romildo and Virginia, migrated from Caselle di Altivole.  At the time his family arrived, Giovanni was working for a Bulgarian farmer at Jervois, about 100 miles south east of Adelaide . The  family lived there together until they moved to Adelaide in the early 1940s. (Giovanni’s eldest child, Angelina, arrived in Australia  later with her children to join her husband, Pietro Compostella.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The launch
As I prepare for my book launch next Saturday 19^th July, I am keeping in mind the  families whose migration stories are featured in the book and on the website. I look at this image that was designed a few years ago with the 11 family names and outline map that situates the location of the market gardens between Grange Road and the River Torrens that the group of Veneti established during the 1930s.

Celebration of the first generation – and continuity
The launch will an opportunity for the descendants and their children (and others) to gather and reflect on the decisions made by their Veneto forebears nearly 100 years ago.

Madeleine Regan
13 July 2025

Egilberta (Bertina) Carraro was 20 years old when she waved goodbye to her father and  boarded the ship for Australia at Genova. She remembers saying the words, “Now, it’s on me.” It was 1953 and Bertina had made up her mind that she was responsible for her new life. She was leaving her parents and brothers behind and was on her way to meet her fiancée, Sante Buratto, who had arrived in 1951.

The image above, of Bertina and Sante Buratto, was taken in Adelaide
in 2020, on the occasion of Sante’s 90th birthday.

Early life
Bertina was born on 29^th July 1933 in Latina in the Lazio region, a city that was then called ‘Littoria’ which was founded by Mussolini in 1932. It was populated by settlers mostly from the Veneto and Friuli regions. Bertina’s parents returned to live in Biadene in about 1934. (Biadene is about 65 kms NorthWest of Venice.) Bertina had two older brothers, Armando and Bruno.

The Carraro house held an important role in Biadene. Bertina’s father worked at the Mulino, a factory that ground wheat for flour and ran 24 hours. Bertina’s father managed the operations and  ran  generators from the family home. The generators provided heat that enabled local families to dry their washing  during the winter months. Bertina’s mother cared for the items of clothing and made sure that they were returned to each family.

After three years of education, Bertina stayed home because the village school was closed because of the war and was given over to accommodation for refugees who came from the south of Italy. She learned sewing and helped with cooking and housework. When she was 14 years old, Bertina  went to work in a factory that made silk fabric.

A young woman in Biadene
Bertina remembers that she had limited freedom as a young woman in Biadene. There were few social activities and the parish priest opposedyoung girls having a social life outside the family home and refused to give them communion if they attended dances. Once a year there was a sagra or a festival in Ciano del Montello, a town about five kilometres north of Biadene. Bertina went with three friends on their pushbikes and it was there that she saw Sante Buratto for the first time. After about four months, Sante found out where Bertina lived and went to see her. She thought she was too young to get involved but he was keen and when he decided to migrate in 1951, he told her that he would wait for her in Australia.

She received Sante’s letters for about six months but she did not reply. After about six months, he found a way to get Bertina’s attention – he enclosed a £1 note in a letter and said that if her mother didn’t give her the money for a stamp then she could use his money. This strategy worked and they made arrangements for Bertina to marry him when she arrived in Australia.

To Australia…
Bertina remembered that her departure was very difficult for her parents. Her mother was very sad and asked how could her only daughter leave her. Her father accompanied her on the 400-kilometre trip to Genova.

From the moment she boarded the ship, Bertina had a strong sense that she was determined to make her life anew. She recalls thinking to herself, “I know the good and the bad, and I will do my best.” She had felt constrained by the village and she wanted to learn different things. For a young woman who had had a protected upbringing, the experience of being on the ship was a big adventure.

 

Arrival in Australia
Bertina had three aunts who had migrated to Melbourne between the wars and she stayed with one of them for three months after she arrived and before she and Sante married. She worked in a factory making women’s clothes and earned £140.00, and Bertina was able to pay for the costs of the wedding. Sante arrived in Melbourne a few days before the wedding.

Just the week before the wedding, Sante had bought a large old house on Park Terrace [now Greenhill Road] near the Adelaide showgrounds and the young couple began their married life there.

Life in Adelaide

In Adelaide, Sante took Bertina to meet the Veneti who were his close friends and they welcomed her and friendships were made for Bertina’s future. The house on Park Terrace was in poor condition because it had been empty for many years. The floors were rotten and everything needed to be fixed. Because Sante was a carpenter, he was able to work on the house after finishing his day job.

Bertina remembers, “I was happy. I was young and I pulled up my sleeves and cleaned everything.”

Family life in Rostrevor

Diana was born in 1955, and in 1957, the Buratto family moved to Rostrevor (known as Oldfield at that time) where Sante had built their house. It was a new suburb with few roads and not many other houses nearby. In 1958, Denis was born, and Roger, in 1966. Over the years, the family enjoyed celebrations and the company of good friends from the Veneto region.

The Buratto family life became fuller when Bertina’s parents came for a visit in 1969. They had thought they might stay in Adelaide but after some time, Bertina could see her parents were homesick and she organised for them to return to Montebelluna.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Involvement in the Veneto Club
Before the Veneto Club Inc., Adelaide was built in 1974, Sante was involved in meetings and he became a Foundation Member. It was an important place for the Veneti to gather and speak Italian and build community. One of the most important social gatherings in the early years were the Sunday night dinner dances and Bertina attended these with Sante and the family.

 Gradually, Bertina became involved in the Women’s Committee at the Veneto Club where she assisted with the functions on Saturday nights. She used to catch the bus just outside the family home at 1:00 pm and it took her to Beverley about 15 kms across the city.

With a team of other women, Bertina prepared for the functions setting up tables and serving meals for up to 400 people at times. The women  enjoyed providing hospitality at the Club. Bertina said, “I would take the last bus at night and was home around midnight. I was a strong person, not scared of anyone.”

She was one of the cooks for Tuesday bocce games at the Club and also for school groups that were invited by the Club for an Italian experience. She has taught groups how to make crostoli and frittole.

Bertina was a member of the Veneto Club Committee for a number of terms. In acknowledgement of her long years of service, she was made a Life Member of the Veneto Club.

 A rich life
Bertina arrived as a young woman in Australia and  built their family life with Sante. She developed and maintained friendships, actively contributed to the Veneto Club and has visited relatives in Italy several times. Today she enjoys spending time with her children, five grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

She looks after her garden, sees her friends and attends events at the Veneto Club. Bertina has created a rich and rewarding life in her 72 years in Australia.

All photos supplied by Bertina and Diana Buratto.

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Bertina Buratto, Diana Buratto and Madeleine Regan
29 June 2025

 

 

In the late 1920s and early 1930s the Veneto market gardeners would never have imagined the possibility of roller skating from Lockleys to St James Park!

In the image above, Albert Tonellato skates over the Keele Bridge, c 1945. Courtesy, Mary Tonellato.

Before the river widening works commenced in 1935 the Torrens River in the St. James Park/Lockleys was a relatively deep channel with steep sides. The river regularly flooded in winter and was reduced to disconnected pools most summers.  It represented a significant barrier between communities north and south of the river.

In the period following World War 1 broad acre farming in the area began to decline, land was subdivided and leased or sold. Better access across the river was required as the population increased and foot, bike and horse travel was being replaced by motor vehicles.

There was a wooden bridge on Tapley’s Hill Road from the 1880’s and a stone arch bridge was built on Holbrook’s Road in 1867 (Hardy, M, History of Woodville South Australia, 1875-1960, Part 2).

Attempts to get a bridge over the River Torrens
In 1911 residents in St James Park and Lockleys petitioned Woodville City Council to build a bridge and with assistance of the State Government, a simple wooden bridge was constructed at Frogmore Road/Torrens Ave in 1924 but this was subsequently removed during the river clearing and widening which commenced in 1935.

Further east nearer River Road (now Findon Road) rudimentary pedestrian access was provided by Mr Ballantyne in the form of a large plank 12 – 18 inches wide (300 – 450mm) which had to be removed whenever the river flooded. The Ballantyne family owned land on River Road abutting the Torrens.

Memories – before the Keele Bridge

In her interview, Barbara Haynes nee Ballantyne recalled:

I was only a baby. I think our mum was – used to carry me. I think dad carried the pusher and Rae (Barbara’s brother) across the plank so that mum could walk down to Henley Beach Road.

…Dad had some olive trees and we used … to climb them and looked down and it seemed to be all bicycles, like men going to Holden’s factory or something like that.

OH 872/23, 1 September, 2021, pp 19-20).

Frankie Ballestrin recalled in his interview (OH 872/7, 12 December 2008, p 17):

 

… Before that [my] parents were telling me, there was a board going across the river and when the water was real high, they used to crawl across there, they had to crawl on all fours, you know, hands and knees, to get across the river, even when it was almost touching the bottom of the board.

 

 

 

Lina Rismondo (nee Marchioro) recalled going with her parents from the city to work at their market garden in Frogmore Road:

Well, a tram went to Torrens Road, Torrens Avenue, Henley Beach Road, and weused to walk from Henley Beach Road down to Frogmore Road and we had to cross the river. A narrow plank (laughs).  Across the Torrens and then when it was floating on top of the water we’d have to go back to Henley Beach Road and come around Rowell’s Road and…

(Lina Rismondo nee Marchioro, OH 872/9, 9 June 2010, p 4).

 

The community calls for a bridge
The Adelaide newspaper, ‘The Advertiser,’ Tuesday 9^th April 1935, reported the necessity for a bridge:

“The need for a bridge or other means for crossing the Torrens River in the vicinity of St. James’s Park was suggested to the Woodville Council last night bv Mr. E.J. Keele, who said that there was danger to children and others in crossing by means of an aqueduct at Rowell’s Road.”

The clearing and widening of the river in the western suburbs commenced in 1935 and was completed in 1938.  Around the same time construction commenced on a new bridge connecting River Road and Rowell’s Road.

Opening of the bridge – 12 June 1937*

The new bridge was officially opened by Minister for Local Government, Mr Blesing and Miss Adelaide Keele on 12^thJune 1937 and named Keele Bridge in honour of E J Keele who had been a significant land owner in the district.  At that time, it was a two-lane bridge.

The bridge was widened to its current four-lane configuration in 1967. In a recent conversation  Mirjana Marchioro mentioned that her husband, Romano (Ray) Marchioro, worked on the bridge as a young carpenter at that time.

Until relatively recently, plaques mounted on the north western corner of the bridge commemorated the initial construction in 1937 and the widening in 1967, unfortunately these have been removed or stolen.

The life of the Keele Bridge 

In recent years, significant consolidation work has been required to stabilise the river bank to the east and west of the Keele Bridge.

The Linear Park initiative commenced in the early 1980s included further rework to the shape of the river valley and significant planting of indigenous trees and shrubs as well as play spaces and BBQ areas.  The Linear Park these days attracts huge numbers of walkers, cyclists and others – most would be oblivious to the wonderful history of life along the river.

*On the 12th June, it was 88 years since the Keele bridge was opened.

Alex Bennett
15 June 2025