Veneto market gardeners 1927

The feature photo above shows Guido, Candida, with Paul, Ann and Lina,
outside their home in Airdrie Ave, Seaton, c 1974.

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From the age of 16 years old, Guido had a desire to work with community groups. At that time, he became a leader of a youth group in his parish at Montebelluna in the province of Treviso.

 

 

The parish provided activities and opportunities for developing leadership and companionship for young people in the village.

 

From Montebelluna…

Guido Cavallin was born at Montebelluna in the province of Treviso on 16 July 1939. He was the youngest of four children of Teresa Binotto and Angelo Cavallin. He grew up in an old house with his extended family – about 15 people altogether.

His parents were contadini and grew wheat and corn. The family kept oxen to pull the plough to cultivate the land and there were four cows and some pigs. In about 1956, Guido’s father built a new house with money lent by an aunt whose husband had died in World War I.

 

 

 

 

 

After primary school, Guido completed three years of secondary school and two years learning the trade of fitter and turner. In June 1957, he started work as a boilermaker-welder in a factory at Treviso about 20 kilometres away, and a train ride which made for a very long day. He remembers that he left home at 5:00 am to catch a train and returned at 9:00 pm.

Migration to Australia

Looking back, Guido felt he had no choice but to migrate – “I could see no future.” His working life was hard, and he had seen the opportunities that had opened up for his older brother, Marcello, who had migrated to Australia in 1952. He wanted to be able to help his parents pay off their house and thought this would be possible if he migrated. In 1960, sponsored by his brother, Guido migrated to Adelaide. Guido lived with Marcello and his wife, Imelda, in Airdrie Avenue, Seaton for five years until he married.

Meeting Candida Pellizzari…

Guido met Candida Pellizzari through his brother and sister-in-law. Candida’s parents were from Caerano San Marco and she was six years old when the family arrived in Adelaide in 1949. When Guido met Candida, she worked in the Commonwealth Bank and she helped him with his English in the early years. From teacher, Candida became girlfriend, then wife!

 

They married on 30 October 1965 and moved into the partly completed house which Guido and his brother had begun building  at 1 Airdrie Avenue, a year before.

 

Guido and Candida had three children, Paul, Ann and Lina, all of whom live in Adelaide with their families. Guido has six grandchildren.

Working life in Adelaide

Guido’s first job in Adelaide was at Horsell and Jarmyn at Hilton as a Special Class Welder and he stayed there from March 1960 to 1975 becoming a Leading Hand in 1973. He wanted to gain different employment and by studying at night school for four years, he gained qualifications in radio and TV servicing although it was not possible to get employment in that area.

Following his ambition to work with community, Guido considered opportunities that would enable him to assist Italian migrants as they settled in Australia. He took on more part-time study while he worked, and after five years, gained an Associate Diploma in Interpreting and Translating.

Community Information Officer

In 1975, following 15 years of working as a boilermaker and welder, Guido was employed as Community Information Officer with the Italian Catholic Federation (ICF), a role funded by the Commonwealth Government. In this role, he provided information and interpreting and translating services. Candida also helped in the office. At this time in Australia, translating and interpreting services were limited. He recalled, “Perhaps my willingness to assist in every possible way gained the trust of many fellow migrants towards me.”

In 1975, Guido began studying for Level 3 Interpreter qualifications at the Institute of Technology (now University of Adelaide); a qualification that he gained in 1980. 

1980 – 2001 Woodville Council

Guido continued his work as Community Information Officer and was employed by the then Woodville Council from 1980 when the Council took over the Government grant. He held the job for 21 years until 2001.

He became a Justice of the Peace in 1981 and through this role, assisted a countless number of people to certify documents and witness legal matters. Guido worked in this role part-time after retirement until early 2025

 

Earlier in 2025, Guido received a  commendation from the South Australian Government acknowledging  his 43 years of service as a Justice of the Peace.

 

In 1990 Guido received a SA Great Performance Award through the Woodville Council for outstanding work with the Italian community.

 

Involvement in the Seaton parish

When he arrived in Adelaide, Guido joined the Gleneagles parish on Grange Road. At the time, the church was used by the school during the week. On Fridays after school finished, volunteers removed the desks and replaced them with chairs for Mass on Sundays.

In 1961, the Scalabrini athers accepted an invitation from the Archbishop of Adelaide to take on the parish. It was a significant step because so many Italian-speaking people living in the area appreciated the additional pastoral care that Italian priests could offer parishioners. It became the Mater Christi parish.

In 1967, the Scalabrinian priests established a branch of the Italian Catholic Federation (ICF),  and Guido took on roles as Treasurer and Secretary. The goals of the Federation were to support the family and the identity of Italian Australians.

As a member of Mater Christi Parish Pastoral Council, Guido contributed to discussions and planning for the new parish church which was inaugurated in 1978. He was acknowledged as ‘confratello’, a member of the Scalabrinian Lay movement.

 Member of Italian Australian organisations

Guido was involved in a range of Italian organisations in Adelaide including COASIT (Comitato di Assistenza Italiano) and the initial Radio Italiana committee. He hosted a weekly morning program for a time and provided information about services available to Italian migrants.

Trevisani nel Mondo

In 1982, Guido took an active role in the establishment of the Trevisani nel Mondo in Adelaide and has maintained the position of Secretary since then. Trevisani nel Mondo has 12 groups in Australia who maintain contact with Treviso through a monthly magazine.

He recalled his motivation for his involvement, “I was very much involved in parish work, and I could see the need to support Italian migrants especially those who were newly arrived.” The Trevisani nel Mondo gave people from the province of Treviso a sense of identity and offered friendship and opportunities to speak dialect. He recalled that at the first meeting held at the Veneto Club there were about 50 people. Guido was a Foundation member of the Veneto Club and worked behind the bar for a couple of years as a volunteer. He enjoyed the opportunity to mix with other Veneti at the Club at Beverley.

Visits to Italy

Guido has made several visits to Italy which have been important for reconnecting with family. The first time he returned to Italy in 1970 he supported the family looking after his father who was ill. Guido recalls that he realised how much he had lost by having migrated as a young man. He said that he “felt like a stranger”.

In 1973, Guido and Candida planned to take the three children to join the celebrations for the 50^thwedding anniversary of Guido’s parents. Sadly, his father died three months before. Guido was very sad – “I really regretted that my father could not meet Candida – and our children.” The family delayed their trip and went in 1974.

 

In 1986, Guido planned a significant event with the Trevisani nel Mondo. He organised a memorable trip to Italy with  55 members of the Trevisani nel Mondo from Adelaide. The trip was made possible through   grants from the Trevisani nel Mondo in the province of Treviso and also from the Veneto Region.

Guido was responsible for making all kinds of arrangements for the travellers including daily excursions in the Veneto region.

In 1990 he organised another trip for the Trevisani nel Mondo to America, Canada and Italy with 20 members of the Association.

 

Guido and Candida also travelled to Italy in 2009.

Life in retirement

In retirement Guido enjoys a full life involving his family, friends, gardening, participation in Trevisani nel Mondo meetings and events, and as a parishioner at Mater Christi, Seaton. He enjoys spending time with his family and occasionally he makes pasta with his granddaughters and watches his grandson play soccer. He uses one of Candida’s recipes to make lasagne. Guido also makes wine each year with the help of his family.

Guido has always loved gardening, and his garden is testament to his passion today with seasonal vegetables, fruit trees and chickens and a large collection of orchid plants.

The Trevisani nel Mondo meetings and events are very important to Guido and he assists with annual events such as the Castagnata (Chestnut Festival), Pio Decimo (Feast of Pope Pius X, patron of Trevisani nel Mondo) and the popular Christmas picnic. He attends a weekly gathering at the home of one of the Trevisani men. It’s called the ‘Piano Bar’, and it is an opportunity to share stories and enjoy speaking the old dialect.

Guido continues to be a parishioner at the Mater Christi Parish.

Candida died in July 2019, and it was a great sadness for Guido and the family to experience her loss in their lives. Guido says that he never forgets that he was able to achieve so much in his life with the assistance and encouragement of his wife, Candida over 53 years.

Reflections
Guido reflects and states that he has continued to learn through his life. He says proudly that he has lived all his life in Adelaide – 65 years – in the same street! Airdrie Avenue, Seaton became the foundation for his marriage and family, and all the work he has undertaken in the community even after his retirement. He has a sense of being a member of a village because he knows so many Italian people who live in the area. Guido believes that it is rewarding to give assistance to the community, and he is grateful to feel connected with the place where he has lived and worked with people for many years.

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Guido Cavallin, Ann Gunter nee Cavallin, Lina Court nee Cavallin,
Madeleine Regan
9 November 2025

Photos provided by Guido and family.

 

In this blog you will read about Maureen Brown,
a young woman whose family was from the Riverland in South Australia, and Mario Griguol, a young man from Meduna di Livenza
in the Veneto region, and their life together.
The couple met in Adelaide in 1955 and married in 1959.

The photo above features Mario and Maureen with their family,
Back: Debra and Rosalee, Front: Steven and Paula, c 1970.

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When Maureen Brown saw Mario Griguol for the first time in 1955, it really was ‘love at first sight!’ She was 16 years old, out window shopping in Rundle Street with a friend. She even remembers that it was a Sunday! Maureen saw two young men in a black Holden including a very handsome one, ‘Mario’, wearing a leather jacket. It did not take long for Mario and Maureen to become romantically involved. And like all young couples, they went on many dates together.

Maureen’s early life

Maureen was born on 9^th March 1939 at Berri hospital where her family had a fruit block in Lyrup. She was the youngest of seven children and, when she was 2 years old, the family moved to Alberton in Adelaide. She left school at 14 years and began working in a local workshop making men’s clothing.

 

She enjoyed her work and stayed in that job until soon after she married. Maureen had a varied social life with friends as a young woman – going to see movies and listening to rock and roll.

 

Mario and the Griguol family

Mario – born on 21 May 1935, in Meduna di Livenza in the Province of Treviso, was one of six children. His parents, Giuseppe and Rosa, arrived in Australia in March 1949 with their children and went first to New Residence near Loxton where Giuseppe had a job as the main gardener for a local family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The family was ready to move to Adelaide when, 10 months after migrating to Australia, Rosa died at 45 years of age never getting to see their new home. After Mario moved to Adelaide, he lived in the Tonellato vagon (railway carriage) on Frogmore Road, Kidman Park for some time, with his future brother-in-law, Rinaldo (Lalo) Zamberlan.

At 15, Mario worked at various jobs. He was keen to learn English and in 1950, attended night school.  The photo below published in ‘The News’, features Mario participating in a class with two other young Italian men.

Maureen recalls that Mario delivered for Miller Andersons Department Store and did concreting on weekends with his family.  Early in their marriage, Mario studied drafting at night school as he knew that work and education were important to get ahead.

Mario’s early employment was with a concrete business and in the period that he and Maureen were courting, he worked in country areas. Maureen recalled that when he was in places like Port Lincoln for some weeks, they exchanged letters and phone calls to each other. Maureen remembered feeling part of the Griguol family early on, “It was lovely that the Griguols welcomed me so warmly into their family”.

 The path to marriage

Mario and Maureen enjoyed each other’s company. They often went to the movies or the drive-in. Her parents liked Mario immediately and were pleased with Maureen’s choice of a man with good character. They went out together for four years before they married in 1959. Maureen was about to turn 20 and Mario was 24 years old.

Maureen became a Catholic before the wedding. Her friend, Lorraine, was bridesmaid and Mario’s best man was Bruno Piovesan, from a Veneto market gardener family on Frogmore Road. After the wedding at the Hindmarsh Catholic Church, the reception was held in the Tonellato’s packing shed.

 Houses and family

The young couple started their married life on Frogmore Road, Kidman Park in the house of Mario’s sister and brother-in-law (Lea and Orlando (Nano) Tonellato). Maureen and Mario’s first child, Rosalee was born in 1959, followed by Debra, in 1961, Paula, in 1964 and Steven in 1966.

The family moved several times in the initial years. Mario and one of his sisters, Silvana and his brother, Toni and families built adjoining houses at Waterloo Corner. The three families shared a lot of time together. Mario had his own building company, MG Constructions, for many years.

The next move was to One Tree Hill where Mario built a house on 15 acres. Mario and Maureen had horses, beef cattle, chickens and a dog on the property.

 Family life

Mario loved the outdoors. He took the family on many trips to the Riverland where he taught the children to water ski from a boat that he had built.

The family also went to the Flinders Ranges during the September school holidays. The children used to call their Dad, ‘Harry Butler’ because of his love of the country and bush. Mario encouraged his brothers and sisters with their families to join them on their many trips to Loxton or the Flinders.

Maureen and Mario were actively involved in the Catholic parish in Virginia. Dedicated parishioners, they helped in all aspects of the church including the construction of the presbytery.

Extended Griguol family

Maureen wholeheartedly embraced her new Italian culture, and with Mario, raised their children in Veneto customs and traditions. The Griguol families had a tradition of going on regular picnics. On one occasion the cousins enjoyed time together in the portable swimming pool that Maureen and Mario made from canvas.

The extended Griguol family celebrated special occasions together. For example, there were gatherings at Easter and Christmas at Botanic and Rymill Parks where the men played bocce and the women talked while the children played.

In 1996, Rose Noble, daughter of Antonio (Toni) and Maria Griguol and author of the family history book, Polenta in Australia,[1] organised a family reunion at Melrose. It was 47 years since the family had arrived in Adelaide.

Veneto Club

Mario was a Foundation member of the Veneto Club and had contributed his labour to the construction of the Club at Beverley. Before he was voted as President, he was a member of the fourth Committee in 1975.

Elected President for five terms between 1976 and 2002, Mario enjoyed the opportunity to lead the Club and involve families in events.

Maureen said that the “Veneto Club was his community, and he was very passionate about what it meant to Veneto migrants in Adelaide.”

Daughters, Debra and Paula, agreed that Mario was a natural-born leader who would volunteer himself in activities that were important to him, his children, the Veneto Club and the Catholic parish.

Maureen became involved in the Veneto Club through playing netball, waiting on tables and assisting in the kitchen. She recalled that she “had a ball” at the Club and she is thankful for the close friendships made over the years. When Mario was President, she went to all the functions and recalls receiving large quantities of decorative flowers as the President’s wife.

 Connections to Italy

Through his sisters, Mario maintained contact with relatives in Meduna di Livenza.  He and Maureen made their first visit there in the mid 1980s and met up with Mario’s brother Toni and sister-in-law, Maria. Maureen remembered that it was a very emotional time for Mario as it was the first time he had been back since the family migrated in 1949. She said, “the relatives were overjoyed to see us and welcomed us with gracious hospitality”.

Mario and Maureen’s three daughters have visited Meduna di Livenza over the years and saw the house in which he grew up in, a very moving time for each of them.

Maureen learned to cook Italian food, eager to please her husband, learning from his sisters along the way. The family also kept Easter and Christmas traditions. Two of her daughters met their future husbands at the Veneto Club adding a stronger connection to their Veneto heritage with its values and culture.

 Maureen’s reflections

Maureen reflected on her life with Mario and spoke about her memories, “They will never leave me.” She recalls that at the heart of his life were three important things – family, the Church and the Veneto Club. Both Mario and Maureen involved themselves deeply in each of those aspects. Mario died in 2005.

Today Maureen enjoys spending time with her children – “they are my life now.” She has 13 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren. She regularly attends the luncheons at the Veneto Club and loves the connections which she made so many years ago.

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Maureen Griguol, Debra Griguol Brombal, Paula Griguol Berno,
Madeleine Regan
26 October 2025

All photos supplied by the family.

[1] Rose Noble, Polenta in Australia: The Story of Giuseppe and Rosa Griguol and their Family, 1996.

This blog gives a  brief history of the life and work of Leo Conci, a man born on the island of Elba in the province of Toscana in 1909,
who married Pina Bergamin, a Veneta in Adelaide in 1944.

The image above is the engagement photo of Leo and Pina, taken c 1943.

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Deni Conci says that his father, Leo Conci, was a man who created many opportunities to change his working life – “he was a man of 1000 jobs.” Leo himself acknowledged that he took many paths in his working life and admitted that he had had more jobs than he could recall. Because of his entrepreneurial disposition, he was ready to take on challenges in business, and he involved his family in his many ventures.

In addition to his many business interests, Leo took on a very significant role in 1972 when he was one of four guarantors who made it possible for the newly formed Veneto Club of Adelaide to purchase land to build the Club at Beverley. Leo was a member of the first two Committees and for his contribution, he was recognised as a Life and a Foundation member. He was also involved in the establishment of the Italian Club and the Club Toscano in Adelaide.

From Capoliveri to Adelaide
Leo Ameleto Conci was born at Capoliveri on the Isola d’Elba (the Isle of Elba) on 16 April 1909. He was the only child of Nello, a miner, and Caterina Magnanini, a seamtress.  In 1925 Nello became unemployed after the mine closed, and it was difficult for many families to survive on the island. Nello was sponsored by an acquaintance, and the family arrived in Adelaide in 1925.

In Adelaide, the Depression was affecting the working lives of people and although jobs were scarce, Leo got his first job at 15 years old as an apprentice to a shoe-maker on North Terrrace in the City of Adelaide.

 

Later, he worked with his father clearing land near Karoonda, about 160 kms east of Adelaide. In the meantime, Caterina had found a dressmaking job in Adelaide.

Father and son embarked on a new venture, bought a truck and an abandoned quarry in the Adelaide Hills and extracted stone for road base. After about two years of hard work, the quarry was destroyed by flooding, and Leo and his father had to find other work. For a short time, they leased land and set up a market garden.

Life in Australia changed for the Conci family in 1936 when Nello died of a heart attack, aged 54 years, and the following year Leo and his mother moved to Broken Hill to live with relatives from Capoliveri. Leo worked in a lead mine for four years before he and his mother returned to Adelaide. At that time, he started a building firm with three friends but it was dissolved after a short period.

Marriage to Pina – and family life

At the age of 35 years, Leo’s life transformed when he met Giuseppina (Pina) Bergamin. Her parents had migrated to Adelaide in 1939 from San Martino di Lupari in the province of Padova in the Veneto region.

Leo and Pina, aged 22 years, married on 1^st January 1944.

Together they opened several milk bars in the City of Adelaide, and one later became the Star Grocery in Hindley Street which sold continental goods.

 

 

Leo and Pina had four children, Deni, Noreen, Lido and Liana.

Leo’s mother, Caterina, lived with Leo and Pina and the family until she died in 1974.

It was never a problem for Leo to be involved in two or three activities at a time. He took on other jobs which included being a second-hand car dealer and a land agent. He renovated several old homes in St Peters where the family lived for some years. He took an interest in manufacturing objects for domestic use and this included an initial venture making cement pots and other items which Pina painted before they were sold including stock that went interstate.

Business ventures in the 1950s

In 1954, Leo started in a venture that would determine the rest of his working life. He began working in wrought iron and made fences and balustrades.

In 1958 he formed his partnership, L Conci & Sons, and opened the retail store across the road from the airport and became the largest manufacturer of wrought iron garden furniture in Adelaide.

Pina painted the furniture, and initially, Deni was involved in forming and welding the pieces while Leo was responsible for sales, delivery and marketing. All the items were built at the workshop at Brooklyn Park.

 

Development of Leo Conci & Sons

Leo Conci & Sons was considered an important participant in the furniture manufacturing sector in Adelaide. From the late 1950s, the business won prizes at the Royal Show.

In 2018, an exhibition at the Jam Factory, ‘Adelaide Modern: Past. Present. Future,’ featured Leo Conci & Sons as one of six South Australian furniture companies that made their mark in the 1960s. The design of furniture reflected new family traditions because of the introduction of television in homes.

 

The Conci outdoor metal furniture settings were known as a very significant feature in backyards and patios in suburban Adelaide in the 1960s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The essay for the 2018 exhibition described the work of the Conci factory and its outstanding role as a furniture making business in Adelaide:

The Conci family were remarkable innovators. They designed and built their own tooling and were early adopters of the latest technologies from Europe such as electrostatic paint spraying. The iconic (and in Adelaide, almost omnipresent) small mesh chair was designed by Leo’s teenage son Dino [corrected by Deni to read, “designed by Leo, Pina and Deni with a metal fabricator” ]  in 1959. Like all Conci pieces it was manufactured in Brooklyn Park where the family made everything from the tool making to the upholstery.

By 1960 with a few employees, including an Italian permanent/part-time toolmaker from GMH, the business was producing a range of wrought iron garden furniture including the bucket chair settings in large quantities.

Another evolution of the design included upholstery. After a few years, the rest of the family joined the business although they were still school students.

Deni remembers:

Dad oversaw everything. I was on tooling and machines. Mum was designer and painter at this time. Noreen had a clerical role and Lido and Liana were in the upholstery area. There was no escape on weekends. Work had to be done.

Deni and other employees prepared the iron work components for chairs and tables and a paesana, of Leo’s, Anna Ballerini,  was spot-welder.

After Deni and Lido married, their respective wives, Sandra and Marisa, took on roles in sales.

The evolution of the business

Several Italian welders arrived either before or after their shifts at GMH and completed the welding. During the winter, the stock built up, and it was ready by the time of the Royal Adelaide Show in September.

Leo watched over the continuing development of the business which continued to evolve and met the changing trends in furniture. Deni recalls that Leo had a favourite saying, “Nothing is impossible.”

In another new direction, Leo became an importer in 1964 following his first return visit to Italy where he attended the Furniture Fair in Milan. In 1983, the business brought 43 containers of furniture from Italy – a demonstration of the popularity of the ornate Italian designs. The business continued to import Italian furniture until the late 1980s.

By the mid 1960s, Leo Conci and Sons attracted contracts for commercial furniture such as tubular tables and stacking chairs for hotels. Another successful change of direction was manufacturing timber furniture produced in a factory at Beverley by Deni and six employees from about 1990 to 2007. The business adapted and produced manufactured bespoke furniture with hi-tech mechanisation in 2000.

While he managed Leo Conci and Sons and he travelled to Italy for business, he also found time to enjoy visits to Capoliveri. He totted up about 40 visits to Italy, sometimes with Pina, and he loved spending time with relatives and friends in the place he was born.

The influence of Pina in the family

Son-in-law, Romano Rubichi, acknowledges (Pina), in the following statement:

 Giuseppina, Leo’s wife of a lifetime, was the anchor of a successful marriage, dedicated and tenacious supporter of Leo’s active life. Their four children could always rely on her generosity and loving care. Her sweet nature made her always accessible to family and friends.

Later years

In later life, Leo and Pina enjoyed their family, children and nine grandchildren. They loved holidays in Italy and the opportunity to socialise with their friends at home. They had a reputation for offering hospitality at their home at West Beach and people today remember the parties and dancing.

 

Leo spent time at each of the three Italian clubs that he assisted to establish, the South Australian Italian Association or the Italian Club (Leo was a member of the 1967 Building Fund Committee and a Foundation member), the Veneto Club and the Club Toscano.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the eulogy at his funeral, Leo was remembered fondly by his family:

During his years of hard honest work, nonno always ensured he enjoyed the pleasures in life. Nonno enjoyed socialising with family and friend and going to parties, where he would grace the dance floor like no other man. Every woman would watch and dream of having a dance with nonno, but his wife was the lucky one!

Leo died in 2003 at the age of 94 years after a long and productive life – with many achievements in design, manufacturing and sale of furniture in South Australia and he had also made a significant contribution to the Italian community in Adelaide. Pina died in 2012 aged 89 years.

Leo Conci and Sons finished operating in 2019 after more than 60 years in the metal and timber manufacturing furniture business in Adelaide.

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Leo Conci, Romano Rubichi and Madeleine Regan
12 October 2025

Photos supplied by the family unless otherwise indicated.

Sources of information

• Deni Conci
• Conci family – Eulogy at Leo’s funeral, December 2003
• Pino Bosi, Toscani di la’, Toscani di qua, Catalogazione nella pubblicazione (CIP) a cura della Biblioteca della Giunta regionale Toscana, 2001.
• Sam Gold, Yolanda Lopez, Scot Van Manen, “Conci Furniture.”
• Romano Rubichi, Obituary, “Life a work in progress” The Advertiser, 27 December 2003, p 52.
• Essay, “Adelaide Modern: Past, Present, Future”, exhibition held at the Jam Factory October – December 2018.