Author: Madeleine Regan

Irene Zampin, guest blogger, reflects on her family history and migration. Irene was born in Adelaide and  when she was 15 years old her parents returned to live in Italy.

Reason for researching the Zampin family
The idea came to my mind two years ago when I was putting some photos of my family into frames to put on the wall. I saw that I didn’t have any photos of my father’s parents and I did not know their names. I was surprised and started to research through my cousin, Roberto Zampin.

My cousin had started researching because he was curious to know the origins of the Zampin family and he came to the conclusion that all the Zampin’s came from Pagnano (Asolo). Through the town hall he was able to find a document about the Zampinus family written in Latin dated 1545.

Another incident made me think about my family history. Not long ago my son brought his first photo album and showed me the family tree which had all the names of our family except my father’s parents since at that time I didn’t know them. My son was surprised that I did not know and because I have worked with my cousin on the family history, I am happy that I have the names.

 

I hope that my research into the family history will be useful to my children and grandchildren besides having helped me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Importance of knowing the history of migration in a family
It’s important to understand why people have to emigrate. Their stories give us an idea of how lucky we are if we have not had to go abroad for work or to find enough food to satisfy hunger. Migrants leave their country, traditions and families because they have the need. If we know the reasons why people leave it should help us not to find fault with them or criticise them.

Family photos
I think family photos are very important because if we had not had them, I probably would not have started researching my family. When I look at photos on the website, I am reminded of lots of people I knew when I was growing up in Adelaide and the times we spent together.

Why my father emigrated
I always knew why my parents migrated but when they returned to Italy, I was rather young and couldn’t understand why they wanted to come back when life for me, was better there. Certainly, it was not better for my father.

My father emigrated because he was poor and he was sponsored by his brother in Australia. Here in Italy there was no work and he had a family to maintain. They used to laugh about their experience in Australia; rain coming into their tin houses, their use of English and why the Australians could not understand them.

Involvement in the oral history interviews
In 2018 when I asked my Auntie Gilda and Gabriella Antonini if they would like to record an interview for the website, I wasn’t quite sure they would agree. But to my surprise, both of them said yes immediately. I was enthusiastic about the idea and I wanted to hear their stories and I knew I could help with translating in the interview.

Role of the website
The website is a great help. It was been most interesting to listen to some interviews and read transcripts and see photos of people I have forgotten. Their adventures reminded me how hard it was even for my parents. When my cousin was researching the Internet, he wrote the Zampin surname and he immediately found a link to the Veneto market gardeners website and he was happy to see all his relatives in Australia.

 

Irene Zampin
9 August 2020

 

Irene Zampin riflette sulla storia della sua famiglia e sull’immigrazione

Motivo della ricerca sulla famiglia Zampin
L’idea mi venne due anni fa quando incorniciando alcune foto della mia famiglia da appendere al muro, mi accorsi che non avevo alcuna foto dei miei nonni paterni e che non conoscevo neppure i loro nomi. Rimasi sorpresa e così ho iniziato una ricerca tramite mio cugino, Roberto Zampin.

Roberto iniziò la ricerca curioso di conoscere le origini della famiglia Zampin e venne alla conclusione che tutti gli “Zampin” provenivano da Pagnano di Asolo. Tramite il municipio è stato in grado di trovare un documento riguardante la famiglia”Zampinus” scritta in latino e datato 1545.

Un altro episodio mi ha fatto pensare sulla storia della mia famiglia: non molto tempo fa mio figlio, Luca, mi portò il suo primo album fotografico dove c’era il disegno di un albero genealogico con tutti i nomi della nostra famiglia eccetto quelli dei bisnonni materni Zampin. Non erano stati inseriti poiché allora non  conoscevo i nomi. Mio figlio era sorpreso da questo fatto e fu così che contattai mio cugino.

 

 

Oltre ad aver aiutato me, spero che la ricerca sulla storia della mia famiglia sia utile ai miei figli, Luca e Claudia,  e ai miei nipoti, Tommaso e Mario.

 

 

 

 

 

 

L’importanza di conoscere la storia dell’emigrazione in una famiglia
E’ importante conoscere per quale motivo la gente emigra: le loro storie ci danno un’idea di quanto siamo stati fortunati a non farlo per lavoro o trovare cibo per saziare la fame. Gli emigranti lasciano il loro paese, le loro tradizioni e le loro famiglie per bisogno. Se solo conoscessimo il motivo per il quale la  gente emigra, ciò ci aiuterebbe a non pensare a colpe o a criticare.

Foto di famiglia
Le foto di famiglia per me sono state molto importanti, perché non avendole non avrei fatto probabilmente la ricerca. Quando scorro le foto sul sito, mi ritorna in mente molta gente che conoscevo nella mia crescita ed il tempo trascorso insieme in Adelaide.

I motivi per i quali mio padre emigrò
Ho sempre saputo il motivo per il quale i miei genitori emigrarono ma ritornati in Italia, – ed ero abbastanza giovane – non capivo la volontà di tornare, quando la vita era lì, per me, ed era migliore. Certamente non era migliore per mio padre.

Mio papà emigrò per povertà, aiutato con la sponsorizzazione di suo fratello già in Australia. In quel tempo, in Italia non c’era lavoro e lui aveva una famiglia da mantenere e qui ridevano quando pensavano alla loro esperienza in Australia: la pioggia che entrava dal tetto di lamiera della loro casa, il loro modo di parlare l’inglese ed il motivo per il quale gli australiani non capivano la loro parlata…

Coinvolgimento nelle interviste orali
Nel 2018, quando chiesi a mia Zia Gilda (Simeoni) e alla mia amica Gabriella Antonini, se fossero d’accordo nel registrare un’intervista per il sito, non ero abbastanza sicura che avrebbero aderito. Ma, a mia sorpresa, entrambe risposero immediatamente di sì. Ero entusiasta dell’idea e volevo sentire le loro storie, sapendo di aiutarle con la traduzione delI’intervista.

Il ruolo del sito
Il sito è di grande aiuto. E’ stato molto interessante ascoltare alcune interviste e leggere le trascrizioni, vedere le foto di gente che avevo quasi dimenticato. Le loro avventure mi ricordavano quanto fossero difficili anche per i miei genitori.

Quando mio cugino fece la ricerca in internet e scrisse il cognome “Zampin”, immediatamente trovò un riferimento e un aggancio al sito del Veneto market gardeners, e felice di vedere i suoi parenti in Australia.

Irene Zampin
il 8 agosto 2020

Guest blogger, Anna Baronian nee Carniello writes about her father’s experience at the Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre and her visit there in 2019. Anna also reflects on her connections to family in Caselle di Altivole.

My father Giovanni Carniello was born in Caselle di Altivole, province of Treviso in 1929 and he passed away in 1999. After completing his military service, at the age of 23 he travelled to Australia on the ship “San Giorgio” together with his cousins, Primo and Secondo Carniello.

Giovanni’s sister Bertilla arrived the following year and she later married Egidio Antonini. In 1961 Dad’s brother Tarcisio arrived and he lived with my parents at 63 Garden Terrace, Lockleys. Dad worked as a labourer in the concrete business owned by Primo and Secondo Ballestrin.

After being at sea for 40 days, dad and his cousins arrived in Melbourne on November 21st 1952. Dad was not part of an assisted scheme, so upon arrival, he was handed a name tag attached to a string which was hung around his neck. From there he boarded a train followed by a bus, to travel to Bonegilla, a migrant camp established on the site of a former army camp and located on the banks of the Murray River near Albury-Wodonga. Bonegilla was an isolated place on the southern shore of Lake Hume 300 kilometres from Melbourne.

It remained for thousands of Italians, the place of their first encounter with what would be their new home, Australia – and perhaps even some of our market gardeners from the Veneto region began their new lives there.

Bonegilla’s major functions were to process and house migrants, find work for new arrivals and most importantly, provide language and civics training. The work included fruit picking, working in the cane fields or as labourers on the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme. There were 832 huts or army barracks spread out over 24 blocks on a 240-hectare site. The migrants were separated by nationality with separate accommodation for men and women and children. Each hut could accommodate 20 people and initially there were no internal partitions. Later the huts were divided into cubicles approximately 4x3m and they were lined to protect the residents from the heat and cold.

Everything would have been very unfamiliar to our paesani, the dry and vast space, eucalyptus trees, the unfamiliar food and language, the health checks, the basic living conditions and their introduction to English and civics training.

The migrants were given blankets, bed-sheets, towel, crockery and cutlery. Everybody had to help keep the camp tidy, so shovels, brooms, rakes and pails were also distributed. If they got lost or damaged, they had to be replaced by the person and their value was deducted from the one pound per week that the government gave to migrants.

I visited the Bonegilla Migrant Camp in January 2019 where I encountered the Bonegilla Migrant Experience. Block 19 which consisted of 24 huts and could accommodate up to 350 people has been retained as a museum and interpretive centre. On the site, they have recreated the sights and sounds of what life was like for the new arrivals. I experienced the audio-visual installations that have been created to capture what life was like for the new-comers; on their arrival, in the dormitories, in the dining room and recreational areas. I have included some photos from my visit. I found it quite emotional thinking about what it would have been like for dad, leaving his homeland, family and friends.

Bonegilla was the longest operating migrant centre in Australia, from 1947- 1971, by which time over 300,000 people had passed through. It is estimated that today there are over 1.5 million descendants of Bonegilla migrants.

I have visited Caselle d’Altivole on several occasions, the first time being when I was 9 years old and we lived next door to my nonni for about 10 months. I have fond memories of riding with my nonno on the cart pulled by their donkey to buy farm supplies.

Anna Baronian nee Carniello
26 July 2020

Un tributo agli immigranti di Bonegilla

Mio padre, Giovanni Carniello, e nato in Caselle di Altivole nel 1929 ed è morto nel 1999. Dopo che ha finito il servizio militare all’età di 23 anni, è venuto in Australia con la nave, “San Giorgio” con i suoi cugini, Primo e Secondo Carniello.

La sorella di Giovanni, Bertilla è arrivata l’anno dopo e si è sposata con Egidio Antonini. Il fratello di mio padre, Tarcisio, è arrivato nel 1961 e visse con i miei genitori a 63 Garden Terrace, Lockleys. Mio padre ha lavorato come operaio nel cemento che apparteneva ai fratelli Ballestrin.

Il viaggio è durato 40 giorni e mio padre e suoi cugini sono arrivati a Melbourne il 21 novembre 1952. Mio padre non è venuto assistito dal governo. Quando è arrivato a Melbourne le hanno dato un pezzo di carta col suo nome da mettersi attorno al collo. Da Melbourne ha preso il treno e dopo l’autobus per arrivare a Bonegilla. Era un campo per immigranti costruito dove prima era un campo militare vicino al fiume Murray vicino Albury-Wodonga. Bonegilla era un posto isolato circa 3000 chilometri da Melbourne. È rimasto il posto del primo incontro di migliaia di italiani ed altri immigranti, la loro prima casa in Australia. Forse anche certi ortolani della regione veneta che arrivarono là negli anni 50.

A Bonegilla c’erano 832 baracche militari in circa 24 blocchi in 240 ettari di terreno. Gli immigranti erano separati da nationalità e gli uomini da una parte e le donne con bambini all’altra. Ogni baracca poteva accomodare 20 persone e inizialmente senza partizioni per privacy. Dopo le baracche erano divise in piccole stanze approssimativamente 4 metri per 3 e per protezione dal freddo e dal caldo. Tutto era molto strano per i nostri paesani – lo spazio secco e molto vasto, le piante di eucalipto, il cibo, le visite mediche, le condizioni base e le lezioni di inglese. Gli immigranti hanno ricevuto coperte, lenzuole, utensili da cucina. Tutti quanti dovevano tenere il campo in ordine. Se gli utensili venivono danneggiati dovevano rimpiazzarli con in valore dedotto dalla loro paga che era una sterlina alla settimana che il governo passava agli immigranti.

La maggiore funzione in Bonegilla era quella di provvedere accomodazione, lavoro, e molto importante, provvedere l’insegnamento della lingua inglese e cultura Australiana. Lavoro includeva raccogliere frutta, lavorare nelle canne da zucchero o come operai nella idrolettrica che si chiama “Snowy Mountains Scheme.”

Ho visitato Bonegilla Migrant Camp nel gennaio 2019. Ho avuto l’esperienza degli immigranti che vivevano a Bonegilla. C’è un museo che consiste del Block 19 (24 baracche che poteva accomodare fino a 350 persone). Nel museo è possible fare l’esperienza della vita quotidiana degli immigranti. Ho visitato i dormitori, la sala da pranzo e la zona di ricreazione.

Bonegilla è stato il posto che ha ricevuto gli immigranti il tempo più lungo dal 1947-1971. Più di 300,000 persone sono passate per le sue porte. Oggi è estimato che ci sono più di 1.5 milione discendenti degli immigranti di Bonegilla.

Mi sono comossa moltissimo a provare queste sensazioni. Ho pensato come mio padre poteva sentirsi a lasciare la sua terra, la sua famiglia e suoi amici.

Sono andata a Caselle di Altivole parecchie volte. La prima volta era quando avevo 9 anni e siamo stati vicino ai nonni per circa 10 mesi. Un caro ricordo e quello di andare con mio nonno sul carretto tirato dall’asinello per comprare roba per la fattoria.

Anna Baronian nee Carniello
il 26 luglio 2020

This is the second part of guest, Silvano Ballestrin’s blog. He recalls the festivals that were part of the life of the Veneto market gardener community and the memorable Cucagna held at Saint Joseph’s Church at Flinders Park in 1952.

There were many feste (parties or festivals) held at the Catholic Church on Captain Cook Ave. One particular festa was La Cucagna, where men, dressed in old clothes, organised themselves in teams and mounted a horse-drawn dray decorated with streamers, balloons and other colourful ornaments. There were 3 teams. (1) River Road team. (2) Frogmore Road team. (3) Campbelltown team, also veneti. The carts were a sight to behold. The River Road men gathered at Doro’s old house, hopped on the dray and picked up others as they drove to church. Frankie played the accordion and everyone was singing. Bruno Piovesan played the accordion for Frogmore Road. The Campbelltown team came in clean clothes but changed into work clothes at the venue.

Three tall, round, wooden poles, approximately 8-10 metres high were planted on the church grounds; on top of them were various prizes such as bottles of wine, a plucked chicken or some other edible delicacies. To get the prizes the men had to climb their pole and retrieve the reward. The problem: the poles were smooth and completely coated with clear industrial grease, making them virtually impossible to climb. Howls of laughter were heard as men tried to climb and then slid back down the poles. Ultimately the solution was for the strongest man to stand at the foot of the pole hugging it while the next one climbed onto his shoulders and so on until the lightest one reached the top. It was tough going.

Women and children were totally absorbed in watching the event. Once the climb was complete, everyone socialised and mingled over shared food and beverages provided by themselves, with the children running around the yard playing simple games.

The church-going veneti interacted well with the Anglo Australian clergy who were happy for this unique event to take place. The veneti formed a significant part of the congregation they were industrious and eager to become citizens of this great country. Some of those priests even learnt Italian.

The Cucagna with the decorated floats in procession was a never to be forgotten, one-off event held at Captain Cook Avenue, Flinders Park. In later years, the Cucagna was held at Mater Christi, Seaton.

While having painted a picture of continual get togethers, Fiò and lots of fun times, we all worked very hard, as did all the Italian families living in the Findon, Flinders Park, Kidman Park and Lockleys areas. Every man, woman and child laboured to help their families.

 

When writing to Madeleine some time ago it was mentioned the Italians did not have a great need to learn English as they mixed and socialised among themselves helping each other out, as in a community. She expressed it best by saying it was like living in a  paese (village).

This paese in the western suburbs was, and is, alive and well and the Fiòs promulgated these events.  In a way the various feste showed how much the Australian version of the Fiò informally helped them to bond and form a new paese, comfortably surrounded by friends and relatives. Only a few returned permanently to Italy.

Silvano Ballestrin
12 July 2020

 

 

 

 

With help from Egidio Ballestrin (brother), Frank Ballestrin (cousin), Lina Campagnaro nee Ballestrin (sister), Norina Savio nee Ballestrin (sister), Isabella Ballestrin (granddaughter) , Kelli Ballestrin (daughter), Dolfina Leonardi nee Ballestrin (cousin), Noemi Campagnolo nee Zalunardo (cousin), Severino Dotto (cousin in Italy), Madeleine Regan, Christine Rebellato (nee Mattiazzo), Angelo Ballestrin (cousin), Angelo Piovesan (friend), Aurora Ballestrin (my wife for being so patient).

*Thanks to Angelo Piovesan and his contacts, we can now confirm the identity of Gino Piovesan who is in the photo with Bruno Piovesan.

Non è stato possibile tradurre il blog in italiano.