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Over 90 people attended the recent opening of the ‘Townsville’s New Australains’ display held at the Court House Theatre. We were very pleased with the outcome and the public feedback. Thanks must once again go to the Townsville City Council for making this display possible and to all of the families who contributed personal stories and photographs.

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Italians in North Queensland: Sponsored Migration

Italian migrants have played an invaluable role in the economic and agricultural development of Northern Queensland. Although the earliest Italian immigrants arrived  during the 1850s, it was the post WWII period that sparked the largest migration movement of Italian populations to Australia. Many hoped to escape La miseria (poverty) or the oppressive rule of Mussolini, while others simply hoped for a better life and stable employment. Over 33,000 Italian migrants arrived in Australia between July 1947 and 1950. By 1960, the number was over 170,000.

 Some Italian migrants took up assisted passage agreements, working on whatever government contract or project was assigned to them for a two-year period.  The vast majority however (80% of the total Italian migrant population) received sponsorship from relatives or paesani (people from the same region) whom were already residing in Australia and who would assist with employment and accommodation. The importance of family migration was recognised in 1955 by a scheme known as ‘Operation Reunion’, in which the Australian Government assisted overseas family members to join their Australian counterparts. Many more Italians were able to join their families in Australia after this time.

 Italian migrants tended to settle in particular geographic areas throughout Australia, gathering with others from their home village, living in many respects autonomously from the broader Australian community. The cane growing districts of North Queensland were particularly attractive to the Italian migrant population who had brought with them, according to Filippo Sacchi, the overseas correspondent for the Milan-based newspaper Corriere Della Sera, a “long tradition of agriculture and hard physical work”. Regional towns such as Ingham experienced huge population spikes with many Italian families permanently settling in the area and purchasing farms (44% of sugarcane farms in Herbert were owned by Italians in 1925).

Above: Italian sugar cane workers taking a tea break in the cane fields, Innisfail District, in 1923. Left to right: R. Cavallaro, F. Leonardi, P. Zaia, A. D'Urso, M. Bonanna, S. Zappalo, L. D'Urso, G. Lizzio, Alfio Lizzio (child) and Carmela Lizzio (cook). Photo: State Library of Queensland.   

The experiences of migrant families who came to Australia on assisted passage was very different to those who came via sponsorship. Statistically speaking, the majority of migrants arriving in Australia via sponsorship came from the Mediterranean regions such as Italy and Sicily. There were many different ways Migrants came to Australia in the post WWII period, and each of their experiences were different and unique. 

Further reading and References:

Catherine Dewhirst, ‘Collaborating on whiteness: representing Italians in early White Australia’, Journal of Australian studies, 32/1, March 2008

Catherine Dewhirst, ‘Italians in North Queensland’, Queensland Historical Atlas, 2010. last accessed November 2016, http://www.qhatlas.com.au/content/italians-queensland 

William Douglass, From Italy to Ingham: Italians in North Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland University Press, 1995

Department if Immigration and Border Protection, Australian Government, A History of the Department of Immigration: Managing Migration to Australia, June 2015, Commonwealth of Australia, ACT. Last accessed 06/11/2016. https://www.border.gov.au/CorporateInformation/Documents/immigration-history.pdf

Italian Historical Society—COASIT, Melbourne, Fact sheet: Italian Migration 1945-1970, publication date unknown. Last accessed 06/11/2016. http://www.coasit.com.au/IHS/facts/pdf/Italian_migration_1945_1970.pdf

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TORRISI Family History (Memories from Maria Catena Torrisi)

Rosario Torrisi (born 17/10/1915) arrived in Freemantle, Australia from Messina on 21 March 1951 aboard the S.S. Protea. Like many Italian and Sicilian migrants, Rosario had received a sponsored immigration from his two sisters Carmela and Giuseppina, who were already residing in Australia.

(Above: A photograph of Maria Catena Torrisi, age 4, sent to her father Rosario while he was separated from his family back in Sicily).

The ship’s report of passengers record indicates that Rosario made his way by train from Sydney to the North Queensland town of Babinda before later moving to Ingham, although surviving family believe this record to be incorrect as Rosario reportedly first relocated to Bemerside. 

(Above: Rosario and his push-bike, his transport of choice, North Queensland Australia).

Two months later, Rosario in turn sponsored the remainder of his family, his wife Rosaria (born 05/02/1922), eighteen-month-old son Salvatore (born 18/12/1949), six-year old daughter Maria Catena (born 16/09/1946), and his father Angelo, to gain passage to Australia. They arrived in Sydney from Messina on 9 May 1951 aboard the Sebastiano Caboto and joined him in Bemerside via Ingham shortly after.

 (Below: Torrisi family photograph taken before Rosario left for Australia. Top Left to right- Rosaria, Salvatore, Rosario. Bottom left to right - Maria Catena and Angelo).

Like many Italians, Rosario worked as a cane cutter. He had established himself a gang of men from Northern Italian and Sicilian backgrounds, and worked long, hard, hot days on agricultural fields in and around Ingham, North Queensland. Cane cutting was a seasonal activity and in the off-season the family often survived on little money and food. Maria Catena described their home as simple with a kitchen that was ‘hot as Hades’.

 (Below: Rosario far right and his cane cutting Gang, Ingham)

By 1953 the family had purchased their own home in Ingham and welcomed another daughter, Giuseppina (born 29/12/1953)- see photograph below.

With such a strong Italian presence in Ingham, Rosario and his wife were able to retain a lot of their culture and heritage. They learned little English, speaking almost exclusively Sicilian relying on their eldest daughter Maria Catena to translate for them. Maria remembers being kept home from school to attend doctor’s appointments with her parents.

 Maria Catena and Giuseppina later moved to Townsville as adults. Their family now resides here however has strong links to Ingham and the Italian community in the North.

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Nydrle family photographs of voyage to Australia aboard the Amarapoora.

Top: Photograph of the Amarapoora.

Middle: Staff and Passengers aboard the Amarapoora.

Bottom: Nydrle family and friends aboard the Amarapoora. Mrs Nydrle is the lady in the middle top row.

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Rynkiewicz family: From left to right, Frank, Mac, Irena and Peter.

(Photo source: Private collection, Mac Rynkiewicz )

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Stuart Camp Christening.

(Photo source: Private collection, Mac Rynkiewicz )

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Mr Anderson and ‘New Australian’ children with pony. Circa 1952. Private collection.

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Top: Harold Holt, Minister for Immigration at Stuart Migrant Camp circa 1952. Mr Laufer is visible on the left.

Middle: Mr & Mrs Holt, and two Stuart Migrant Camp children ‘New Australians’, dressed in traditional clothing. Circa 1952

Bottom: Official Party, Harold Holt visit circa 1952.

Mr Harold Holt, Minister for Immigration, visited the Stuart Migrant Camp circa 1952.

It has been speculated that Mr Holt’s visit may have been linked with the Jubilee celebrations, during which time the Camp received an official inspection from unidentified officials.

This theory however, cannot be confirmed with newspaper articles that mention the Minister’s visit to Townsville at this time.

These photographs have been provided by Glen Beazley who worked at the camp for 12 months in 1952. For Glen to have taken the photos the visit must have been during her time at the camp (1952).

If anyone is able to provide any further information about this event we would love to hear from you.

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From Left to Right: Mrs Glinsky, Glen Beazley and Pat Nugent. All three ladies were all staff at the Stuart Migrant Camp in 1952, working as administrators and in the office. Whilst many of the staff lived in staff quarters on the campgrounds, these ladies had private accommodation elsewhere and traveled by bus from the Town Hall each day to and from the Camp. 

Glen Beazley (pictured center) worked as an administrator at the Stuart Migrant Camp for approximately 12 months in 1952. Glen lived in YWCA accommodation and traveled each day by bus to the camp. In a brief interview, Glen explained that there was always something happening at the camp, including on occasion, a food fight in the main dining hall. 

Photo source: Private Collection, Glen Beazley.

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Group Photograph, residents Stuart Migrant Camp.

(Photo source: Private collection, Mac Rynkiewicz )

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Group Photograph, residents Stuart Migrant Camp.

(Photo source: Private collection, Mac Rynkiewicz )

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“Stuart camp -- last to leave -- Karol, Charles & Freddie”

(Photo source: private collection, Mac Rynkiewicz).

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Joe Man Marysia Bolek priest at Stuart Migrant Camp, Townsville. Unknown date. Photo source: Private collection, Mac Rynkiewicz).

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RYNKIEWICZ FAMILY: Memories from Mac Rynkiewicz

Frank Rynkiewicz, a polish soldier during the Second World War, was taken captive after his unit attacked German forces. He was held prisoner at a forced labor camp somewhere in Germany with members of his family.  His son Mac was born at the camp in 1947.

During the War Frank hid a laborer in a haystack who was on the run after being ‘sentenced to death for sabotage on a farm’s livestock’.  A worker at the camp reported him and the laborer reportedly ‘walked & crawled miles along a creek to escape the hounds’ who were sent after him. Frank later received a postcard from Dresden from the man he helped just before the firebombing but was never heard from again.  

At the end of the war Frank was forced into hiding believing he was on a German ‘hit list’ for suspected resistance and for being the ‘ringleader for lots of trouble in the area’.

(Above: Frank’s wife Irena, pregnant with their daughter Barbara at the Stuart Migrant Camp in Townsville).

(Above: Irena with unknown man and woman at the Stuart Migrant Camp in Townsville).

After coming to Australia, Frank was contracted for two years to work at the Army Base at Kissing Point in Townsville. His family- wife Irena and three children Peter, Mac and Barbara- resided at the Stuart Migrant Camp during this time. They settled in a house in Garbutt for a time while Frank worked on a RAAF residential building project near Pilkington Street. In February 1954, the family moved to Ballarat where Frank worked as a builder and carpenter. The family settled down south and later purchased the Royal Exchange Hotel.

(Above: Irena with her two sons, Mac (left) and Peter (right) at the Stuart Migrant Camp in Townsville).

(Above: Mac (left) and Peter (right) at Stuart Migrant Camp, Townsville).

(Above: Mac with toy gun at Stuart Migrant Camp, Townsville).

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MR ZABROVARNY: Memories from Mac Rynkiewicz

Before coming to Australia Mr Zabrovarny was part of the French Foreign Legion. Mr and Mrs Zabrovarny lived & worked for approximately two years at the Bishop’s residence in Townsville. Mr Zabrovarny worked as a gardener and groundskeeper while in Townsville and also worked as a cane-cutter in the North Queensland region. After he and his family moved to Adelaide, Mr Zabrovarny later returned to North Queensland where he continued to cut cane. During a time of extreme rivalries between Mediterranean migrants and other European migrants, Mr Zabrovarny became involved in a brawl with a number of Italian cane-cutters in a local pub and rumor has it, put many of them in hospital.  He avoided the police search party by hiding in the cane field and taking the night train back to Townsville before flying back to Adelaide to be with his family and took up champion pigeon racing.

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From Left to right: Frank Rynkiewicz (died Ballarat 1994), Mr Skiba (lived in Ingham in his later years) & Mr Zabrovarny Snr. (lived in Adelaide, died circa 1980). Photograph taken on Mount Stuart near the Stuart Migrant Camp.

Photo Source- private collection, Mac Rynkiewicz.

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We would like to share this Facebook group for any readers who may be interested in touching base with the group to contribute to further stories and photographs. The group is run by former resident Mac Rynkiewicz.