Articles

ITALIANS SPEAKERS IN GOLDRUSH VICTORIA (With a Hepburn Springs Flavour) By Clare Gervasoni In the year 2001 Victoria celebrated 150 years since the official discovery of gold. The resulting goldrush saw gold-seekers from all over the world congregate on the Victorian goldfields. Diggers left their country of origin for numerous reasons, and many settled in Victoria's Central Goldfields. Most were English speaking, but during the mid 1850s ten percent of the Hepburn Springs population spoke Italian! Today Hepburn SPrings is a town of only 700 people, and is known as the Spa capital of Australia. The Italian speakers of early Hepburn Springs came from Northern Italy and the Italian-speaking Swiss Canton of Ticino. They were escaping political the turmoil of Garibaldi's wars of Italian independence, huge taxes enforced on the Italians by the ruling Austrians, famine; and a shortage of work due to the closure of the Swiss and Italian Border. This resulted in numerous itinerant workers being unable to move to areas offering work. With the lure of gold as an incentive Swiss shipping companies offered a solution making loans available to Swiss and Italians to enable them to travel to the Australian Goldfields. It is not known why so many Swiss/Italian settlers chose to settle in and around Hepburn Springs. Certainly there are similarities to the Northern Italian and Swiss mountainous regions, and of course language barriers made it important to congregate together. Some Swiss and Italians made their fortune on the goldfields, but the less lucky saw their future in agricultural pursuits, such as wine-making and dairying, as well using other skills such as stone-masonry. Many agricultural and social activities still survive in today's community, along with many names of Swiss and Italian Origin. It is thanks to the Swiss that we have such a wonderful wine industry today. One of the earliest vignerons being Hubert De Castella, an ancestor of marathon runner Robert. Steve Monighetti's ancestor ran a wine shop in Hepburn. Australian Rules footballer Ron Barassi's family also have their Australian roots in the Swiss and Italian migration of the 1850's. Local Swiss and Italian legacies in the Hepburn Springs area include architecture such as the Macaroni Factory (where Australia's first pasta was made) and Villa Parma; the Italian sausage handed down through the generations and known locally as the bullboar (with local families jealously guarding secret family recipes); and who could forget the beautiful Hepburn Mineral Springs? The Springs Reserve was set aside in 1865 after being placed in danger due to mining activity. The Swiss and Italians had left a tradition of mineral water in their homeland and banded together with the local medical community to ensure the future of the springs at Hepburn. Vincenzo Perini spent many years as caretaker of the Hepburn Springs Reserve, and the Locarno Spring is named after his guest house, which in turn was named afterthe lake in his native homeland. The vibrant Spa Country township of Hepburn Springs recognises these special origins during the annual Swiss/Italian Festa and invites visitors to share in the celebration. The area abounds with energy from a rich gold rush history. The Hepburn Springs Swiss/Italian Festa is held annually on the last weekend in May.