Introduction#
My paternal grandmother is Giacinta Dall’Acqua (1983-1973). She was born in Selva di Cadore, Belluno, Italy and emigrated to Perth, Western Australia in 1911. When I was growing up we seemed to have no family stories as to her background, and I only have two photos of her.
In 2024 I found the Italian state births, deaths and marriages records for the Belluno province online (see technotes). That has allowed a family tree for my Dall’Acqua ancestors to be constructed, and some of the family story to be identified.
The Selva di Cadore Context#
Strictly, Selva di Cadore is a small commune in the province of Belluno, in the north-east of Italy, against the border with Austria. It is also the name of the main town. The commune had a population of about 1000 when my grandmother lived there - it is now half that.
Cadore is a identified region in the Dolomites. Before 1902 the commune seems to have been named Selva Bellunese, and before that simply Selva. Selva di Cadore is in the Val Fiorentina.
Giacinta Dall’Acqua (1883-1973)#
For the Dall’Acqua ancestors, it is convenient to show a family tree for my great-grandfather Lorenzo Dall’Acqua. This is shown in-line, and it is best viewed at a zoom of 100% or bigger. For convenience a link to a full-screen version is provided in the caption.
Family tree: Lorenzo Dall’Acqua fullscreen
Giacinta was the second of six children born to Lorenzo Dall’Acqua and Paolina Torre. As far as we can see, her parents and grandparents were all born in Selva di Cadore, and spent their entire lives there. An inspection of the family tree shows that Lorenzo and Paolina were married just after the birth of their fifth child. The first four were carefully listed on the marriage certificate, the text making it clear that the children were thereby being made legitimate. Their births were all carefully registered, sometimes with both parent’s names, and sometimes with just Lorenzo’s.
The occupations of some of Giacinta’s family can be extracted from the records. Clearly, most of them were agricultural workers of one sort or another.
| name | occupation | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Vincenzo | agricoltore | farmer |
| Maria Zuliani | ||
| Lorenzo | agricoltore | farmer |
| Paolina Torre | villica | tenant farmer |
| Romano | legnajuolo | woodcutter |
| Maria Zanicolo | villica | tenant farmer |
| Manueto | offellieri | confectioner |
| Gettrude Buogo | contadina | farmer |
| Ricardo | bracciante | farm labourer |
| Carolina Scardozan | casalinga | housewife |
The distinction between agricoltore, villico, and contadino somewhat escapes me at the moment.
Giacinta and her brother Ricardo arrived at Port Fremantle on 10 March 1911, on the North German Lloyd ship Barbarossa. Ricardo is on the passenger list for the North German Lloyd ship Koenigin Luise leaving Fremantle on 9 December 1911, bound for Sydney. Whether he stayed in Sydney for a while, or went directly back to Italy is not clear. In any event, he was married in Selva di Cadore in about 1918.
She married Domenico Molinari on 25 September 1911, in St Mary’s Cathedral in the centre of Perth. Presumably Dom had made some money in his ten years in WA.
A shipping notice in the West Australian shows that she left Fremantle on the ship Oronsay, on 28 May 1935, along with her sister-in-law Domenica Pianta. She returned on 17 January 1936, on the ship Romolo. The following shows her passport photo, together with an entry from her passport. She had acquired Australian citizenship from the fact that her husband was naturalised in 1912. Along with all Australian citizens at that time, she was issued with a document that was labelled British Passport. The ship manifest shows her as possessing an English Passport. Indeed, my first passport, issued in 1966, was so labelled.
Information about her siblings isn’t available from the records. Births and marriages records are only available up to 1911, and death records up to 1936. A family story has it that one of her sisters “married an Austrian”, but no details are known.
The Cousin: Gerardo Callegari#
It is convenient to show the family tree for Giacinta’s grandfather, Giacomo Torre.
Family tree: Giamomo Torre fullscreen
Clearly, Giacinta and Gerardo Callegari (1886-1937) were first cousins. Gerardo and his wife Oliva Dell’Andrea emigrated to WA, arriving at Port Fremantle on the North German Lloyd ship Bremen on 08 November 1908. Presumably, their presence in WA had a considerable bearing on Giacinta’s decision to emigrate some two years later.
Gerardo and Oliva had a large family - I have shown nine children in the family tree. As a child I was aware of several of the that generation, but did not appreciate that they were genuine second cousins from Selva di Cadore.