Date of Birth: 30 June 1893, San Giorgio La Molara, Italy
Passed Away: 13 November 1996 at the age of 103

I arrived in Australia at Port Adelaide with the ship Regina d'Italia after a 31 day trip on the 27 September 1927. The person who was meant to greet me on arrival did not appear. When I arrived I could not speak English and luckily an Italian lady who ran a boarding house kindly gave me accommodation at 57 North Terrace, Adelaide not very far from the now popular hotel The Newmarket. I was one of the first persons to come from my home town of San Giorgio La Molara to Adelaide.

My first job was as a labourer on a market garden at Findon Road, Lockleys. I walked to and from work every morning and night from my boarding house in Adelaide. A short time after I found further employment in a market garden at Athelstone and I lived in a tent on the banks of the River Torrens until one day I was flooded out and made alternative accommodation in a nearby galvanised iron pump shed.

After eight years I saved enough money to finance my wife and two sons to come out from Italy to live with me. The year was about 1935 and my wages were two pound per week of which I now paid one-quarter in rent to accommodate my family. 

I worked every day of the week in the market garden and finally in 1939 I had sufficient money to purchase 11 acres of land on the corner of Stradbroke Road, Rostrevor with which I then operated my own market garden.

From here I would go by horse and cart to the East End Market Centre (only the façade is left standing these days) to sell my produce. Soon after I built my own house on the market garden site, which was, I understand, the first stone house built by a migrant from Italy in this area. Unfortunately progress has seen the house being recently demolished.

On 28 March 1940 I became a naturalised Australian citizen, a status of which I am very proud.