-
Period: to
Italian Time Line
-
Captain James Cook
Captain James Cook sailed his ship into botany bay on Australias east coast in 1770. claiming the land in the name of the Brittish crown one of his crewman was an italian seaman names Antonia Ponto. He was the first Italian man to set foot on Australias land. He did this at the very begining of the colony's official histrory. -
Italian Convicts
There was a small number of Italian convicts who had been unfortunate enough to be arrested by the British and transported to the penal colony in New South Wales. -
The Arrivals
Through the 1840s and 1850s, the number of Italian migrants of peasant background who came for economic reasons increased. Nevertheless, they did not come from the landless, poverty- stricken agricultral workig class but from rural families with at least sufficent means to pay their fare to Australia. -
Italian Migration
Italian missionaries escaping negative conditions in Italy sailed to Australia to help 'convert' the aborigines to Christianity. Many returned home in defeat, but some stayed and enjoyed a harmonious relationship with the indigenous people, much to the chagrin of the British overseers. -
Migration
The first Italian community was established in the Victorian goldfields. In 1854, Rafaello Carboni, a participant in the miners' rebellion at Ballarat, recorded the only eyewitness account of the infamous Eureka Stockade. -
The Arrival
1869 australia witnessed the arrival of educated individuals who had left Itay for non-economics reasons, such as missionaries, musicians, artist, professionals and buissness people. -
Italain census
The 1881 census was the first to record the number of Italian migrants in all states of Australia. One source reported 1,359 Italians resident in the state of Victoria, while another puts the figure at 947. There were 521 Italians in New South Wales, 250 in Queensland, 11 in Tasmania and 10 in Western Australia. -
A commercial treaty
A commercial treaty between the King of Italy and the United Kingdom (the governors of Australia) granted Italian residents of Australia the following long-overdue rights: (1) the right to freedom of entry, travel and residence, (2) the right to acquire and own property, and (3) the right to carry on business activities. -
The 1891 census
The 1891 census recorded 3,899 Italians resident in the state of Victoria. In the same year, several hundred immigrants from Piedmont, Veneto and Sicily arrived in North Queensland to work in the sugar cane industry. -
ITalain farmers
Italians farmers revived the Australian tobacco industry, and controlled 75% of tobacco production by the 1950s. 1939: Approximately 38,000 Italians were now living in Australia. -
Italy
The number of Italians in Australia trebled. Most were poor and illiterate, from rural areas. Their rural backgrounds allowed many to excel in farming and viticulture (wine growing), but others were forced to find work in factories, mining and retail (particularly in food related businesses such as fruit shops, delicatessens and bakeries). -
World War II
Italian immigration to Australia had slowed, but World War II was a time of poor treatment of Italians at the hands of Australians. Italy's alliance with Germany against the Allies added more pressure to an already negative situation. 4,721 Italian males were arrested and interned in camps as 'enemy aliens'. Many of the prisoners' wives were unable to hold onto their homes in the absence of the family breadwinner, and were forced to take their children and seek shelter with friends and relatives -
Population
Large-scale immigration of Europeans displaced after World War II created a major shift in the ethnic composition of the Australian population. Established migrants sponsored their families and relatives, leading to a peak in immigration levels.
