When 16-year-old Domenic Trimarchi travelled alone from his homeland in Italy, he found his father and a new way of life on the Tableland

Domenic Trimarchi was one of many Italiam immigrants who left their homeland behind in the 1930s to start a new life in a new land.

Dominic was a 16-year-old from Calabria, southern Italy,  when he made the 55-day voyage alone to Australia.

“It was getting harder to make a good living in Italy,” said Betty Rocca, one of Domenic’s three daughters.

“It was pre-war times and the land was too small. In Italy, they break it up for the children.”

Domenic’s father Guiseppe had left behind his young wife and four small children in 1927, in a bid to try to set up a home for them in Australia before they arrived.

He bought a piece of land at the end of Willows Rd in Tolga. Domenic arrived in February 1937 – 10 years after his father.

“He worked with his father on the farm, clearing the land and growing peanuts and corn,” Betty said.

“He remembers his father taking him down to Marnocks Bicycle Shop to buy him a bike. He was so excited. His father would then send him to Tolga to pick up the bread and meat he had on order. He would have a sack tied to the back of his bike for the supplies.

“Sometimes it would be wet and boggy because there was no bitumen so Domenic would have to carry the sack of supplies and also his bike.”

A year later, in March, 1938, Domenic’s mother Elizabeth, his sister Frances and brothers Tony and Frank arrived from Italy and at last they were all together again.

But tragedy struck just 12 months later when Domenic’s father was killed by a falling tree while clearing the land.

At just 18 years old, Domenic  became the head of the family. “It was a big responsibility because there was no money and he could not speak the language very well,” Betty said.

“Thankfully, with the help of a good neighbour, Ted Taylor and his wife, and the generosity of the local supplies store, AL&S, who gave them credit for as long as they needed it, they were able to keep going.”
Domenic also worked on the tobacco for 25 shillings a week, but sometimes he didn`t get paid if a farmer couldn’t sell his tobacco.

Times were just as hard for Domenic’s mother, Elizabeth.

“She had only been together with her husband again for one year,” Betty said. “She never really learnt English. There were enough Italians around for her not to need to learn, but it took her a long time to adapt to the new country.”

She had Domenic to help her out, but even that was short-lived. By 1942, the world was at war and Domenic, along with many other immigrants, was called away to work for the Australian Army in a labour battalion, making roads and firebreaks.

He was sent to the Northern Territory, around Chinchilla in central Queensland and northern New South Wales.

“He was away for four years and had to leave his mother and his siblings to run the farm,” Betty said.

“He was treated fairly and has some fond memories and great stories of those times. He formed some great friendships that lasted a lifetime. He learnt to speak English and drive a truck.

“They didn’t treat them like prisoners, more like mates. But he was worried about his family the whole time.”
In 1997, Domenic, like others who served in the labour battalions, was awarded a Civilian Services Award for his contribution.

When he returned home, he worked hard on the farm with his siblings and mother until they had acquired enough money to buy a farm each.

Domenic was in his mid-20s when he bought 200 acres (80ha) on Northy Rd, Tolga.
A year later in 1948, he married Angelina Gallo, another Italian immigrant and Frank Gallo’s sister. They went on to have three daughters, Betty, Lynette and Janet.

Domenic grew mainly peanuts and corn on his land. “In the beginning it was hard because the corn was picked by hand and the peanuts had to be pulled out by hand,” Betty said.

“He had to employ men to weed the peanuts, a lot of whom were working on the construction of the Tinaroo Dam during the week and would work on the farms at the weekends.”

Domenic went on to see the many changes from hard manual work to modern day machinery.

To the west of the region was one of the new channels from Tinaroo Dam and Betty remembers watching with her father the first flow of water rushing past on its way to irrigate the dry land in the north of the region.

Domenic, now 88, lives in Atherton with Angelina and spends time in his garden tending to his vegetables and fruit trees. In January last year, the couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. They have six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, most of whom live close by.

“Dad always speaks fondly of Italy, which he visited in 1969, but he is a true blue Aussie now!” said Betty.

“He never regrets leaving Italy because Australia has been a land of great opportunities for himself and his family. We are all so proud of him and his achivements.”

Rebecca Wallis wrote this story for the Tablelander newspaper’s history series.

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