Visiting La Perouse

How to get there La Perouse is at the end of Anzac Parade, 14 km south of Sydney’s CBD. It is serviced by Sydney Buses route 394 which depart Circular Quay and route 393 from Railway Square. For details phone … Continue reading →

Credits

Adapted by Stephen Thompson, NSW Migration Heritage Centre, from Thompson. S, Lapérouse Museum & Visitor Centre, NPWS, 2002. Edited by John Petersen NSW Migration Heritage Centre, Kathleen Schilling DECC, Chris Ingrey DECC, Elizabeth Broomhead DECC. Website design by Annette Loudon … Continue reading →

Photos

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Bastille Day, Tourism and Reconciliation

During the 1920s people swarmed to La Perouse to enjoy the Snake shows, La Loop café, Aboriginal artists and Frenchmans Beach before taking the twilight tram back to Sydney. Many post-World War 2 migrants liked the place as it reminded … Continue reading →

Frenchmans Beach and Lapérouse Monument c.1870s. Courtesy State Library of NSW
A Changing Landscape and a People Return

Throughout the 19th century changes to the Botany Bay landscape related mainly to the construction of memorials such as Lapérouse Monument and Father Reçeveur’s Grave, forts such as Bare Island and the Macquarie Watchtower, and buildings such as the Cable … Continue reading →

<em>Louis XVI giving final instructions to the Comte de la Pérouse</em>, 1785, copied from the original oil by N. Monsiau in the Royal Palace, Versailles. France. No Date. Courtesy State Library of NSW
Contact & Consequences

The arrival of Captain James Cook’s HMS Endeavour in 1770, the British First Fleet and the Lapérouse Expedition in 1788 would have sent shock waves through the Botany Bay clans. Like Cook before him, Captain Arthur Phillip sought to have … Continue reading →

Group on the north shore of Port Jackson, Thomas Watling c.1788. Courtesy British Museum (Natural History)
A place called Gooriwal

Botany Bay is one of the most significant places in the history of migration to Australia. It is the location where James Cook and the crew of the HMS Endeavour made first contact with the indigenous people on the east … Continue reading →

Pioneers

The Italian presence in NSW predates the postwar migration boom. By 1881, there were 521 Italians in NSW with a sizable Italian community in Sydney comprising professionals, artists and importers. In 1881, 217 Veneto migrants arrived in Sydney. They had … Continue reading →

Reproduction from the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW
War

During World War I, Italy supported the Allies, and several Italians living in Australia, who remained Italian citizens, were recalled back to Italy and conscripted. Many of those who returned died of the 1919 Spanish Influenza Epidemic and are buried … Continue reading →

Cane-cutting was a back-braking job undertaken by many Italian migrants in both NSW and QLD. The cane-cuting gang seen here is 'taking a break' on McEvoy’s farm, Innisfail, QLD September 1958. Courtesy of David Murphy
Work

As most Italian migrants came from rural towns, many engaged in agricultural activities in Australia. In the 1950s and 1960s, Italians worked as market gardeners on the outskirts of Sydney in areas such as Ryde, Marsfield, Eastwood, Sutherland, Fairfield, Liverpool … Continue reading →

The Continental Music Float carrying the reigning 'Music Queen', Marisa Bulzomi in the second Waterwheel Festival procession along Banna Avenue, Griffith, NSW 1957 Courtesy of the Ceccato family
Community

With little English language knowledge and familiarity with their new country, Italians naturally sought security by congregating with other Italians. From the earliest periods of Italian migration to NSW, Italians created associations and clubs. Sydney’s Eolians formed the first regional … Continue reading →

Family

The family and its associated rituals were and still are today, the basis of Italian life. While Italian migrants worked extremely long hours, Sunday was reserved as a day to spend with the family. Most family rituals surrounded a ‘festa’ … Continue reading →

Italian students from the Newcastle Out of School Hours Program Celebrating the Festa della Republica in Sydney’s CBD, NSW. Courtesy of Co.As.It.
Co.As.It

Sydney’s Comitato Assistenza Italiani (Italian Association of Assistance) was established by an initiative of the Italian Government in 1968. The purpose of Co.As.It was to “coordinate, promote and develop the various activities of assistance for the Italian immigrants in NSW.” … Continue reading →

Courtesy of the Puglisi family
Church

The Church was the focal point of each Italian town and the priest was involved in the full parochial life of his parishioners. In Australia, the Church became aware of the need for Italian speaking clergy and sourced priests from … Continue reading →

Intro

Presented in partnership with the Powerhouse Museum, Co.As.It and the NSW Migration Heritage Centre, this exhibition presents a selection of 24 historical photographs documenting Italian migration and Italian life in NSW from the late nineteenth century to the present. TRIBUTE … Continue reading →

Helen Sowada

Meet Helen Sowada and see the koala bear her husband gave her as a leaving gift as he left to work in the Snowy Mountains in 1957. Continue reading →