Author: Maria Patti,  Italian community , George Hanna Memorial Museum

It was 1952. I was 3. I travelled with Mum. Dad had emigrated in 1950 and worked on the Queensland canefields. In 1955 Mum and Dad found jobs in a tannery at Botany and then I was able to go to school. I remember I would order a meat pie and a cream bun. It made me feel as though I fitted in with the other children.

Born: Santa Venerina, Sicily

Migrated: October 1952, 3 years of age

Transport: Ship ‘Sydney’ from Messina

Luggage: I travelled with my mother

Journey: 30 days

First Job: My father worked on the cane fields in Queensland

Hometown
I was born in Santa Venerina, Sicily. It is a little village near Mount Etna. My parents were also born here, and my grandparents were all born in Sicily.

Decisions
My father, Salvatore La Spina, came to Australia in 1950. He was sponsored by my grandfather’s brother, Salvatore Grasso, who had emigrated in about the 1930s. He had established himself in Australia and by the 1950s he owned a sugar plantation which is still in their family today. So my father went to work on his sugar farm and I arrived with my mother, Maria, in 1952, when I was three years old. My family emigrated in the hope of a better life and more comfortable future.

Feelings
We arrived by boat. I was only three and don’t remember much. The journey took one month. I was very young. My mother was crying so I was crying as well. I didn’t want to leave my grandmother.

Journeying

For the first three years we lived in Ingham, North Queensland. My father worked on the sugar cane fields there. As time went on I felt very lonely and isolated. I had no exposure to the English language at all and saw very few people.

In 1955 we moved to Hastings Street, Botany, into a rented room. It was a four bedroom house with four families living in the house. There was one stove for four families.

Schooling was too hard to get to in North Queensland, so my parents thought I would be better off in Botany.

Impressions

My Mum and Dad found jobs in a tannery at Botany called Bayley’s. I started a St. Bernards School the year it opened in 1955. It was very scary as I had no English. My parents worked long hours and often worked overtime to make extra money, to save for a deposit on a house.

After two years at Hastings Street, my parents bought a house in Chatham Street, Botany. During this time my dad turned the house into a 4 bedroom house and rented out 3 bedrooms to pay for the mortgage. In 1961 my brother, Alfio, was born.

We lived there until I was twenty and then moved to Edward Street, Botany. My brother still lives in Botany. At the age of 21 I married Frank Patti and moved to Mascot. After 32 years at Mascot I now have two children, Ninette and Fiona, and two grandchildren Alana and Thomas. All are living in the City of Botany Bay.

Life

I remember starting school was difficult because I didn’t have much English. My food was also different and once a week when I had canteen money I would order a meat pie and a cream bun. It made me feel as though I fitted in with the other children. I wouldn’t be caught dead eating that now!

I also remember going to Botany Bay beach as a child where you could walk for hours when the tide was out.

My family and my home are here and close to me. I enjoy taking my grandchildren to Sir Joseph Banks Park.

We have a very large extended family who rely upon each other for support. Just as it was in Sicily. We have an Italian Catholic Federation at St. Therese’s Church, Mascot, that acts as a great support network for the Italian community.