I have always enjoyed saying I'm 1/16th Italian. I've often been asked if I have a European background, so it's fun to be able to provide that answer. Though so far, my DNA test is showing no evidence of this background! Nevertheless, it is true, my family does have one Italian ancestor. He was my 2x great-grandfather and his name was Antony Gasperino. His arrival in this country dates back to the 1850s, in quite unusual circumstances, on a ship named the General Hewitt. But before we even make our way on board that ship, what little we know of Antony's early life deserves a mention.
Antony (presumably Antonio in his native land) Gasperino was born on the island of Elba in 1836. From his marriage certificate we know that his father was Lawrence (Lorenzo) Gasperino but his mother's name is not recorded. On his death certificate her name is listed as 'not known'. It's strange that even the informant at the time of his death (his son Joseph) would not know or remember her name. Anyway, Elba is of course famous as the first island to which Napoleon was exiled, in 1814-15: possibly Antony's parents would have been small children at this time. Elba had been ruled by several powers over the preceding years but at Napoleon's arrival was part of France. However the Congress of Vienna (charged with resetting the European political order following the Napoleonic Wars) returned Elba to the province of Livorno in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Thus it was into this state Antony was born - perhaps techincally we should say that he was 'Tuscan' rather than 'Italian', given that Italy was not united into one kingdom until 1860.
While we know no details of Antony's childhood in Elba, a recently discovered obituary from a Ballarat newspaper states that he entered into a 'seafaring life' as a youth. At the time of the Crimean War, Antony found himself in Sebastopol, home of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, when the city came under bombardment from the Allied forces (1854-55). He escaped in a boat and was picked up by a ship that was leaving the port. The ship was fired upon by the Russians, the sails being struck by some of the shots, but escaped otherwise unscathed. From here Antony made his way to London from where as a sailor he voyaged to different parts of the world, before taking up what would be his final contract on the General Hewitt, on 14 June 1856.
The General Hewitt was a ship of the Red Star Line, of 1055 tons register, under the master of Christopher Loutitt, engaged to transport immigrants and goods to Victoria via Plymouth. It was under the ownership of a man named Jacob Michael, who had a chequered history. In 1853, Michael had been found guilty of refusing to pay shipbuilders. In 1855, he found trouble again after demanding a bribe to hire an unqualified person, who was desperate to get to Sydney, as a member of his crew. In 1856, just a few months before the General Hewitt's voyage, he had refused to compensate several sailors who had been injured working on one of his ships. And now he was up to his tricks again, denying payment to one of his ships' captains by the name of Chapman. The Thames Court had ordered items to be seized from the General Hewitt to the value of the amount due to Chapman, but this was thwarted by dock officials. Finally, the night before the ship was due to sail, the court prevailed over the dock company. But even at this last minute, a new complaint emerged. Four seamen complained that since signing on a fortnight earlier to work the impending voyage, they had been denied the usual provisions and were forced to buy meals ashore. Although compensation had been promised, it had not been forthcoming. The court ordered they be paid either before sailing, or the emigration agent at Plymouth would be alerted to look into the matter.
In any event, the General Hewitt sailed from London with the important cargo of whiskey, brandy, gin and champagne on board, along with clothing and haberdashery, garden seeds and glassware. At Plymouth it picked up 363 immigrants (147 English, 58 Scotch, 158 Irish) and on 4 July set sail for Portland, Victoria. Mid-journey, on 26 August, a dispute broke out between the crew and Captain Loutitt over the tobacco ration. A crewman named Joseph Barrow claimed it had not been regularly supplied and blows were exchanged. Barrow was put in irons, but fellow crewman William Jose encouraged the crew to refuse work until Barrow was released. With storms forecast, the captain did not want to compromise the ship's safety, so Barrow was freed and the tobacco provided.
The ship entered Portland Bay on 9 October after a jouney of 96 days. The following day it docked and began a stay that lasted two months, during which time it would dominate the news in Portland. Before docking, while their 'articles of service' were still valid, ten of the crew (including Antony Gasperino) refused to work. They claimed that they had been 'done out of their provisions on board', and therefore their 'articles' had been broken. On Saturday 11 October at the Police Court, the ten were charged and remanded. Also charged were Barrow and Jose over their 'mutiny on the high seas' in August, Barrow with assault of the captain and Jose insubordination (they were also remanded).
At this time Victoria's gold rush was still in full swing, and with many ships losing crew deserting for the goldfields, captains often 'adopted punitive measures to keep seamen on board', but men would still devise ingenious methods of getting ashore. And so would be the case here: on the following Monday night, despite all crew being forbidden from leaving the ship and all the ship's boats kept secured on board, four men were able to lower a ladder into the sea and drift with it to the shore. Upon landing, the men evaded an ever-watchful police force as they scurried off into the forest and made their way inland. They eventually found themselves at Merino Downs homestead, home of Victoria's first European settlers, brothers Edward and Francis Henty. In the following years several of Antony Gasperino's descendants would find themselves living and working on the same land.
To make matters worse for the captain, on that same Monday night four further crewman refused duty. That Wednesday (15 October) the court heard the case of the original ten shirkers, who were told by the Magistrate that any complaints they had should have been made in the 'proper way and time'. They were all found guilty and sentenced to four months' imprisonment and hard labour on roads or other public works. So began Antony Gasperino's life in Australia! On the Friday the four latter crewmen who refused duty were also sent to prison, while Barrow and Jose were committed to trial on 29 October, where Jose was found not guilty, but Barrow guilty of his assault on the captain and gaoled for six months.
At this time, Portland's citizens were becoming concerned with the overcrowded gaol. Opinion was that the prisoners were not being made more useful in works 'serviceable to the town', as there were too few police to guard those when out doing such work. Meanwhile, the ship's Surgeon Superintendant had had enough - he took a steamer to Melbourne to board the next ship back to Britain. And still the courts had not seen the last of the General Hewitt. On 7 November the ship's steward and cook were charged with desertion. They had cut free one of the boats and escaped, hoping to make their way to the diggings, but were instead both imprisoned for four months. And then in November Captain Loutitt himself was in hot water. Three crewmen claimed that their wages had been upheld and the court agreed, awarding them costs as well as their wages.
New sailors were engaged in Melbourne to serve on the ship and were brought to Portland, and a constable employed on board to prevent any more desertions. Soon the General Hewitt was ready to set sail, finally doing so on 10 December, bound for Bombay. The reperussions of the ship's stay have lasted to this day, with so many of the crew, after serving their time, making the district their home. This of course included Antony Gasperino, who by 1860 was working at a station on the Glenelg River at Harrow. This was Kadnook station, run by the flamboyantly-named Mordaunt Smalpage, a former Royal Navy lieutenant who had married Frances Henty, niece of the aforementioned Henty brothers. It was here where Antony met his future wife, a young Irish woman by the name of Hannah Hourigan (or Hogan, depending on sources). Hannah herself had an eventful arrival in Australia, but I shall keep you all on edge and leave that for a post on another day.
Sources:
All Aboard the General Hewitt, 1856 (typed notes provided by Casterton Historical Society)
https://westerndistrictfamilies.com/2013/03/10/the-general-hewitt-portland-bay-1856/
A Link with the Crimea, Ballarat Star, 4/8/1910
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