Ilario Raccanello arrived in Australia June 3rd, 1934 on the ship Romolo. Travelling with him was his younger brother Giovanni who was only 4 years old. They were two of six brothers from Crespano del Grappa, Province of Treviso. All six brothers were orphans.
Ilario and Giovanni, after landing in Sydney, headed to Griffith NSW to live with their Aunty. They were getting ready for a new life in Australia. Ilario was 17 when he arrived and soon got a job working on a farm.
On August 17, 1937 brother Giacinto arrived in Australia on the ship Viminale. He headed straight to Griffith to be with his brothers Ilario and Giovanni. Giacinto also began working on a farm. Prior to Giacinto arriving, a young lady by the name of Ivonna Lazzarotto arrived in Australia April 27, aboard the ship Ormonde. Ivonna was young girl who was also heading to Griffith.
By 1938 Ilario was courting Ivonna and went to work in Innisfail Queensland, cutting cane. There he was able to make some good money before returning home to Griffith. In 1940 he married Ivonna.
In 1941 Ilario was a guest at a wedding and he took his camera to take photos of the festive occasion. Ilario`s friend cautioned him about taking the camera, as the war had broken out and Italy and Australia were not exactly the best of friends. Accusations were made and people came to the wrong conclusions and subsequently Ilario was interned for 12 months in 1942. The authorities thought he was a spy.
After twelve months he returned back to Griffith to his wife. Ilario and his and brother Giacinto then purchased a farm. They worked hard and were well known in the area as the Raccanello Brothers. The farm was doing well and they grew a variety of fruits such as plums, grapes, quinces, watermelon, rock melon as well as carrots.
In 1947 the family grew with the birth of Ilario and Ivonna`s son Ermes. Two years later, in 1949 another brother arrived. Onorio Raccanello also came to Griffith but didn’t stay too long. Eventually he moved to Stanthorpe where he settled with his future wife Emma. Now there were four brothers living in Australia.
In 1957 IIario had hurt himself from the physically demanding work on the farm and was unable to continue in the same capacity. So he and Giacinto made the decision to move on and sell the farm. Ilario then got a job at the rice mills and Giacinto moved to Cootamundra where he went into partnership with a friend and bought a fruit shop.
In 1959 Illario and Giacinto purchased a business in Wollongong. There were two businesses that they looked at. One was the Balgownie Hotel, but Ivonna didn’t want young Ermes growing up in that environment and the other business was a Guest/boarding house in Wollongong. They also had friends in the area.
The guest house was called Ronoli Guest House and it was situated at 107 Corrimal Street, Wollongong. The building was next door to the Fazzolare Building that faced Crown Street. The building in it’s early days was a boarding house and then it became a convalescent hospital up until the late 1950`s. It was the only private hospital at the time between Milton and Sutherland. All the other private hospitals had closed down due to staff shortages.
The guest house structure consisted of two buildings that were connected via a large majestic mahogany staircase. It was two stories with long corridors and large rooms for accommodation. The guests had their own communal kitchen to cook in and were allocated their own lockers to store their personal items. There were also communal bathrooms on each level. There was a large lounge area where guests could relax and socialize.
The guests had to do their own personal washing in the communal laundry though all the housekeeping was done by Ivonna. The source of heat for the guest house was a coal fired burner that had to be filled every day. Trucks would deliver the coal to the property and the driveway was often filled with coal ready to be shovelled for usage.
Illario and his family along with Giacinto lived in their own separate quarters on the lower floor of the building that had separate access. Their quarters consisted of two bedrooms, kitchen, dining, bath and lounge room. Those who stayed at the guest house had their own keys to enter the building at their own discretion. All the guests were single men, women were not allowed.
Ermes was 12 years old when his family purchased the guest house. He has lots of fond memories and said that he loved all the different people who used to reside there. There was a professional artist (painter), a wardsman at Wollongong Hospital, a signal man on the railways, another man who worked at the Steel Works and a casual/permanent truck driver who would stay for a week at a time in between jobs yet booked the room permanently so it would always be available to him. There was even a professional card player/gambler. He would play cards all night and sleep all day. There were usually up to 8 men staying at the guest house at once.
Whilst still living at the guest house, Ermes got his first full time job at an Italian Delicatessen in Fairy Meadow when he was 15 years old. He worked there for 3 years. After approximately 7 years of running the Ronoli Guest House the Raccanello family sold it.
After the sale of the guest house the family purchased a house in Campbell Street, Wollongong as well as a small block of units. Some of their neighbours in Campbell Street were local Italian fishermen from Wollongong Harbour. Ermes began a new job working at the deli in David Jones.
Ilario got a job at the Steel Works as a leading hand gardener. He was also a regular at the Fraternity Club where he would meet with friends to play cards, darts and bocce. He was asked to maintain the Bocce courts and also do some gardening at the club.
In 1969 Ermes married Dianne Luke whom he met whilst working at David Jones. Their wedding reception was held at Luccarda`s reception centre at Tarrawanna with 180 guests. All four Raccanello brothers were there to celebrate.
During the time that Ermes was working at David Jones he got a casual job at the Fraternity Club, working at night, which soon lead to a permanent position at the club, having worked there for 6yrs. In 1973 Ermes left the Fraternity Club and began work selling, repairing and installing Poker Machines where he worked till he retired in 2012.
Giacinto was working at Transfield. Ilario had left the Steel works and was working as a gardener at Wollongong Hospital where he finished out his retirement. By now the Campbell Street house had been sold and Ilario, Ivonna and Giacinto were living in Fairy Meadow.
Ilario fell ill and had batted cancer for nearly 5 years. It was extremely difficult for the family and Ivonna was constantly caring and nursing him. On the 28th of November 1987 Ilario Raccanello passed away. He was 71. Brother Onorio passed away in 2003.
Ivonna wasn’t well herself and she moved in with Giacinto who took care of her, as she had dementia. He was there for her when she needed him. After many years Giacinto passed away on October 12, 2008. He was 87. Four years later Ivonna passed away March 19. She was 90 years old and at the age of 91, youngest brother Giovanni passed away 29 October, 2021.
Ilario and Ivonna are survived by their three grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. Here was another story where the boarding house played a pivotal role at the time. Many migrant men and even non-migrant men relied heavily on them. They enabled so many a place of refuge and affordable accommodation. There were dozens of boarding houses at one stage, very few remain today. The Ronoli Guest house eventually was demolished making way for retail development.
A fantastic story of the young man, his brothers and family in Australia.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely fantastic to reflect on their character that made them the men they became 💕
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