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ABSTRACT
The Itahan-speaking settlers of nineteenth century Daylesford were among the first
sizeable group of non-EngUsh speakers to contest the prevailing Anglo-centricism and
to help pave the way towards Australia's multicultural fiiture. The examination of this
group interweaves the particular histories of fifteen families with thematic chapters
which: define the nature of the emigrant conmiunity and the reasons for departure
from the homeland; relate the journey to the ports of Melbourne and Sydney as a rite
of passage to settlement; describe the early experiences of the Italian speakers as
miners and labourers; explore their drift into traditional occupations as farmers and
business people in the Daylesford community; and examine their family life and
attempts to reconstruct a European life-style in Australia while recognising a growing
commitment to an 'Australian' way of life. In the fifteen family sections, these themes
are 'teased out' in terms of the life experiences of specific individuals and groups. In
this way, it has been possible to describe how, as Stuart Hall has written in another
context:
every identity is placed, positioned in a culture, a language, a history.
Every statement comes from somewhere, from somebody in particular.
It insists on specificity, on conjuncture. But it is not necessarily
armour-plated against other identities (Hall, 1986:46).
In theoretical terms, this study provides valuable insights into how precise individuals
negotiate such cross-cutting identities as they construct their individual life histories.
The concluding chapter reviews the lives of the fifteen families and assesses the
significance of their experiences in Daylesford in the context of Austraha's immigration
history and fiiture as a muhicultural nation.
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