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LAFRANCHI
The Lafranchis were another of the pioneering ItaUan-speaking families to
settle near Daylesford during this period. Close to 30 members of the Lafranchi family
emigrated to Australia between 1853 and 1864 from Coglio, a village which lies
between GiumagUo and Maggia in the Valle Maggia,.^ They made up one of the
largest family groups to depart from Ticino at any one time and were almost the total
of Coglio's contribution to the colony. The impact on a total viUage population of 195^
was obviously enormous, but the move also revealed the deep desire of these people to
remain together as a family unit. Departing from their village in small groups, the
Lafranchis settled within close proximity to one another in the Daylesford region
where they attempted to re-establish some form of village life. The transformative
effects of emigration and of living in Australia soon, however, eased their assimilation
mto Australian society, making their small community less a defence against the
outside world than an environment in which their cultural tradhions could find
expression. Through the stories of Celestino and Andrea Lafranchi it will be
demonstrated that the accumulation of money and status altered the expectations of
many Italian speakers but did not distance them entirely from their cultural heritage,
elements of which continued to be drawn upon in the settlement process.
Celestino and Andrea Lafranchi were the only sons of Giovanni Battista
Lafranchi to emigrate to the colony. Celestino, at 27 years of age and a stonecutter,
was the first to depart, in 1854, after borrowing 800 francs from his viUage councU.^ It
is not certain aboard which ship he traveUed but it is possible he was with other family
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