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Proud of the wealth he had accumulated during his time in AustraUa, Andrea
presented his young bride with a ring, brooch and earrings fashioned from one of his
gold nugget finds. The exchange of this type of folk art, which often included typically
Australian motifs, was common between sweethearts at BaUarat, KalgoorUe and other
colonial goldfields.^'* It may be assumed that the folk art exchanged by the Italian
speakers also reflected something of the social and cultural source of its makers. In
the years foUowdng theu marriage the Lafranchis produced nine children,^* aU of whom
were given ItaUan names to signify their parents' close ties with their homeland. The
first child Alfredo Andrea was bom the year after their marriage in 1875, foUowed by a
daughter Olimpia twelve months later. In 1878, the Lafranchis' third child Anchigi
was bom and became the favourite of his older sister Olimpia. ^^ The fourth infant
Victoria (Vittoria?) arrived in 1883, foUowed by Florida inl884 and Isolina in 1885.
With a growing family and little likelihood of ever returning to his homeland, in 1884
Andrea had applied for British citizenship and one year later, on 21 December,
purchased a block of land on the main road between Eganstown and Blampied with his
brother Celestino^' (ref figure 13). However Andrea's application to be naturalised
may have had more to do with his desire to apply for a liquor licence (for which British
citizenship was a prerequisite) for, soon after, he took possession of a hotel at
Blampied.
Named the Manchester Hotel when it was placed on the market by one George
Hambrook in 1886, the Lafranchis became its proud purchasers and so began over 80
years of hotel ownership. An inventory of the goods handed over at the time of sale,
dated 7 December 1886, recorded the sale price of the hotel at 50 pounds and the
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