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(peasant fanner) married to Maria Mansueta Fogliani,' many of whose family had
emigrated to the Australian goldfields. The effects of mass emigration stiU haunted the
people of Ferdinando's village, especially families such as the Vaninas, Delmues and
Monighettis (see previous chapters) who had each lost several members, A small
number of immigrants had retumed to Biasca by the 1860s, and there were few, if any,
new departures after this time.'* By 1870, the year in which Ferdinando celebrated his
sixth birthday and his brother Osvaldo was bom, the situation in most of Ticino had
improved, with no departures that year and the emigration rate in steady decline* The
Vanzettas appear to have been reasonably financially secure and the sons, judging by
the writing skills which Ferdinando displayed, in receipt of a school education.*
The reasons for Ferdinando's and Osvaldo's departure from Biasca in 1883 are,
therefore, difficult to ascertain. Both were probably aware, through the stories of
repatriates and the letters which had been sent back to friends, of the large Italian-
speaking community at Daylesford and the work opportunities which existed there. As
no other members of the Vanzetta clan had previously emigrated to Australia, they
were not seeking family reunion, nor were they expecting an easy introduction to the
workforce through a network of next of kin. They might, however, have hoped that
the large number of Biascans living in the Colony (those previously mentioned include
Francesco Rossetti, although he was then living in New Zealand, and brothers Andrea
and Aquilino Tinetti who ovmed properties in Hepbum and Shepherds Flat), as well as
relatives on their mother's side, would guarantee them work and a short-term place to
stay. Perhaps they were just young adventurers, happy to swap a mono+ ^nous village
existence for an exciting life in a foreign country.
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