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RODONI
Isidoro Rodoni, like his cousin Ferdinando Vanzetta, was bom in 1864 in the
village of Biasca, Raised in a large dairying family, he grew up with stories of the
Ticinese exodus to the Colony and the suffering of his village community. During the
1850s several of his brothers had emigrated to Canada, while other members of the
extended Rodoni clan had gone to Australia: Gabriele Rodoni in 1855, Giuseppe
Rodoni in 1858 and Pietro Rodoni in 1861.* While iX appears the Rodoni family
suffered considerable financial hardship during this period, it was not until some
decades later that Isidoro decided to emigrate. He had perhaps given little thought to
his compatriots in Australia as he grew up, spending his time, like most chUdren of
peasant families, helping about the family farm and performing, with his remaining
brothers and sisters, the many tasks associated with a dairy farm. One of his many
responsibUities had been to drive the cattle up into the mountains for grazing during
^ -y
the sunraner months, this giving him early knowledge of and skiU wdth a dairy herd.
Thoughts of emigration may only have emerged in 1887 when Cario Rodoni, another
member of his extended family, departed for the Colony and his cousins the Vanzettas
began making similar plans,' When, finally, Isidoro did decide to emigrate from his
village it was not to Australia that he headed, but to England, seeking adventure in a
land from which he could quickly and easily retum. He later transferred to Australia
where his experiences, Uke those of the Vanzettas, reinforce the notion that a distinct
and recognisable Italian-speaking community existed at Daylesford and remained
strong into the twentieth century.
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