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'peasant' identity ~ to a particular way of life which allows people to cope with
poverty and to live a harmonious existence.
Why then did these people, who had been coping v^th their poverty for
centuries, decide to emigrate to Australia in the 1850s? Part of the answer, as noted
previously, lies in their tradition of seeking a supplementary income in foreign lands.
In Ticino, the desolate alpine regions had never been sufficient to provide all food
needs:
Seasonal migration was an important part of life for centuries
particularly from villages in Switzerland's alpine valleys. During the
summer months the small farms gave employment for the whole family
but in autunrn the men frequently left the country. They supplemented
their income by working in various trades. ^^
Though the Ticinesi travelled to many parts of Europe, the Italian regions of Piedmont
and Lombardy (ref figure 1) were the most attractive destinations as they were easily
accessible and the people spoke the same language. The Ticinesi would draw upon
their skills as stonecutters, masons, bakers, wine-sellers, chimney-sweeps and
carpenters to find work, and also to trade in cheese, farm animals and grain.^^ The
Italians, too, would cross the borders into Ticino in search of work. In the absence of
the young, male members of the family, the women and the older men took over the
mnning of the farms and, though this imposed a harsh burden on the remaining
villagers, it was a way of life which the peasantry understood and accepted. Factors
influencing Ticino's or Italy's economic or political development in the nineteenth
century were, therefore, significant to both peoples.
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