The Delponte family arrived in Australia from the Italian-speaking canton of Ticona in Switzerland. The family purchased land in Araluen in the early 1860s and established a vineyard.
Antonio (1806 – 1889) arrived in Australia on the Baltimore in 1854. By 1862 records show he was naturalised, residing in Araluen and intending to buy land1NSW Land Registry Service, Parish and Historical Maps. Historical Land Records Viewer https://www.nswlrs.com.au/Parish-and-Historical-Maps. Accessed 17 Feb 2023. Faustino (1823 – 1906) arrived in 1863 on the Shachamaxon2Museum of History New South Wales. NRS5316/4_4797/Shackamaxon_3 Sep 1863. Accessed 18 Feb 2023, with other members of the family, to join Uncle Antonio in Araluen. The passenger list tells us the following family members migrated:
- Faustino (aged 37)
- Therese (aged 36)
- Guiseppe (aged 15)
- Assunta (aged 13)
- Guidetta (aged 11)
- Maria (aged 9)
- Rosa (aged 8)
- Seraphina
- Antonio’s wife Seraphina (aged 38)
- Antonio’s son Paolo (aged 8)
By March 1865 the family’s efforts were beginning to pay off with newspapers3Goulburn Herald and Chronicle (NSW : 1864 – 1881), Wednesday 1 March 1865, page 3 reporting:
“…a party of Italians are cultivating an extensive vineyard in Araluen, and the grapes which have been forwarded to Braidwood for sale are second in quality to none in the colony. The growers are making a fine thing of it, after a considerable outlay of money and labour; and it is rumoured that they intend to manufacture wine, as the grapes grow most luxuriantly in the genial climate of the Happy Valley, which appears to be particularly adapted for the purpose.”
Antonio and Seraphina welcomed two sons while they lived in Araluen, Albert (1864 – 1912) and Filippo (Phillip) Ignatius (1868 – 1934).
Sadly in 1866 a great number of fatal cases of typhoid fever occurred at Araluen with newspapers reporting ‘deaths occur daily, principally among the juvenile population. The Hospital Committee have need to issue a notice that no more patients can be received, in consequence of the wards being full.’4Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 – 1954), Wednesday 18 April 1866, page 3 Faustino’s family losses in this year (possibly from typhoid fever) include his daughters Rosa (11) and Guidetta (16) and his wife Therese (41).
By 1868, others in Araluen were also seeing the potential of grape production. A widely published article titled ‘The cultivation of the vine in Araluen’5Albury Banner and Wagga Express (NSW 1860 – 1938) Saturday 1 August 1868 page 4 described Mr Blatchford’s plan to plant 4000 vines:
“The topographical features of the valley and all the country falling into the Moruya River resemble much some of the great vine-growing countries on the Rhine, it is said, and the grapes grown in the Italian Vineyard at Long Flat, Araluen, have been found of a quality capable of offering an excellent body and flavour for wine-manufacturing purposes. The wine manufactured by Mr Delponte, one of the proprietors of the vineyard referred to, has been pronounced by good judges to be of an excellent quality, merely requiring age to render it a first-class marketable article.”6Freeman’s Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1932), Thursday 30 September 1909, page 57
By 18727Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 – 1912), Saturday 5 August 1871, page 728 the Delponte land and vineyards had been sold to Alley and Byrne. The family stayed in the district for several more years and the 1875-76 8Greville’s Official Post Office DirectoryGreville’s Official Post Office directory for 1875 – 1876 https://www.ihr.com.au/secure/html/greville75.html. Accessed 18 Feb 2023 lists Antonio as a miner, Faustino as a farmer, and Joseph (Faustino’s son) as a miner, in Araluen.
In 1869 Faustino’s daughter Assunta married Giovani (John) Baptiste Palazzi, and by 1877 the family (including Faustino) settled in Wagga. Seraphina died in Queensland in 1875 and Antonio died in 1889 in Sydney with his occupation listed as fruiterer.