The journey
Milestone migrants received a lot of fanfare on arrival to Australia, and for Antonia Bellomarino, the 250,000th Italian migrant, it was no different. Arriving with her husband Renzo and two children, 6-year-old Luigi and 2-year-old Claudia in Melbourne in 1963, the family was given a celebrity-style reception. Official photographers took more than 40 black-and-white and colour photographs of the Bellomarino family's journey to Australia.
Before leaving Italy, the family was snapped leaving their home village of Monterotondo, near Rome, as well as seeing the sights of the Italian capital before boarding the Italian Lloyd Triestino passenger ship Neptunia headed for Australia in December 1962.
First impressions
As with other milestone migrant arrivals, there were grand plans to welcome Antonia Bellomarino and her family. However, their arrival was also eventful in unanticipated ways. The then Minister for Immigration, Alexander Downer, scheduled to greet them at Station Pier, was running more than an hour late. The Italian Consul-General, Dr Vittorio Strigari, had sailed out to meet the Neptunia as it entered Port Phillip Bay, but missed greeting the vessel entirely, and had to turn and chase the liner back to Station Pier.
Alexander Downer presented Antonia with a set of silver cutlery which the family still owns. Antonia brought her Singer sewing machine from Italy so she could continue to work as a dressmaker in Australia.
Settlement
The Bellomarinos were considered a ‘very good family group’ by their interviewing immigration officer. They were seen to have positive prospects for settling and ‘assimilating’ in Australia. Even their appearance was marked as ‘v. good’ by the selection officer who interviewed the family in Rome.
Renzo, an experienced fitter, had good employment prospects, and the family were well-suited to represent the 250,000 Italians who by then had moved to Australia since the end of World War II. A second son, Frank, was born in Melbourne.
The population of Italian-born migrants in Australia peaked nearly 10 years after the Bellomarinos arrived. In 1971, 290,000 people living in Australia were listed as having been born in Italy.
