Italian immigrants to Innisfail North Queensland

[Nita from OZ]

Can someone point me in the right direction to trace families that moved to Innisfail in North Queensland Australia.

I have checked records of Birth Deaths and Marriages in QLD they all start 1923 nothing before this.
I am trying to trace Ignatius MUSUMECI who married Santina DIMAURO.

I believe the wedding would have been in Queensland so this may have been after the historical dates allowed.

I have nothing else from here.
 

[Billyblue]

Hi Nita
Lots of Italians in Innisfail these days.     Also in Ingham.
You don't give any indication of WHEN they moved to Innisfail.
And of course they may not have stayed there.

Can't say I understand what you mean by the Queensland BDMs 'starting at 1923'
Their baptisms etc start at 1829, according to their website.

Have you looked at www.ryersonindex.org?
Just put the surname in and you'll find 68 for this surname, and 2 for Ignazio Musumeci aged 88 from Mareeba (also in FNQ with a fair sprinkling of families with Italian ancestry). Died 2013. Could this be him?
Innisfail and Ingham are known as sugar towns, Mareeba used to have a big tobacco farm industry though not so much now of course.

If you could give us some dates and any other information, like when they came to Australia, maybe something could be found.

Dawn M

[sugarbakers]

CSR opened their Goondi Sugar Mill, near Innisfail in 1885. If you find that Ignatius worked in the industry, then perhaps CSR archives hold records of his employment. There are no further details of the refinery in their book - "South Pacific Enterprise - The Colonial Sugar Refining Company Limited", by Angus & Robertson, 1956.

[Nita from OZ]

 

CSR opened their Goondi Sugar Mill, near Innisfail in 1885. If you find that Ignatius worked in the industry, then perhaps CSR archives hold records of his employment. There are no further details of the refinery in their book - "South Pacific Enterprise - The Colonial Sugar Refining Company Limited", by Angus & Robertson, 1956.

[Nita from OZ]

Still looking sorry I do not have any other information so was looking for some direction the sugar mills I am looking at. Births deaths and marriages have been a little help. is there a senses site for QLD that will give me who lived in same houses may be this would help.

[Billyblue]

Names from census in Australia were not kept until quite recently, and not available for 100 years.

Electoral rolls are what to look at, but they don't group by households, so you only find people at the same address by trawling through the lists.  Also prior to about 1989, they were listed by electoral divisions and sub-divisions which makes it harder. Since 1989 they have been microfiched in alphabetical order.

Did you look at the deaths on Ryerson?
You still haven't given us any idea of WHEN you are looking?

Dawn M

[Nita from OZ]

My apologies on the when.
I am trying to be careful and not use information on the present/living. What I have is little only. I believe the families both arrived and stayed in the north west of QLD for a long time. Grouping families in the home would have been the best way for me to verify specific families.  I was just throwing it out there hoping. QLD had something similar. Yes used the link Ryerson but am a little unsure as the spelling of names appears to change here and there. So once again grouping families would help. Would  Ignatius MUSUMECI and Ignazio Musumeci be one in the same. Santina DIMAURO would this be a correct spelling Time well I am thinking before 1911. Was there as specific time in Innisfail that immigration for Italian workers migrated to work the sugar or grape farms. that It may be I have to just move on and revisit this family later. Thank you all for your assistance.

[DavidG02]

Have you tried Trove? Trove is a FREE Australian newspaper site.

I saw this

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/40141866?

2 stories on an S. Musumeci

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/131705784?

There are also references to other Musumeci families

[Ruskie]

Have you looked for an immigration here?:
http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/Researchers/Indexes/Immigration/Pages/default.aspx

Sometimes on immigration registers you see boat loads of certain nationalities headed for a particular place, presumably a job lot of migrants brought over for a specific project or by an employer looking for skilled or unskilled labour.

You will probably need to keep an open mind about the spelling.