ALLA FINE DEL MONDO.
Remembering our Ancestors - Antonino & Maria (nee Cacace) Gargiulo
Family Profile - Antonino Gargiulo
Antonino Gargiulo is the son of Antonio & Maria Gargiulo.
Full Name: Antonino Gargiulo
Birth Date: 14th February 1892
Where in Italy did he come from? Pastena, Massalubrense
What was he doing prior to leaving Italy? Cheese Maker after serving in the Italian Navy during WW1.
When did he leave Italy to come to New Zealand? 1927
How old was he when he left Italy? 35
Who did he leave behind? Wife (Rosa), 2 daughters (Maria and Romilda), a mother and 10 siblings. Rosa, Maria and Romilda came to New Zealand in 1929. Also travelling with them was Salvatore's wife Concetta and their 3 children Maria, Tony and Josephine.
They travelled by boat from Naples to Sydney where they changed boat for the journey to Wellington and then to Nelson
How did he travel to New Zealand? Ship
Who did he come with? Antonio travelled to New Zealand with his brother-in-law Paolo Casa and a close friend Salvatore Farentino
Who did they know in New Zealand: They initially travelled to Wellington and later moved to Nelson. In Nelson they knew Natoli Di Leva another recent immigrant.
What did they intend doing when they came to New Zealand? Commercial Tomato Growing
What did they end up doing in Nelson? They brought a Tomato Garden in Hardy Street and then a few years later brought a Tomato Garden in Nile Street
Where did they live? 179 Nile Street East
Antonino and Rosa had 3 children, Maria, Cordialina Romilda and Eraldo Francesco with later born in New Zealand. Rosa passed away in 1944 and Antonino re-married in 1954 to Eva Muollo when he returned to Italy in 1954 before coming back to New Zealand. Together they had 4 children Vito, Elena, Bianca and Dario
During WWII Antonino like all Italian immigrants experienced many problems living in New Zealand whilst he continued to grow tomatoes. Antonino's brother-in-law (Paolo Casa) was interned on Somes Island, Wellington as a POW.
The only contact Antonino kept with family in Italy was via Letter Writing but none occurred during WWII
Family traditions continued in New Zealand with pasta every Sunday, growing Italian vegetables - Eggplant, making traditional Italian sausage and making special food for Christmas and Easter. e.g Ravioli.
Antonino was also one of the first members of the Club Italia
Paolo and Mavis had no children of their own but both took a great interest in their nieces and nephews. Both gave very freely of their time to their extended family
Antonino passed away on 12th April 1974.
Source: Marietta Durdle (nee Muollo)
Family Profile - Maria Muollo
Maria Muollo is the paternal granddaughter of Antonio & Maria Gargiulo.
Maria came to New Zealand with her mother (Rosa) and her sister (Romilda) in March 1929 to join her father (Antonino) and Uncle (Paolo Casa) in Nelson. Also making the same voyage to New Zealand was Maria Fiorentino (Sangster) and that was the start of a lifelong friendship. The photo taken before the trip shows Maria holding her doll Maria Sangster remembered taht doll and later told Maria that she threw it overboard The two Maria's remained good friends.
In later years, Maria would often wonder how different life would have been if the family had remained in Italy. Maria was very much part of the Italian community and she also embraced the New Zealand way of life - following sport, reading books to all hours of the night, baking from the Edmonds recipe book, and maintaining a beautiful flower garden. At the same time keeping up with making mozzarella, pasta from memory. At the insistance of her children she eventually wrote them in her own handwriting and they are still treasured today.
Maria loved her school years and later her office job at Betts Printing and Stationery in Hardy Street. Her daughter Marietta, has her certificates from 1939 showing her high marks in shorthand, typing and bookkeeping. This was the same year Maria became a New Zealand citizen.
Maria joined indoor and lawn bowls and went on to represent Nelson. When Maria was no longer playing bowls, she turned her sporting passion to watching cricket and rugby. When the New Zealand cricket team was playing overseas Maria would stay up during the night to follow the progress. Maria would never watching the All Blacks' games
Who knows how she would have reacted if New Zealand had to play Italy in a Rugby World Cup final!
An Italian lady but also very much a Kiwi - the best of both worlds.
Source: Marietta Durdle (nee Muollo)