Lorenzo Giutronich
| First name | Lorenzo |
|---|---|
| Last name | Giutronich |
| Country of Origin | Croatia |
| Date of Birth | 26/02/1862 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1883 |
| Submitted by | Cassandra Gibbens |
Story
Lorenzo Giutronich was born on 26 February 1862, in the town of Sutivan on the island of Brac, which is off the coast of Croatia in the Adriatic Sea. His family was engaged in the wine industry but he was also an apprentice sailor.
At that time, Croatia was a part of the Austrian Empire headed by Franz Joseph. With other Croatian youths, Lorenzo was conscripted into the Austrian army. The Croatian people objected to Austrian domination and avoided conscription if they could. Lorenzo managed to escape by sailing across the Adriatic to Italy. From there he went to Port Said where he opened a wine shop. He was persuaded by wealthy countrymen returning home from the Victorian goldfields to go to Australia. An exaggerated story warned of the risk of breaking one\’s toe by tripping over the gold nuggets.
Lorenzo arrived in a foreign country, unable to speak the language, after many months sailing and alone on the other side of the world at the tender age of twenty-two. It must have been desperately lonely for him and also for many others who had the internal fortitude to attempt such an adventure.
Lorenzo wrote a memoir about his journey to Australia, the following is a translation of the memoir:
‘I parted from my homeland and from my dear parents on the memorable day of St Elizabeth ie Monday 2nd July at 8am in the year 1883. This memory was written on 23rd October 1884. I undersign this in my own handwriting. Lorenzo Giutronich’
After arriving in Australia, he had a number of jobs, one of which was prospecting for gold, another was working in the quarries. He moved to the Richmond River (northern NSW) and obtained work as a cane cutter, an occupation considered the toughest in the cane industry. In time he was able to purchase land and start farming.
His immediate ambition on coming to Australia was to send money home to his struggling family and then, when he was sufficiently financial, to return home to help them, particularly his two older sisters. He sent money home on a regular basis but he never saw his homeland again. Perhaps he would have made it home if he had not travelled one fateful day on the river ferry. On that ferry was a young lass, Icelet Gollan. They met and a romance ignited. Lorenzo and Icelet were married in June 1908
Icelet had a glorious contralto voice with an exceptionally wide musical range. She was claimed by the Richmond Rover community to be their own nightingale and was in keen demand to sing at functions of that era. Her reputation spread and she was even heard by Nellie Melba (later Dame) who was most impressed and predicted a glowing career for her. After marriage, family responsibilities and being a farmer\’s wife relegated her to entertaining at local functions and leading her family in many happy musical evenings.
Lorenzo and Icelet Giutronich and four children, George, Kathleen, Edna and John. During this time Lorenzo continued to increase his landholding and production of sugar cane. One year he harvested 3000 tons of cane, which was record at that time before the introduction of artificial fertilisers and motorised farm machinery.
After the 1929-32 depression, their eldest son George took over the family farm and the mortgage. In 1940 Lorenzo and Icelet moved to Strathfield in Sydney with their younger children Kathleen, Edna and John. There was sufficient room in the house to take on paying guests. Kathleen and Edna were both business girls, while John was a student and earned a Bachelor of Science degree.
In 1942, after two years in Sydney, Lorenzo had a stroke from which he did not recover. It was unfortunate that he did not live to see his first grandchild as George\’s son was born six months after his death.
Note. The Croatian spelling of our name is Jutronic, the ‘J\’ being pronounced ‘Yu\’. Lorenzo who was fluent in Italian and was mixing mainly with Italian people in the early days in Australia, changed to the Italian spelling, Giutronich. The ‘Gi\’ is pronounced ‘Yu\’ in Italian.
This story is based on the information contained within ‘My Journey’ by John E Giutronich (2006) and submitted by the grandchildren of John and Jean Giutronich – Roger, Alex, Cass, Nick, Simon, Sally, Sarah, Megan, Matt, Max, Fred and Tom.