Carlo Catani - Cyclopedia of Victoria, 1903

In the last post (see here) I looked at Ettore Checchi's entry from the Cyclopedia of Victoria, which  was published in three volumes from 1903 to 1905. The Cyclopedia was an attempt to present a comprehensive survey of the State in most of its multifarious aspects - political, social, religious, and educational, financial, commercial and industrial. In this post, I have transcribed Carlo Catani's entry, from volume 1 of the Cyclopedia.

Carlo Catani - Cyclopedia of Victoria, v. 1.

Carlo Catani

Photographer: Johnstone, O'Shannessy & Co. Image from Cyclopedia of Victoria, v. 3.

Mr Carlo Catani, Engineer for Roads and Bridges, was born at Florence, Italy, in 1852, and was educated in his native city, taking his diploma as a civil engineer at the Technical Institute, and in November, 1872, received his papers from the Minister for Agriculture, Commerce, and Industry. 

He, with Messrs. Baracchi and Checchi, came to Victoria in 1876, and entered the Lands Department. In 1882 Mr Catani was transferred to the Public Works Department, and in 1890 was Acting Engineer for Roads and Bridges, owing to the illness of his chief.  In 1892 he was appointed to that position. 

In Italy Mr Catani was employed on railway work. He qualified as a surveyor under the Land Act in 1880, a municipal surveyor in 1897, and is also a surveyor under the Transfer of Land Act. 

Between 1880 and 1890 Mr Catani was assistant engineer for harbour works, and he succeeded Mr Hynes as Engineer for Roads and Bridges, Harbour Works and Reclamation. It was under his supervision that the Yarra improvement, the Anderson Street bridge over the Yarra, works were carried out.

Ettore Checchi - Cyclopedia of Victoria, 1903

The Cyclopedia of Victoria was published in three volumes: volume 1 in 1903, and the next two volumes in 1904 and 1905. They were, as the title page said, an Historical and Commercial Review- Descriptive and Biographical, Facts, Figures and Illustrations. An Epitome of Progress. The preface explains further -  They were an attempt to present a comprehensive survey of the State in most of its multifarious aspects - political, social, religious, and educational, financial, commercial and industrial. The Cyclopedia was edited by James Smith and published by the Cyclopedia Company. 

This is the entry, from volume 1, on Ettore Checchi (1853 - 1946). Checchi had arrived in Melbourne in September 1876 with Pietro Baracchi and Carlo Catani. 

Ettore Checchi -  Cyclopedia of Victoria, v. 1.

Ettore Checchi

Photographer: Johnstone, O'Shannessy & Co. Image from Cyclopedia of Victoria, v. 3.

Mr  Ettore Checchi, Chief Assistant Engineer for Water Supply, was born in Tuscany, Italy, and educated at the Technical Institute of Florence, in which he holds the degree of mechanical and civil engineering. 

He came to Victoria in 1876, and on his arrival here entered the Lands Department, and shortly after the Public Works Department, which was then professionally directed by Mr W.H. Steele, as Inspector-General for Public Works. 

Mr Checchi was Assistant Engineer for Harbour Works in that department, and in 1888 was transferred to the Water Supply Department, under Mr Stuart Murray, Chief Engineer.  Mr Checchi for four years was in charge of the water-boring works in the Mallee country, but as the operations for striking an artesian supply of water proved to be unsuccessful, the Government decided to relinquish the work. 

Mr Checchi has the control and charge for maintenance of the Coliban and Geelong Water-works, and has carried out the Eastern Moorabool works, which, as an additional source of supply, cost £80,000. Mr Checchi is Hydraulic Engineer for the Victorian Government, and is also a licensed municipal surveyor.

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In a previous post,  I have transcribed an article on Ettore, written by J. N. Churchyard, Research Officer at the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission and  published in Aqua, the S.R.W.S.C. Journal in the 1950s, you can read it here.

I have also transcribed Carlo Catani's entry from the Cyclopedia of Victoria, read it here.

Ettore Checchi - River Murray Agreement and River Gauging by J.N. Churchyard.

This article on Ettore Checchi, by J. N. Churchyard, Research Officer at the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission was first published in Aqua, the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission Journal sometime between August 1956 and September 1958 and republished in Pioneers of Victorian Irrigation (pp. 20-21; SRWSC, 1976). Ettore Checchi, Pietro Baracchi and their friend Carlo Catani, arrived in Melbourne in September 1876.

Ettore Checchi (1853-1946 ) 

River Murray Agreement and River Gauging 

by J.N. Churchyard.

In an era when this country is receiving record numbers of New Australians, it is particularly instructive to consider the life of Ettore Checchi (1), one of our Italian immigrants of 80 years ago. In fifty years of service to the State, Mr Checchi performed some monumental work, the effect of which will benefit Australia for all time. It symbolises the contribution which our New Australians can make to their adopted country today.

Ettore Checchi was born in 1853 in the town of Pisa, famous, of course for its “leaning tower”. The father of the family of 12 had died when young Ettore was five years old, leaving his family in some financial difficulty, but despite this severe setback early in his life, Ettore Checchi managed to obtain his engineering degree at Florence. However, realising that there were few good prospects in Italy, he decided to emigrate, and after a difficult six-months trip, landed in Melbourne in 1877*.

It is worth mentioning that two other Italians, Carlo Catani and Pietro Baracchi, both of whom also achieved notable positions in the Victorian Public Service, were on the same ship.

Of the three, Catani, who became Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department is probably the best known. From the Commission’s point of view, the most interesting work which he did was to drain the now-fertile Kooweerup Swamp, but he is also known for the development of St Kilda foreshore, where Catani Gardens was named in his honour, and for the beautification of Mount Buffalo National Park, where Lake Catani also bears his name. Less is known of Baracchi, but he was Victorian Government Astronomer for a number of years.

However, to take up the story of Ettore Checchi, he was first employed as an assistant engineer in the Department of Lands and Public Works, where, among other things, he was largely concerned with the design of buildings of Princes and Falls (Queen’s) Bridges. But Mr Checchi’s most notable work was done during 39 years of service from 1888 to 1927, first with the Victorian Water Supply Department, and later with the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission.

Ettore Checchi

Image: https://www.ancestry.com.au/family-tree/person/tree/119404943/person/132073611441/facts

In his first few years as an assistant engineer, Mr Checchi was employed on hydrographic work, where his organisation of systematic river gauging throughout the State, under the direction of Stuart Murray, attracted world-wide attention, and laid the foundation of a scientific water conservation policy in this State (2).

In 1894, after some years as Chief Assistant Engineer, Mr Checchi was appointed as Engineer in Charge of River Gaugings, Irrigation Trusts and the Coliban and Geelong Water Supply Systems. As might be imagined, these duties kept him extremely busy; in fact, records show that for one period of six years Mr Checchi averaged only one day’s leave per annum.

However, Ettore Checchi’s greatest contribution was to supply most of the technical data in regard to water resources required in connection with the harnessing of the waters of the River Murray, a problem which had proved highly contentious for half a century. As early as 1863, proposals had been made for developing the waters of the Murray and an interstate Royal Commission had reported on the subject in 1902. But it was not until 1914 that an Agreement on the subject based on the recommendations of an Interstate Conference of Engineers in 1913. It was this Agreement which led to the establishment of the River Murray Commission.

Commissioner J. S. Dethridge of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission represented Victoria on the Conference. Ettore Checchi was the Chief Engineering Officer and was responsible for hydrographic investigations and the examination of storage sites along the Upper Murray, including one which was ultimately chosen for the Hume Reservoir. With his unique knowledge of stream conditions over a period of 25 years, Ettore Checchi was in a better position than any other man in Australia to advise on the distribution of water between the three States concerned.

The agreement of 1914 was the reward for his work, and at that stage, Mr Checchi might have been pardoned for thinking that his work had nearly ended, since he was then 57 years of age. However, he was by no means at the end of his working life for he did not retire until, at the age of 73 – and at his own request – he terminated what must be close to a record period of 50 years of service with the State. During his last 16 years with the Commission he was intimately associated with many of the major water conservation projects in this State, including the Hume and the first Eildon Reservoirs.

After his retirement Mr Checchi lived for a further 20 years until his death in 1946 at the age of 93 years. It is recorded by A.S. Kenyon that he was still “in fine form” and the age of 87, no doubt largely because of the great strength for which he was renowned. Indeed, Kenyon described him in a newspaper article as “possibly the strongest man in this world”.

The same source refers to Ettore Checchi as “first of all a gentleman in the fullest Continental sense of the word”, but more than that, “a great mathematician and a sound designing engineer”. The former tribute maybe endorsed only by those who knew Mr Checchi personally, but the latter claim is obvious from the work he did, which has provided such a sound basis for the development of water conservation not only in the State of Victoria, but in New South Wales and South Australia as well.

1.The Commission is indebted for much information in this article to Dr Checchi of Willaura, a son of the late Ettore Checchi, and to a daughter, Mrs N. Muddle of Hampton.
2. See article on Stuart Murray, “Aqua” November 1956.

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* Ettore Checchi, Carlo Catani and Pietro Baracchi actually arrived in Melbourne in September 1876.

Family information

Ettore Checchi married Rebecca Rodgers, of Attunga, near Tamworth on November 13, 1889. They had four children, all the births were registered in Caulfield - Leo, Cyril, Nancy and Norman Rodger. Rebecca died on November 24, 1944, aged 74 and Ettore died July 19, 1946. They were both cremated at Springvale.

Leo, born 1891, married Gwladys Williams , in Wales, in 1933. They had two sons John Rodger - born in 1936, married June Davies in 1962 and died in 1999; Howell Rodger, born 1941, married Glenys Ewans in 1972. Leo died April 14, 1972 and Gwladys July 30, 1972. All events took place in Wales.

Cyril, born July 24, 1892, married Frances Suddaby 'Fanny' Wilson at the Elsternwick Presbyterian Church on September 19, 1916. They had a son David Alwyn born November 2, 1920. David, joined the RAAF and died in a training flight in South Australia on May 13, 1942. Their daughter, Pauline, was born in September 1922. Frances died 1984, aged 88 and Cyril died at 104 years of age, May 14, 1997. They are buried at Willaura Cemetery. Cyril was a Doctor and practised at Willaura from 1920 to 1986. He was the subject of a book, The Greatest Joy of all: the story of Dr Cyril Checchi by Paul McLoughlin (Bob Meredith, 1995). The title The Greatest Joy of all, refers to the birth of babies. 

Nancy, born February 24, 1895, married Hubert Roy Muddle, December 14, 1916. Hubert died at the age of 28 on June 17, 1919, in NSW. Their son, William Beaumont Muddle was born in 1917 in Victoria and died in NSW in 1959. Nancy died May 23, 1978, her Executor was Irene Nora Checchi. Nancy was cremated at Springvale.

Norman Rodger was born January 5, 1901. He married Irene Nora Morrison in 1927. Leo died May 13, 1987; Irene died October 30, 1988. They were both cremated at Springvale.

The family information comes from the Indexes to Victorian and NSW Birth, Death and Marriages;  personal notices in Trove and newspapers.com; records on Ancestry and Springvale Cemetery records.

You can read Ettore Checchi's Australian Dictionary of Biography entry, written by Ronald East, here. It is partly based on Mr Churchyard's article. Lewis Ronald East, was an engineer with and later Chairman of  the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission.

Italian Links with Kitchener's Hundred by John C. Trinca looks at the life and war service of Alfred John Trinca, Cyril Checchi and Leo Checchi. It is published in the Newsletter of the Italian Historical Society CO AS IT, v. 2, n. 3 July-September 1991  http://coasit.com.au/IHS/journals/IHS%20Journal007.pdf

In another post I have transcribed Ettore Checchi's entry from the 1903 Cyclopedia of Victoria, read it here.