Our Debt to Three Italians - Checchi, Catani and Baracchi

This nice tribute to Carlo Catani, Ettore Checchi and Pietro Baracchi (incorrectly called Guido in this article) comes from the newspaper Il Risveglio - The Awakening from June 11, 1947 (see here) The newspaper was published in Sydney and some articles were in Italian and some printed in English. It's an interesting article, even though I am not sure the opening sentence is correct, they could certainly read and write Italian and I presume they had some English.  Also of interest to me is the anecdote about Carlo on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp. Anyway, you cannot dispute the conclusion - This, briefly, is the story of three immigrants who adjusted themselves to the new world with singular success. Many would say they were great Australians.

Our Debt to Three Italians. Their Enduring Work in Victoria. 

By R.S.M.M.

About 70 years ago three Italians who could neither read nor write arrived in Melbourne in a sailing ship. They became valuable men in the development of Victoria. Two of them were closely associated with several of our most important public works, including some features by which Melbourne is widely known. 

Only last year the remaining survivor of the trio died, at the age of 93. He was Ettore Checchi, an engineer of considerable skill, probably best known for his work in connection with the harnessing of the waters of the Murray.

It was about 1874 when Checchi and his two colleagues, Carlo Catani and Guido Baracchi, came here as refugees from Italy, after spending a few weeks in New Zealand. They were vigorous, active young men, seeking fame and fortune. All rose to important positions, and left an indelible mark.

Catani was the most successful. The well-known clock tower on the Upper Esplanade, almost opposite St. Kilda baths, was erected in honor of his beautification work on the St. Kilda foreshore. A bust of him is included in the memorial. The gardens extending west from the Royal St. Kilda Yacht Club are known as the Catani Gardens, and at Mount Buòalo there is a Lake Catani.

Carlo Catani (1852-1918)

Image: Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society

In Love With His Work
Catani had a gift for beautifying. He was one of those individuals who could dream of wonderful schemes and then apply the realism necessary to put them into effect. He was a small and wiry man, with an unparalleled enthusiasm for his work. Overcoming his early difficulties with our language, he became a master of word pictures, and could explain his ideas with such fervor and exactitude that his enthusiasm was contagious.

Most of Catani's work was performed as chief engineer of the Public Works department. He was prominent in the early days of the planning of Alexandra-avenue, in which his knowledge of native flora proved of additional value. The St.Kilda Foreshore Trust has, as already stated, remembered its debt to him. At one stage of this work funds became insufficient to give all the men employed their full pay. So that the work could continue, Catani paid them himself from his own resources.

Catani fell in love with Mount Donna Buang. He visualised it as "the poor man's Buffalo," and produced the drive necessary to develop the area. He engineered a bridle track from Warburton to the summit, although his grant was limited to a few pounds. The construction of the present motor road up the mountain can be largely attributed to his initiative. Lake Catani was so named after his artistic work at Mount Buffalo, where the lake was formed by the construction of a dam.

The Yarra Boulevard was his conception. The Heidelberg end was built under his direction after he had drawn the plans and had had the surveys made. His original idea was to construct a boulevard on each side of the river, one for outgoing and the other for incoming traffic. This plan, however, was considered rather too elaborate.

The opening up of the Grampians is another of this realistic dreamer's self-erected monuments. He was captivated by the rugged beauty of the country, particularly that of the Mackenzie Falls. Catani was also responsible for the draining of the Kooweerup swamp, about which some humorous stories resulting from his enthusiasm are told. This work was done on a small contracts system, groups of men having to dig channels to take away the water. To see that the channels were dug to a regular and prescribed depth, Catani would wade along them in gum boots. One group of men, deciding to have a practical joke at his expense, dug a hole in one of the channels. The result was that Catani, during one of his inspections, temporarily went out of sight and yelled to the men to rescue him from the murky water.

Catani's death in 1918 was hastened by the loss of his son in the first world war.

Ettore Checchi

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

Hume Reservoir
Like Catani, Ettore Checchi entered the Public Works department, where, in 1878, at the age of 23, he became assistant engineer. Twelve years later, he transferred to a similar position in the Water Supply department, which was eventually taken over by the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission.

After being in charge of river gaugings for a number of years, Checchi, in 1912, was made available to the inter-State conference on Murray waters, which carried out technical investigations in connection with the potentialities of that river. In this capacity, he was responsible for the investigation of Upper Murray sites, including the site which became the Hume reservoir. His investigations also formed the basis of agreement between the three States regarding the distribution of the Murray waters, later embodied in the River Murray agreement.

Checchi spent no less than 50 years and three months in continuous service with the State - probably a record. Even, then, it was at his own request that he retired in 1927. He was able to work for so long because he was a man of amazing physical strength, said, in fact, to be one of the strongest men in Victoria. He died last July. A great deal of his work is perpetuated in the printed record of river gaugings in Victoria, which provide the basis for the State's large-scale water conservation projects.

Pietro Baracchi (1851-1926)

https://www.eoas.info/objects/D00036.htm

Among the Stars
Guido Baracchi lived among the stars - he was Government astronomer for a number of years. Particularly competent on mathematical problems, he was an expert on the use of instruments. He had control of the mapping of the positions of the stars; he was engaged at Darwin determining longitudes and obtaining star observations, and he headed an expedition to observe the solar eclipse. Baracchi, well-built and slender, never looked his age. He retired at 65 and died eight years later.

This, briefly, is the story of three immigrants who adjusted themselves to the new world with singular success. Many would say they were great Australians.

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.