Carlo visits Yarram with plans to beautify the Hospital grounds and the old Cemetery

The Gippsland Standard published this article on July 24, 1914 about a visit Carlo made to the town of Yarram on Wednesday, July 22 (read the article, here) He proposed to do something 'ornate' to the Hospital grounds and make the cemetery a 'beauty spot' including planting palm trees and erecting a band stand and a play ground for children.  Not sure if any of this happened, I will visit the town one day and tell you. However, as Carlo's visit was less than two weeks before World War One started, I would be surprised if the town would have devoted resources to such a project at that time. 

Part of the report of Carlo's visit to Yarram

Gippsland Standard July 24, 1914  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121135366

Visit of Mr Catani

LAYING OUT THE HOSPITAL GROUNDS

PROPOSAL TO BEAUTIFY THE OLD CEMETERY

Mr C. Catani, Engineer-in-Chief of the Public Works Department, made a flying visit to Yarram on Wednesday. His mission was to inspect the local hospital grounds and make recommendations to the committee in view of something ornate in days to come. Mr Catani brought with him a comprehensive plan as a guide to future work in this direction. He inspected the grounds, made valuable suggestions as to the planting, and particular stress on the laying out of paths, so that the convalescent patients might enjoy a walk.

While in the town Mr Catani was induced to inspect the old cemetery, which some day will be made a beauty spot in the town. The trouble is the furze [gorse]. Mr Catani expressed his willingness to draw up a plan, but his idea is not flowers. He favors grass plots, shrubs, and palms with a large plot in the centre for a band stand and play ground for the children. He does not believe in the suggestion that members of the local Friendly Societies should take certain parts and carry out their own particular schemes. United, some thing practicable and artistic might be done. However, a plan will be drawn up, but Mr Catani considers that it will take a couple of years to get rid of the furze.

Mr Catani is Melbourne's beautifier. His work on the foreshore at St. Kilda is evidence of his artistic skill. Mr Catani came from Italy in 1877, and has done excellent work in and around the city. Yarram is fortunate in having his services.

What were Carlo's plans for the Hospital Gardens? This article, below from the Toora and Welshpool Ensign tells us - The plans laid before the meeting, are elaborate, providing for fernery, shelter shed, kitchen garden, lawns, and a labyrinth of paths. The tradesmen's entrance is from Commercial lane. If carried out in their entirety there will not be a prettier spot outside Melbourne.

Carlo's plan for the Hospital grounds

Toora and Welshpool Ensign October 9, 1914  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130156268

Yarram, c. 1910. 

This is how Carlo would have seen the town when he visited Yarram in 1914. 

Image: Museums Victoria https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/771714

The elms and palms in Commercial Street, Yarram, 1940s.

The Main Street, Yarram. Photographer: Rose Stereograph Co.

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/430

According to Victorian Places, the 1927 the spacious main street was replanted with Phoenix palms. I had thought that perhaps the palm trees were inspired by Carlo, however as we can see from the images above and below, the Main Street or Commercial Road, was not entirely planted out with palms.  According to John Adams' History of the Shire of Alberton  -  A beautification scheme was put forward late in 1923 to spend £5239 to place garden plots along the centre of the road [Commercial Street] but wandering stock were still a problem in Yarram. Another plan in 1925 was to plant elms down the street but the Traders' Association complained that the roots might break up the road. The Council went ahead with the planting, but in 1927 began replacing them with Phoenix palms, fencing the plots. The fencing was removed in 1939 (1). 

Carlo would no doubt have approved of the Beautification project, but I don't believe that the use of palm trees in Commercial Road was inspired by his own use of palms.

The elms and palms in the Commercial Street plantation, 1950s.

Commercial Road and Club Hotel, Yarram, 1950s. Photographer: Rose Stereograph Co.

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/5527

Acknowledgement:

 I did not know that Carlo had any connection to Yarram, until I read a paper by Anne Bourke Carlo Catani and Alexandra Avenue: The Making of a European Promenade in Colonial Melbourne and she mentioned his work at Yarram.  The paper was published in Fabrications: The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand Volume 26, 2016 - Issue 1.  

Footnote

(1)  Adams, John From these Beginnings: History of the Shire of Alberton (Victoria) (Alberton Shire Council, 1990), p.228.

Enrico Catani - War Services of Old Melburnians

In 1923 Melbourne Grammar published War Services of Old Melburnians recording the names and World War One military history of past students. Carlo's son, Enrico Ferdinando, was one of these students and I have transcribed his entry. He was listed in the book as Eric Frederick Catani, so had obviously anglicised his name. Enrico sounds like a lovely man who was loved and respected by all who knew him and what a tragedy it is that he and 60,000 of his fellow Australians were killed in the prime of their life.

Photo of Enrico from War Services of Old Melburnians

Eric Frederick Catani who was killed in action in France on 29^th July 1916 was the elder son of Mr. C.D.T.M Catani. He was born in 1891 and was at school from 1905 to 1909. In his last year at school he was in the football team. On leaving school he went to Dookie Agricultural College, where he took his Diploma in 1912. He had a farm near Kyneton when war broke out, but he gave it up and enlisted on 28th April 1915 and was appointed 2^nd Lieut. in 21^st Battalion. “Puss” Catani, as every old boy of his time knew him, was a good fellow and a good sportsman and he made a splendid soldier. He was one of the troops on the “Southland” when she was torpedoed and was on Gallipoli from 4^th September 1915 to the evacuation on 20^th December. During that time he was away for three weeks, sick and wounded. He was acting as machine-gun officer nearly all the time he was on the Peninsula. During the Lone Pine engagement a 6-inch high explosive shell burst on the edge of his machine gun. It killed two of his men, wounded the other two, and buried him and his gun, and it was sometime before he was dug out and could not speak or hear for a day afterwards.

On his return to Egypt he was made Transport Officer and Staff Officer of Railways at Ismailia, and eventually rejoined his battalion, in which he had on 26^th August 1915 been promoted to Lieutenant, and went to France and was killed soon after the Australian went onto action. A brother officer writing says: “He was the best and cheeriest of friends a man could have, and the life and soul of the company whether things were going well or ill. I never saw him downcast or out-of-sorts even when things were at their worst, and I hardly think there was a man better loved by officers and men in the division. His platoon would do anything for him and were inconsolable at his loss. On the night of 29^th July I was ordered to take my company to hold a small trench which was the key to Pozieres. It meant marching in pitch black through a perfectly hellish barrage which the enemy were throwing behind the village. “Puss” was my senior company officer, and as my place was at the front I sent him to the rear charged with that most difficult and all-important of tasks - keeping the men blocked up when the shells began to take toll of the ranks. How well he did his job you can imagine when I say that looking back after getting through the barrage, I found the company blocked up as if on parade. The losses had not been inconsiderable, but his cheery voice and unfailing courage had caused every gap to be immediately filled. As they filed past me into some temporary cover, as I expected, he greeted me with ‘Cheer oh! Pretty warm trip, wasn’t it?’ I left him in charge and went to make a reconnaissance of our new position. When dawn broke he was missing, and though we spared no effort we found no trace of him. I hung on for days in the hope he had been wound and evacuated through the English troops on our left, but was finally forced to report him ‘Missing, believed killed’. In him I lost one of my very best friends and the most capable officer I had”

His Colonel writes: “He had won the respect of, and endeared himself to, both officers and men. He was one of the keenest officers that any commanding officer had under him, that together with his happy disposition and cheerfulness under all conditions made him a general favourite. He gave his very best, and was devoted to his duties. Australia has reason to be proud of her boys, and your son was a noble example even to Australians”

Cover and front page of War Services of Old Melburnians, complied by J. Beacham Kiddle, O.B.E.

This is the group photo - 1. E.B McKay; 2. C.C.D. St Pinnock; 3.E.A. Dyson; 4. K.R. Stephenson; 5. E.F. Catani; 6. J.H.R. Butler; 7. W.S. Campbell; 8. H.L. Franklin. 

'The School will  not forget"

"You, our brothers, who, for all our praying,

To this dear School of ours, come back no more"

Carlo knows 'next to nothing' about flood damage on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp

The Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society has a series of letters from Mr Huntly Campbell Gordon of Five Mile (Koo Wee Rup North - one of Carlo's Village Settlements)  written from around 1911 to 1916. He was a prolific letter writer to the State Rivers & Water Supply Commission, his local MLA, Mr Keast and others. Mr Gordon kept copies of his letters and the replies and was on many local committees. For example, in 1911 he was writing on behalf on the Five Mile Progress Association and recorded the minutes of the Cora Lynn Progress Association, in 1913 he was writing on the flooded condition of the Five Mile School, in 1915 he recorded the minutes of the Koo Wee Rup Drainage Association and sent letters on their behalf. 

His correspondence reflects the reality of living on the Swamp as opposed to the theories that the drain works are sufficient and in this letter of November 21, 1913 he was very critical of Carlo Catani. This is a  rare criticism of Carlo.  

Five Mile
Koo Wee Rup
21st November 13

Farmers at Koo Wee Rup are taking exception to the remarks which Mr Catani is reported to have made concerning the damage done by the recent floods. Mr Catani said that the statements were greatly exaggerated, about the losses sustained. As a matter of fact, the Chief Engineer for Public Works knows next to nothing about the matter and the opinion is freely expressed that he is endeavouring to hide the imperfections of his own drainage scheme, by making light of the damage done.

It is ridiculous for Mr Catani to say that only 200 acres of potatoes were harmed, for four hundred would have been nearer the mark. Then oats, barley, wheat, carrots, peas , onions and fodder crops suffered and are still suffering through the soakage....

Mr Catani's remarks which Mr Gordon objected to were published in The Age on November 17, 1913.

The Age November 17, 1913

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article7263758

The Age followed up with this report on November 22 -  obviously taken from Mr Gordon's letter.  

The Age  November 22, 1913

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196239430

The Catani potato

I grew up on a potato farm at Cora Lynn, the town next to Catani, so naturally the potato as a vegetable is close to my heart. There is, in fact, a potato variety named Catani. This is what I know about Catani the potato so far - it was developed by Roger Kirkham of the  Potato Research Station at Toolangi in 1986. It had trials at various locations throughout the State, including  the Chatfield farm at Catani, thus the name, so it is a potato that is born and bred in Victoria. The potato is grown mainly for chips i.e. French fries and the main (only?) growers of the variety on Koo Wee Rup swamp are the Chatfield family who supply a processing factory at Hallam who supply chips to fish and chips, catering companies, chips you would buy at the Footy etc. Carlo Catani has had many honours, but surely there could be no higher honour for a man or woman that to have a potato named after them!

This is the typical shape of  a Catani potato - a longish shape.  I have to tell you that the Catani variety is being planted now (December 2018) so the potato shown here has been in storage  for six to eight months - so it is not as perfect looking as it would be if it was newly dug. 

Catani seed crop in the Otways.

I am sure Carlo's heart would be filled with joy to see such a grand vista of a field of potatoes named after him.

Image: 2020 Seed Buyer's Guide published by Seed Potatoes Victoria www.spv.org.au

Here's some information about potatoes* -  Potatoes can be grown world wide, they are nutritious, relatively quick to grow and an effective use of land as 85 per cent of the potato plant is edible. Potatoes have been grown in the Andes for over 8000 years and came to Europe via the Spaniards in the 16th century and then spread throughout the world.  They have been grown on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp right from the time of settlement - the western end of the Koo Wee Rup Swamp was said to have produced 3000 tons of potatoes in 1894, just one year after the blocks were allocated to settlers, after the major drainage works. The importance of the potato to the economy of the Swamp was reflected in the Koo Wee Rup  Potato Festival, which ran from 1973 until 2000. 2008 was declared the Year of the Potato by the United Nations. 

 A composition of Catani potatoes.

*This information comes from a blog post I did for my work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to Our Past - http://caseycardinialinkstoourpast.blogspot.com/2008/01/year-of-potato.html

Unveiling of the Catani family grave headstone

On Tuesday, December 11 2018 a head stone was unveiled on the grave of Carlo and Catherine Catani at the Brighton cemetery. Surprisingly for a man who had given so much to Victoria  the grave did not have a head stone, so a small working party was formed to remedy this and the result is this wonderful tribute to Carlo and his family. Around twenty five people attended the ceremony, including Greg, Nima and  their daughter Katherine Catani, who had come all the way from the United States. Greg is the great, grand nephew of Carlo Catani.

The unveiling was presided over by the Reverend Kathryn Watt, vicar of Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Balaclava and Elwood. There were a number of guest speakers - Cr Dick Gross, Mayor of the City of Port Phillip; Jen Stone, President of the St Kilda Historical Society; Cr David Brand of the City of Port Phillip who is also an architect; Daniela (nee Volpe) Riachi who is the author of From Tuscany to Victoria: the life and work of Pietro Baracchi, Carlo Catani and Ettore Checchi (Italian Australian Institute, 2005) and Greg Catani who gave  a talk on behalf of the family.  I also did  a little talk. 

This is the elegant headstone designed by Isaac Hermann and created by North Eastern Memorials. The head stone was sponsored by donations from the City of Port Phillip, the St Kilda Historcal Society, the Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society and private donations. The bridge is Catani archway built in 1916 on the St Kilda foreshore and the palm trees are also a feature of the foreshore.

Reverend Kathryn Watt, of Holy Trinity Anglican Church Balaclava and Elwood, presided over the unveiling.  She did a lovely job and looked just like an angel, it was so special having her at the unveiling. Carlo and Catherine used to worship at the Anglican Church so it was a wonderful connection.  The headstone was covered by a black cloth and had a blue ribbon tied around it, which is draped over Kathryn's arm in this photo - the blue ribbon was in honour of Carlo's signature look - his 'sac suit of navy serge', you can read about this here. 

Left to right - Nima, Katherine and Greg Catani, Daniela Riachi, Isaac Hermann and Reverend  Kathryn Watt. 

Greg did the unveiling, but my photos of that were really ordinary, so I can't show you that. Isaac was the driving force behind this whole project and he should be commended and admired for all the work he put into honouring the Catani family by erecting a headstone on the grave. Isaac was helped and encouraged in this project, by many people, but especially Lois Comeadow, of the Brighton Cemetorians.  It was a lovely occasion and, as Carlo and Catherine have no living descendants, it was just wonderful that Greg, Nima and Katherine could be there. 

Carlo and the Victorian Government Gazette

One of my favourite sources of information is the Victoria Government Gazette. The Gazette and its predecessors are digitised for the years 1836 to 1997 and are available on-line here  http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/    The Gazette covers all official notifications of Government and Legal activities and was the main way that the Government communicated with the public. If a person had applied for a patent, been appointed or dismissed from a Government position,  been granted a miners right, become insolvent, been granted land, applied to register a trade mark, became a Cemetery Trustee, been appointed a registrar of births and deaths amongst other activities then you could find them listed in the Gazette. You will also find information about places such as when the town, cemetery, school or church site was officially established  or 'gazetted', local government information, information about Council tenders, lists of animals impounded at the local pound - the list goes on. 

Here are occasions that Carlo appeared in the Victoria Government Gazette - 

Granted certificate of competency as as Land Surveyor

Victoria Government Gazette February 6, 1880, p. 302.

Licensed to practise as a Surveyor

Victoria Government Gazette July 3, 1885, p. 1881.

Appointed Engineer for Roads, Bridges, Harbors, Jetties and Coast works. 

Victoria Government Gazette  November 25,  1892, p. 4340.

Appointed to a Land Classification Board for Village Settlement purposes

Victoria Government Gazette September 10, 1902, p. 3721

Appointed to a Land Classification Board

Victoria Government Gazette  May 18, 1910, p. 2429.

Appointed a Magistrate

Victoria Government Gazette August 12, 1914, p. 3558. 

Alexandra Avenue

In  July 1891 Melbourne suffered a major flood, when the Yarra River burst its banks and flooded surrounding areas. Later in the 1890s, plans were developed to straighten out the Yarra River to help reduce this flooding.  Carlo Catani prepared the plans and the entire project was carried out under his direction and supervision.  The work included the widening of the Yarra to the 300 feet as recommended by the Flood Board of Inquiry in 1892, but from Princes Bridge to the Cremorne Railway bridge, and diverting the course of the river to remove a sharp bend. 

On July 24, 1896 Carlo Catani wrote this letter to the Inspector of General Public Works, Davidson about the proposed Yarra River works -
The question is a complex one, as it involves, besides reducing the flood level, the other equally important one of improving and straightening the bed of the Yarra for navigation and recreation purposes, and also that very important factor of forming a beautiful promenade, worthy of Melbourne, on the bank of the river, where all classes could meet.*

These were the proposed works which included removing a sharp bend and widening the river.

State Library of Victoria - click on this link to see a higher resolution image of this map http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/114207

By 1897 according to a report in The Australasian of November 13, 1897 the Avenue beside the Yarra was under construction (read the full report here)
On the south bank a boulevard is in course of formation. It is so far advanced that a steam roller is now consolidating the metal between the five lines of deciduous trees. These trees define the various avenues. The avenue, 25ft wide, next the river bank is for pedestrians; next there is a bicycle track, also 25ft wide; then a carriage way 68ft  wide; and finally a track for equestrians 33ft wide. The equestrian track was covered with tan.

Did Melbourne succeed in fulfilling Carlo's hopes of having a a beautiful promenade, worthy of Melbourne, on the bank of the river?  We will turn to The Argus of November 13, 1937 to see what they had to say on the matter. On that day the newspaper had  a feature on 'Great thoroughfares of the World' written by L.R. McLennan. You can read the full article here but here is an excerpt

Paris may boast of its Champs Elysees, Berlin of its Tiergarten and its Unter den Linden, London of its Rotton Row and Rio de Janeiro of its spacious paved thoroughfares. Melbourne, a city scarcely past its century, has in St. Kilda road and Alexandra avenue two glorious thoroughfares, which, even the most seasoned of travellers admits, would grace any of the great cities of other lands. Visitors to Melbourne have called these two outlets 'the most beautiful in the world'. 
There are many famous riverside drives oversea, but in the opinion of architectural and civic leaders in Melbourne there are few to compare with Alexandra avenue....... Alexandra avenue, whose shadowed and dappled beauty ....must stand, while the City of Melbourne endures, as a lasting monument to the genius, foresight, and pertinacity of Carlo Catani. It is to Catani, great planner for the future, a former engineer-in-chief of the Public Works Department of Victoria at a period when the city was stepping from its swaddling clothes, more than to anyone else, that the residents of Melbourne owe this sweeping boulevard of almost Elysian beauty which is now in the green prime of the springtime.

Clearly, Carlo's hopes for the beautiful promenade were realised.

The Avenue was officially opened by the Duke of Cornwall and York on May 17, 1901. The main purpose of the visit of the Duke and Duchess, who  would later become King George V and Queen Mary, was to open the first Commonwealth Parliament on May 9  at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne. The Avenue was named after his mother, Queen Alexandra (I have included a short family tree of the Royal family at the end of this post) 

The State Library of Victoria has a number of photos of Alexandra Avenue - here are  a few -

Melbourne - Alexandra Avenue showing new cut for straightening the Yarra River and later the new course of the river

State Library of Victoria Image H347

Alexandra Avenue. the postcard was sent in 1906. On the right is the Temple of the Winds, designed and erected in 1901 by William Robert Guilfoyle to honour Charles Latrobe, first Governor of Victoria,  who selected the site of the Royal Botanic Gardens.  

State Library of Victoria Image H85.70/112

Alexandra Avenue. c. 1935.

State Library of Victoria Image H2000.222/20

Alexandra Avenue (Rose Series postcard)

State Library of Victoria Image H32492/1603

For those that are interested here is a short family tree of the Royal Family - Queen Victoria (1819 - 1901) - succeeded by Edward VII (1841 - 1910) who had married Princess Alexandra of Denmark (the namesake of Alexandra Parade). He was succeeded by George V (1865 - 1936), who had married Princess Mary of Teck. Their second son became George VI (1895 - 1952), who is the father of the present Queen (born in 1926).

*Catani’s letter to Inspector General of Public Works, Davidson - 24 July 1896, notes from the Alan Holgate Collection provided by Don Bartlett – VPRS 1139 Unit 2 - courtesy of Isaac Hermann.