Deep Dive
The history of emigration from Corippo can be traced particularly well through the genealogical records of the long-established patrician families (such as Scilacci, Arcotti, Codoni, or Scettrini). The lure of Australian gold (in the Province of Victoria from 1851 onwards) was so powerful that countless young men embarked on the dangerous, months-long voyage.
The travel conditions were appalling: the emigrants spoke no English, often suffered from scurvy on the overcrowded ships, and were usually malnourished on arrival. On the goldfields, they faced hard physical labour, dysentery, high licence fees (which in 1854 culminated in the Eureka Rebellion), and constant setbacks.
The Scettrini family exemplifies this exodus: around 1850, no fewer than 16 members of this family emigrated to Australia to prospect for gold. Four of them settled permanently and established new livelihoods. Some later moved on as far as New Zealand.
In anglophone registers, their surnames were often phonetically adapted, which is why their lines of descent can today also be found under names such as Scitrini or Setrini in Oceania. Those Ticinese who did not remain on the goldfields often put their learned trades to use: in Sydney and Melbourne, many worked as highly regarded stonemasons or founded agricultural enterprises.