Tognolini Family
Antonio Tognolini was born in 1850 in Tirano, Sondria, Lombardia, Italy and arrived in Australia as a passenger on the ‘Northumberland’ in 1874. He was the son of Antonio Tognolini (Snr) and Madeline Tuni. We have no knowledge of his early life in Australia but by the early 1880’s he was living in the Yandoit district and had been working as a wood cutter and occasional charcoal manufacturer, on leased land.
Antonio was the husband of Annie Phillips and the step father of Henry Phillips, Rhonnie’s grandfather.
Antonio moved to live with Annie around 1885 but they would have known of each other for a few years. The couple may have lived together at the house of annie’s stepfather, Luigi Germani, for a short while but around 1886 Antonio leased 115 acres at the south end of American Gully, close to the junction of gazetted roads and the then new coach track, from farmer Angelo Milesi. These 115 acres contained a small garden allotment, on which the couple commenced to build a stone house, but also plant an orchard and a vineyard. In 1891 Angelo put this land up for sale and Antonio appears to have been able to purchase part of the allotment, some 35 acres. In 1894 the couple applied for and purchased another adjoining 12 acres, lot 48, that abutted the Yandoit Creek Road. They completed building the house and also, around 1906, built a Cobb & Co way-station, on their land, which was immediately adjacent to the main coach route from Yandoit to Castlemaine.
In the first house, shown in early spring below, Annie Phillips and Antoni Tognolini had brought up thirteen children.
Annie and Tog’s land 
Historical Coach Track marker
These buildings are standing to this day, despite a bushfire and several restorations, a preserved heritage property, known as ‘Tog’s Place’. From about 1865 these Cobb & Co coaches ran almost daily from Castlemaine to the Yandoit diggings and continued until the Great War period. Once the horse drawn “Cobb and Co.” coaches stopped coming to the way-station the couple continued farming on this land and on another 20 acres, to the North-East, that they purchased in 1909. Antonio became a naturalized Australian on the 12th May 1911, when he was 60 years old and this was most likely done at that time to allow him to access the ‘old age pension’, which had commenced in 1900, but was only for British or naturalised residents.
The main house is on the right in the above gallery, and the Cobb Way-Station on the left. The center shot is of the obligatory ‘Italian’ wine cellar. We were fortunate when we called in at the property, to catch the current owners, who were pleased to show us through both buildings, which have been beautifully restored throughout.
TIMBER AND CHARCOAL INCOME
Antonio, throughout his life, was primarily a ‘timber getter’ and ‘charcoal producer’. He did occasional work providing fencing posts for local farmers but his main source of income was through the sale of charcoal, mainly for the miners throughout the district. There are stories, even in the local papers of the time, of ‘Old Tog’s’ driving his horse and cart from Yandoit to Creswick, loaded with charcoal for the refining battery. Alongside him, always one of his sons.
It is likely that this was a poor household and with many mouths to feed. The children would have had to assist with as many duties as possible around the farm and assisting with the timber felling and charcoal burning. The latter would have been dirty and hazardous work. In 1908 and 1909 Antonio was called before the local Education Officer for not getting his children to school. At that time the couple would have had only six children of school attendance age. The other eight would have been working on the farm or employed around the district. We do know that times were difficult as four years before in 1905 Antonio and Annie got into debt with the local hospital and after being charged Antonio claimed he could not afford the payments because he had 12 children to feed and only one working with income. This suggests that in 1905 eldest son Henry, who was 20 years old, would have already left home to find employment.
Antonio and Annie eventually married in 1918, when Annie was 54 years old and he 68 and after having twelve children together. Annie died on the 24th February 1924, in her bed, in this American Gully house at 60 years, from heart failure and is buried at the Sandon Cemetery. By this time Antonio had already moved into a house at 5 Market St, Bendigo and he died there in 1932; he is buried in the Bendigo Cemetery. Son Antonio handled the probate for the estate.
A note about Yandoit and Italian migration. Many Italian and Swiss Italian migrants settled in the Yandoit area in the 1850’s and built many fine stone houses typical of their home country. Antonio was clearly an acquaintance of the Gervasoni families, also from Lombardia, who had taken up land around Yandoit since the early 1860’s. Three members of the Gervasoni clan arrived in Yandoit as miners but quickly acquired land for dairy and crop farming.
The other children were Antonio Stephen, b1886 and became Anthony, Mary Catherine b1888, Samuel b1890, Stephen b1892, Lillian Elizabeth b1894, John b1895, Andrew b1897, Alexander Joseph b1900, Louis James b1901, Ann Elizabeth b1902, William Arthur b1904, Joseph Emmanuel b1907 and Bernard Victor b1910.
In July of 1915, Henry enlisted, at Yandoit Mechanics Hall, for military service in the Military Police Corp, to serve in WW1. Three of his Tognolini brothers also enlisted at the same time, but in the AIF; John (Jack), Stephen and Andrew. Two served in Gallipoli and France. This looks like some ‘brothers arrangement’ because Terang was some 220km from Yandoit, a fair hike for Henry, so that all brothers could sign up on the same day.
Anthony married Alpha Charlotte Alice Hurdle in 1913 and they were farmers at Strathlea from at least 1927 through to Anthony’s death in 1947 and then Alpha on her own to 1949, when she moved into Castlemaine. Strathlea is a hamlet 25km west of Castlemaine. They had seven children. Anthony died in 1947 at Castlemaine when he was 61 years. Of their children, the boys worked on the railways before turning to farming in the local area. Alpha continued to live in Castlemaine, dying in 1981 aged 96 years.
Mary Catherine Tognolini married William Andrews, a labourer, in 1920. They lived at Clunes, in the Daylesford area until the early 1930’s, when they moved to Rochester, north of Bendigo. In 1963 they moved to Kyabrum, staying there until she died in 1970.
Samuel b1890, died at 89 years in 1955 at Yarra, Victoria. Samuel had been a waterside worker from the mid 1920’s to when he retired. He married Mary Ann and they lived around Port and South Melbourne throughout their lives.
Stephen b1892 joined the AIF in May 1915, along with his brother Jack and served in the 21st Infantry Battalion. At that time, he had been a woodcutter, probably working for his father’s charcoal business, as he was still living with Antonio. Stephen returned from the war in 1918 and joined his brother Samuel on the waterfront as a waterside worker.
Lillian (Jessie) Elizabeth b1894 married Thomas William McManus, a mechanic from Newstead, in 1913. They lived in Benalla until the early 1960’s when they moved back to Newstead. Lillian died in 1963 but Thomas lived until the 1970’s. They had four children, unknown, Roy, Laura and Jack.
John, better known as Jack joined the AIF in 1915 when he was 21 years. He was initially enlisted in the 22nd Battalion and embarked for Gallipoli that year. He later transferred to the 57th Battalion and served on the Western Front, France, and was killed at the Somme. His grave is at the Aubigny British Cemetery (C9), France.
Andrew b1897, also served in the AIF, served at Gallipoli and the Western Front. He returned to live in the Castlemaine district and commenced farming at Campbelltown, south of Newstead, but died suddenly in 1925, he was still single. He is buried at Sandon Cemetery.
Alexander Joseph b1900 married Nellie May. Alexander was an agricultural labourer, living at Rochester, all of his life. He died in 1972.
Louis (Lewis) b1901 followed his brothers onto the waterfront as a stevedore at Melbourne Ports. He married Rita and they lived at Melbourne Ports before moving to North Footscray and then Yarraville. Lewis died in 1979.
Louis and Rita inspect Yandoit house after partial distruction due to 1950’s bushfires.
Anne E died in 1975
William died in 1987
Joseph died in 1924
Bernard died in 1971
IN PROGRESS