Il 20 settembre 1834, Giovanni , figlio di Giuseppe Abbondio Scettrini e Maria Giovanna figlia di Guglielmo Scilacci si sono sposati presso la Chiesa della Beata Maria Vergine del Monte Carmelo in Corippo.
Nel 2014 in Australia e in Nuova Zelanda ci sono parecchi discendenti di Giuseppe Scettrini.
Margaret Riordan e Maurice Payn,
ci hanno trasmesso un riassunto della vita di questo intraprendente personaggio. (Sotto il testo originale in inglese).
Con la trasmissione anche dei dati di alcune nuove generazioni in Australia e NZ, ci hanno permesso di aggiornare l’albero genealogico “Roots in Corippo”
On September 20, 1834, John, son of Joseph Abondi Scitrini, and Maria Johanna, daughter of Gugliermus Scilacci, were married at the Church of the Blessed Mary Virgin of Mt Carmel, in Corippo, Canton of Ticino, Southern Switzerland.
A year later, on the ninth of September, 1835, their infant son, Joseph, was baptised at the same church.
It seems that Giuseppe probably left Corippo for the Victorian goldfields in 1857. Joseph Gentilli, in a letter to Val Keenan, describes how he has interpreted a scribble on the passenger list of the "Tornado" as a badly written Scettrini. This ship left Liverpool on 17 December 1857, and arrived in Melbourne on 29 March 1858, with nine passengers from Corippo on board. Gentilli describes how in the 1850s, a series of political events (including several blockades imposed by neighbouring countries), led to economic hardship in Ticino. A large number number of young men left Ticino in the hope of finding improved conditions on the goldfields of California, or in Victoria.
Joseph was married at St Kilian's, Sandhurst, (now known as Bendigo), on 6 August, 1864, to a young Irish woman named Catherine Heneberry. He described himself then as a 29 year old bachelor, resident at Sailor's Gully.
Their first child, Johanna, was born at Sandhurst on 29 December 1865, and their second child, John, was born at Eaglehawk, ( modern-day Ballarat?) in 1867.
Nothing definite is known about how Joseph and his family came across to New Zealand, though there are various oral family stories that indicate it may not have been on scheduled shipping. There are tales that "he changed his name" and "came on a pirate ship". Tasmania is also mentioned.
The family settled first at Waimea, near the Big Dam, during the Goldsborough rush, and Johanna is known to have gone to the school there. At least four children were born at Waimea: the first was MaryAnne in December 1869, and the last seems to be Joseph Beneda, born in May 1876.
The family is next known to be living at Kumara, where Joseph lived for the rest of his days in a house on Boundary Road.
On 21 March, 1883, Joseph applied for naturalisation. He is described as a goldminer, 45 years old, who has been living in the colony of New Zealand for 15 years, (which indicates that he arrived in New Zealand around 1868.)
On 6 January, 1887, Catherine Heneberry died, leaving Joseph a widower with eleven living children (nine of them girls), ranging in age from two to twenty-one. He never re-married.
There are quite a few documents that give information about Joseph Scettrini's life as a miner.
He applied for miner's rights in Kumara in 1878, and 1880-1882.
On 25 May, 1881, he gave notice of occupation of a residence area on the "flat near boundary track leading to Shallow Lead bounded on the north by the Government Race and (Seale's?) residence". This application was granted on condition that "he shall give it up if at any time required for mining purposes, without any compensation for land or improvements."
In September of 1890, Joseph discovered gold in a swampy area near Whiskey Creek, and a small rush occurred. He applied for a 6 acre claim and had constructed a 30ft tunnel. A newspaper reporter on Sept 15, 1890, found only one person working on the prospector's claim (assumed to be his son) and states that "I understand that Scetterini is not well at present and is consequently not working." He continues later: "I think we should all be desirous of rewarding a prospector and the storekeepers who had the courage to back him, for months, and though I consider six acres rather too large a slice for a very small party of men, I think the area should be in proportion to the labour expended.” A survey map was prepared of this area and a large copy, prepared by the West Coast Historical Museum staff, was on display at the 1992 Payn-Scettrini reunion.
Mr Seddon gave notice in Parliament on Sept 16, 1890, that this rush had occurred, and named the prospector as J. Sceterini. He sought Government aid to improve the access track.
Joseph is believed to have buried some of his gold, but when his section was dug up after his death, none was found.
At the family reunion in 1992, Elizabeth Payn's wedding photograph from 1912 was reproduced on the front page of The Greymouth Evening Star. It shows Joseph Scettrini seated in the front row, complete with walking stick and large white beard.
In 1915, during World War I, Joseph is listed on a register of aliens. He is listed as being 82 years old, having resided in New Zealand for 52 years, and having the occupation of Roadman.
Joseph lived until 4 October 1928, when he died, described as being a retired miner, 94 years old, at his daughter's residence in Boundary Rd, Kumara. He was survived by seven children and thirty grandchildren. His obituary says: "Deceased followed alluvial mining practically all his life, and was for some time employed on Government Roads in and about Kumara. He was one of Kumara's oldest identities, as well as being one of the longest lived of Kumara's citizens." He is buried at the Kumara Cemetery along with his wife and two of his daughters.
Note on SPELLING of Joseph Scettrini's name.
Joseph's original first name in Italian was Giuseppe. On the Latin baptismal entry it is written as josephus. The original spelling in Italian (in Corippo) of the surname is SCETTRINI, though on the Latin Church entries it appears as scitrini.
The surname is OFTEN misspelled, and when searching for information about the family in indexes, it is necessary to think quite laterally! Some of the variations in spelling that I have detected include Scetrini, Sectrini, Scetrina, Seitrina, Sechini, Seitrino, Scetrim, Setrini, Citrini.


