A Tree of Identity

What makes us what we are?  What gives us our appearance?  Who gave me brown eyes?  Where did my height come from?  My olive skin and my oldest child's curly hair?  These are the fascinating questions and more that I am trying to un cover.

I am very proud of my heritage.  I always have been.  That is the main reason when I married I did not change my surname to that of my hubs.  It is what I was born with and what I will continue to use till my days are done.  It is a name that we hold as the only ones in Tasmania.  A name that travelled many miles to settle in this once remote country.  A name that is a link to my Italian ancestry.  It is my name.

On my mothers side many stories have emerged.  We are of British stock with convict heritage.  Of aristocracy and missed opportunities to regain that title.  There were founding members of Tasmania's music culture.  A  family spread far and wide across this little state that has been traced back to the 1600s.  There are many graves of my family dotted through out this island and my wish is to sometime visit as many as I can.  I am fascinated by my history and the keys that it holds to my being here.


My Great Grandfather Domenico Antonio

My youngest son has a name that we have since discovered was a very strong surname amongst my mothers family.  The pleasure I felt upon learning that was immense.  He carries a strong bond to this family now that I hope he will recognise in his future.

On my father side things are a bit different.  My father was born in England but is of Italian heritage.  This is where my brown eyes and olive skin come from.   My height though is still a mystery.

I have been told I look like my Great Grandfather Domenico Antonio.  We share the same shaped face and features.  He was a master sculpture.  One that was commissioned to do work for Queen Victoria and the Royalty of Nepal. There is alot of his work still standing in Kathmandu and I do so hope to one day to travel there and see this piece of my family. To see his name and my surname engraved onto one of the master pieces he created.
I unfortunately did not inherit any of his artistic talents.

Trying to find out more information about this side of my family is proving very difficult. I know my Great great great Grandmother was a miniature painter renowned through out the world called Anna Nistri ( Maiden name) and she married a violinist called Luigi and they came from the Lucca region in Tuscany but that is as far as I have been able to go.  Lots of dead ends.


Domenico  working on a statue that was sent
and placed in Kathmandu Nepal



I do so hope to go further back but I can see it will take time and patience.  It is a side of my family that I am fascinated by.  One that intrigues me, and I share this with my father.  There is not alot known about his mothers side other than being British.

They emigrated to Australia when my father and his siblings ( he is a triplet ) were 7 years old.   They left to escape the devastation of London after World War 2.  They left to discover a country totally foreign and different to all they left behind.  An adventure for a new life.



Susan ..
in Tasmania's Museum

My Great Grandfather followed shortly after.  He died here and his ashes are still with the family.  A great man of enormous talent leaving England to be with his son and family.  A man who died with no recognition of his work.  A man who my dad remembers and he has continued to fight for his memory through hard work.  My Father even managed to have one of his statures removed from the vaults of a museum in England and shipped to Tasmania where it now is on show in our Museum in the North of the state.  To have this here feels like a piece of my families puzzle has been put into place.

So, we all come from different parts of the world.  Each member of our family past and present has helped create who we are today. 

My sons curls I think are from my dads side.   My height? Well most were rather vertically challenged so that one remains to be discovered,  but I am grateful to my ancestors for taking the chance and the journeys with their families to have me here today. I am thankful for the sacrifices they placed upon them selves to give me the best start they could.  I may never have met many but their blood runs through my veins and I will pass that on for the next generations to come.

A Family tree is the term used to place us all in the natural progression of life.  It branches far and wide.  It holds us in that space of ' we belong ' to someone.  It is a tree of never ending history in the past and for the future.  It really is A Tree of Identity.

               Cheers Dilly xx