D’Andrea Family

Roy D’Andrea came to Rowville in 1945 at the age of ten. His father Guido had bought 44 acres along Heany Park Road and the family moved into an old house on the property. Conditions were austere in those days and Heany Park Road was just an unformed dirt track and there was no water supply (there still isn’t), electricity or telephone. Their light was provided by kerosene lamps, all meals were prepared on the wood stove and food was kept fresh in an ice chest.

Roy and his two sisters Edda and Linda walked each day to Stud Road to catch the bus to Scoresby State School. If they missed it they would have to walk to Scoresby. Later they attended Dandenong High School and also had to walk there at one stage when the bus service was suspended. Fortunately they were usually able to get a lift home with someone. There was not much traffic along Stud Road in those days and Roy recalled that the closest traffic lights were at the corner of Dandenong and Warrigal Roads.

Roy left Dandenong High at the end of Form Four (Year 10) and from then on worked full time on the farm with his father.

Roy’s Parents

Guido D’Andrea was born in Northern Italy near the town of Udine which is located not far from the border with Austria. He was the eleventh and youngest child of a farm worker, so there were few opportunities for him to make a successful life for himself in his native area.

At the age of 23 he decided to emigrate to Australia and set sail for Melbourne without the companionship of friends or family. However, he became firm friends with a number of other young Italian men on the boat who, like himself, saw Australia as a land of opportunity.

He spent his very first night in Melbourne with the Molina family, well known now as restauranteurs.

He first worked as a timber cutter in the bush in East Gippsland. His gang produced timber for the Wonthaggi coal mine. Later he worked as a quarryman in the clay pit at Officer. The kiln there was a major producer of terracotta ‘agi’ pipes. From there he went on to work on market gardens in the West Gippsland area.

Through friends he was put in touch with a young woman living near Verona, which is a city in Northern Italy, located about 100 miles south west of Guido’s home town of Udine.

Guido and Giovanna wrote regularly to each other and established such a warm friendship that Guido proposed that Giovanna marry him and come to join him in Australia. They were married by proxy in 1934 and Giovanna sailed for Melbourne alone but with high hopes for a new life with her hard working husband. She was not sorry to leave Italy which by then was under the domination of Mussolini and those who refused to join the Fascist Party had difficulty obtaining jobs.

They settled on a farm at Koo Wee Rup but not long afterwards Australia was to give Giovanna a rather rude welcome. One night they awoke to find water flooding into their house. (The famous 1934 flood put much of Victoria under water). Guido broke a hole in the ceiling intending to lift his young bride to safety there but fortunately the water level subsided.

Guido and Giovanna created a good marriage and a close family. Guido was a disciplinarian and Roy remembered him saying, “if you want to bring a tree up straight you must train it when it’s young. It’s no good trying to straighten an old tree”. Giovanna was a very kind and warm hearted person with a wide circle of friends.

Glen Waverley to Rowville

Gradually Guido had built up his savings and was able to lease a twenty acre market garden on the south- west corner of Lum and Waverley Roads in Glen Waverley.

Roy and Edda first went to school at Glen Waverley Primary School and Roy remembered pulling Edda by her hand up the steep hill on the way to school each day.

The owner of the farm offered to sell it to Guido for 100 pounds an acre but he couldn’t afford that price. (Of course, 20 years later it became very expensive real estate). Guido could, however, afford to buy 44 acres in Rowville and this move was to be his final one.

Using his horses, Guido ploughed his land on either side of Heany Park Road (including the area which is now the Pets Cemetery) and established his market gardens, growing potatoes, tomatoes, sprouts, cabbages and lettuces. The rabbits were a dreadful pest in the 1940s and Roy remembered that in one night they ate a complete crop of young bean plants. From then on Guido had to build rabbit proof fences around all his plantings.

In the wintertime the ground would become very wet and unworkable so Roy and his father spent that time cutting timber on what is now called the “bald hill”, and sold it for firewood. With the farm going well, Guido was able to afford to build a new home in the early 1950s and the family carried their furniture the 40 metres to their new residence with great delight.

When Roy was old enough to get his licence, he took over the job of driving their Commer truck to the Victoria Market. Twice a week he would leave home at two o’clock in the morning loaded with vegetables. Official selling was not permitted until 4.00am but lots of deals were arranged before that time. Now that he could drive Roy could take his sisters on Saturday nights to the pictures in Thomas Street, Dandenong, or to the old-time dances at the Dandenong Town Hall. These occasions were the highlights of the week. Two major family events were the purchase of a Vanguard car and a Ferguson tractor. Guido’s market garden friends were sceptical that a tractor could replace horses and gathered with great interest to watch him demonstrate its capabilities.

Although times were getting better, they were still almost self sufficient on the farm. Apart from growing their own vegetables, they milked a cow and made their own butter and cheese. (The cheese was so good that Guido used to supply the Florentino Restaurant). Hens provided eggs and meat and they kept a pig for pork and ham at Christmas.

Guido bought grapes during February each year and made his own wine. Roy’s mother was a skilled lace maker and her work has been displayed at exhibitions.

Rowville Fire Brigade

Guido was a member of the Fire Brigade when Jack Finn was the Captain. In those days their only equipment were beaters and knapsacks.

Roy joined the brigade as a young man and is its oldest member with over thirty years of service. He has held the positions of Second and First Lieutenant and for some years was the delegate to the Knox CFA Local Advisory Committee and the Knox Group Committee.

Rowville Football Club

As a young man, Roy was asked by Cr. Bernie Seebeck, “How would you like to be Secretary of the Football Club, Roy?” Naively thinking there wouldn’t be much to do, he accepted but soon realised there was more to it than writing the minutes and the occasional letter. He stuck at it, however, for four years before taking on other positions with the club. He is proud to be a life member of the club and is currently (1992) the secretary of the Hawkers, the club’s support group.

Giovanna died in 1972 and Guido in 1977. Edda and Linda are married with families of three and four children respectively. Roy still lives in the family home in Heany Park Road and although retired, is still very busy in local affairs.
Interviewed by Bryan Power                                  PHOTOS