An outline of Spencer's life and family is
here.
Here's his Family Web, i.e. 16 family-lines.
And here are photos from his funeral on 23 November 2018.
By 1880, the economic policies of the then-new country of Italy had seriously harmed the interests of the poor contadini (peasant workers) on the plains north of Venice. Their desire for a better life was exploited by a Frenchman whose 'noble' blood brought with it standing, but little money. So the Marquis de Rays sold fares to poor people who believed that they were going to be overseers on coffee plantations in New Ireland, off the NE coast of New Guinea, beside the Equator. Even by the standards of the time, the scheme was outlandish, and he was banned from using Italian and French ports, and later jailed.
Spencer's father, Giuseppe Spinaze (then aged one) travelled with his father Lorenzo, mother Maria, and 4 siblings aged 3-10, on the 3rd of the Marquis' four ill-fated expeditions. They sailed on the 885-ton India, ex Barcelona on 9 July 1880, arriving in 'Port Breton' (a fanciful name for the southern tip of New Ireland) on 14 Oct 1880. After 4 months of privation, the c. 250 survivors (of the original c. 320) forced the captain to sail the vessel to New Caledonia/Noumea.
After 2000km / 1000nm in 20 days (i.e. at about 2 knots), they reached Noumea in a no-longer-seaworthy vessel, without any water or food, on 12 Mar 1881. The c. 30 French migrants stayed in Noumea. On 2 Apr 1881, the 210 remaining Italians sailed on the 388-ton James Paterson to Sydney, thanks to intervention by the NSW Premier, Henry Parkes. They arrived on the night of 7 Apr 1881 – another 2000km / 1000nm away, but this time at 7-8 knots. They thereby became arguably the colony's first 'boat people' - economic refugees from a faraway land. Further information about the expedition and the Spinaze and Capelin expeditioners is here and here.
After a one-year period of indenture (devised in part to avoid an Italian ghetto), the families were free to seek sustenance and opportunities wherever they liked. By early 1883, 2 years after arrival, the Spinazes and other expedition families had settled between Grafton and Lismore in Northern NSW, at La Cella Venezia / New Italy. The area was occupied by expeditioners and their descendants for about 50 years. The 194 arriving expeditioners had about 37 family-names, in about 44 family-units, with about 54 children under 10 (per Thompson – there are several, somewhat varying counts). About 3/4 lived in New Italy for some period at least. Several histories have been written, including one by Spencer.
It appears that Giuseppe Spinaze (1880-1971) was the youngest who set out on the expedition – 4 months old when the ship sailed. Three of the children who were born on the voyage somehow survived, and hence were younger than he was on arrival in Sydney. Spencer Spinaze (1924-2018) was Giuseppe's last-born, and Spencer was 94 when he died. So Spencer was one of the last few children born of an expeditioner and there's a reasonable chance that he was the last immediate descendant of an expeditioner to pass on.
Spencer, along with his three siblings Laurie Barnes(1908-1994), Vera Sommerlad (1910-2007) and Ray Spinaze (1914-2006), had deep associations with New Italy and the Expeditioners who founded it. One of their parents, all four of their grandparents, and one great-grandparent, were on the India. (Great-grand-mother Lucia died at Port Breton). So it's unsurprising that various family-members have invested a great deal of effort into the New Italy enterprise.Spencer chaired the Committee that successfully ran Centenary Celebrations in 1980. Barry Sommerlad wrote: "With the small profit made, [Spencer] overcame many obstacles and much opposition to purchase land on the corner of the highway 50km south of Lismore [in 1983], and build a museum to showcase the story of the New Italy settlers. He became the founding President of the New Italy Museum organisation and under his guidance and with the assistance of many volunteers, the mud brick buildings which now form part of the New Italy Museum complex, were constructed". The museum opened in 1989, and operates successfully today. John Barnes, a nephew of Spencer's, has been the Museum's President since 2012. Unsurprisingly, Spencer was awarded an MBE in 1982, for services to the community. In 1983 he received a Knighthood in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic for his contribution to the Italian pioneers.
This a page within Linda Spinaze's Family Web-Site
Contact: Roger Clarke
and Linda Spinaze
Created: 20 November 2018; Last Amended: 30 November 2018