The Fremantle Fleet and the Fishers of Men

15 Aug 2019

By The Record

Archbishop Costelloe with members of clergy on board the fleet in 2018, accompanied by Rev Patrick King, Rector of St John’s Anglican Church in Fremantle (right). Photo: Josh Low.

By Eric Martin

The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) are set to celebrate 125 years of service in Australia on 18 August 2019, honouring the arrival in Perth in 1894 of Frs Roger Hennessy OMI and Daniel O’Ryan OMI, to serve the seaport parish of Fremantle and the growing fleet of Italian fisherman.

Fremantle’s importance for Italian migrants can be traced back to the turn of the century when in 1897, with the opening of Victoria Quay, Fremantle replaced Albany as Western Australia’s main port.

According to Leopoldo Zunini, Western Australia’s first resident Italian vice-consul, at the turn of the century (1902), he counted just over 180 Italians in Fremantle and almost all of them were fishermen.

The first Italian (Sicilian) fishermen had arrived in the 1880s, setting up initially at Point Peron and fishing and selling their catch cooperatively through The Rockingham Fishing Company under the leadership of Cono Glorioso.

Men from the Apulia region soon followed, lured by tales of rich fishing grounds, pearl shell and gold.

The Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour started with a single jetty, near the existing Cicerello site, with the original fish markets situated at its end. The fishermen would unload their catch onto the jetty – right at the markets – and then head to the inner harbour for anchorage.

Blessing of the Fleet 1948, with participants still dressed in military uniform post WWII. Photo: Archives.

In 1919 a 300-metre breakwater was constructed to provide shelter for all of the fishing boats operating from Fremantle and by the 1920s, as wives and children came out to join their husbands and fathers, a greater range of Italian commercial and recreational facilities were developed.

Sicilian and Apulian fishermen continued to join their friends and relatives in the fishing industry. From the start, the two fishing communities were distinct: the Molfettesi preferred to live on their boats or in shared accommodation in High and Cliff Streets whereas the Sicilians lived in the streets running up from Marine Terrace and South Jetty – near where their boats were moored.

In 1929, the fish market was removed from the end of the timber jetty and reconstructed where the Sails Restaurant now stands.

In 1950, Oblate Fr Pietro Abramo arrived from Italy to minister at Saint Patrick’s Basilica, quickly followed in 1951 by Fr Gaetano Nanni. The ever increasing numbers of predominantly Italian men joining the Fremantle fishing fleet required more priests to meet the need for Catholic services such as Mass and Baptism.

Fr Nanni celebrated Italian masses and baptised, married and buried almost every Italian in Fremantle.

Archbishop Timothy Costelloe blesses the Madonna dei Martiri and those on board to mark the Fishing Fleet’s 70th anniversary in 2018. Photo: Josh Low.

A succession of Italian-speaking Oblates arriving in the following years encouraged the adoption of certain feast days, venerating the patron saint of specific regions from which the Italians originated. The largest and best known being the Blessing of the Fleet.

First celebrated in Fremantle in 1948 by fishermen from Molfetta to venerate their patron saint, The Madonna dei Martiri, the Molfettesi were soon joined by their counterparts from Capo d’Orlando (Messina, Sicily), who included the Madonna di Capo d’Orlando in the procession.

The tradition dates back to the 12th century, with legend claiming a boat filled with injured and dying Crusaders returned from the Holy Land in 1188 and found a Byzantine-style icon of the Madonna and child floating on the water. They took it to a hospice built in Molfetta and for generations people in Molfetta attributed miracles to the icon.

The Fremantle festival began as an expression of ‘campanilismo’ (parochial pride) by the migrants from these two towns and grew to include all of the Italians in the area, as well as the Portuguese and Croatian fishermen who worked with the fleet.

The Blessing affirms their deep faith and strong ties to Italy, as well as celebrating the contribution and identity that they have forged locally.

Today, each October, the Blessing of the Fleet attracts thousands of visitors to Fremantle, who come to watch Fremantle’s Italian community carry the banners and sashes of the specific Saint or Madonna from their original hometown.

Traditionally, the procession leaves St Patrick’s Basilica at 2pm and winds its way through the streets of Fremantle, with the Archbishop performing the Blessing at 3.30pm in Fishing Boat Harbour, during which the statues of the Madonna di Capo d’Orlando and the Madonna dei Martiri of Molfetta are taken aboard two fishing boats chosen to represent the fleet.

There is an early fireworks display at 4.30pm before the procession returns to the Basilica at 5pm – closing with a big fireworks display at 8pm.

The 125 year anniversary Mass will be held at 10am Sunday 18 August in St Patrick’s Basilica, and people from across Perth are invited to participate in this historic occasion for both the church and the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.