
Canon Raffaele Martelli (13 March 1811August 1880) was an Italian-Australian priest. He was
Toodyay's first
Catholic priest
The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...
. He was a scholarly and gentle man who was much loved by settlers of all faiths. Martelli did not keep a diary, but his personality and humour shines through his regular correspondence with his friend Bishop
Rosendo Salvado
Rosendo Salvado Rotea OSB (1 March 1814 – 29 December 1900) was a Spanish Benedictine monk, missionary, bishop, pianist, composer, author, founder and first abbot of the Territorial Abbey of New Norcia in Western Australia. Salvado introduced ...
of
New Norcia
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995
* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
. His letters from Toodyay reveal the day-to-day travails of a priest who started out with no house or church. He had to rely on the goodwill of his parishioners for a roof over his head and food on the table, while a pair of woollen winter socks from Salvado brought him untold joy.
Early life
Martelli was born in
Ancona
Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...
, Italy, on 13 March 1811. His
baptism
Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...
al certificate gives his full name as ''Napoleone Raffaele Mariano Melchiorre''. As a young boy he was enrolled in the
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
of San Carlo in Ancona. He studied the humanities and learnt French and English, eventually acquiring fluency in several languages. In 1834 he was
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
a priest, then created a
canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western canon, th ...
of the church of Santa Maria della Piazza. For a time Martelli was also politically active as Italy was undergoing the upheavals of the
Italian Risorgimento
The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century Political movement, political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, annexation of List of historic states of ...
. However this did not sit well with his priestly vocation and he had to withdraw his involvement.
Western Australia
Martelli’s path to
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
started with his appointment at the
Monastery of Santa Scolastica in
Subiaco, Italy
Subiaco is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the Italian region of Latium, from Tivoli alongside the River Aniene. It is a tourist and religious resort because of its sacred grotto ( Sacro Speco), in the ...
where he taught
rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...
. Monks were prepared for missionary work at the monastery, and soon after his arrival in 1851 the monastery was visited by
Rosendo Salvado
Rosendo Salvado Rotea OSB (1 March 1814 – 29 December 1900) was a Spanish Benedictine monk, missionary, bishop, pianist, composer, author, founder and first abbot of the Territorial Abbey of New Norcia in Western Australia. Salvado introduced ...
and
Venancio Garrido, both of whom became dear friends. Salvado had travelled from Western Australia to seek funds from Rome and resources for his
Benedictine monastery
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, they ...
at
New Norcia
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995
* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
where he planned to establish a
mission
Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to:
Geography Australia
*Mission River (Queensland)
Canada
*Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality
* Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood
* ...
for
Aboriginals. Martelli wanted to join Salvado and sought letters of recommendation to this end. Abbot Angelo Pescetelli in Rome wrote:
In April 1853 Martelli accompanied Salvado on the ''
John Panter'' for the journey to Western Australia. There were two other priests and 39 monks on board. They arrived at
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...
on 15 August 1853. The friendship between the two men enabled Martelli to leave behind everyone and everything he knew and loved for the unknown.

Martelli worked in Fremantle before being appointed to Toodyay in 1856. Salvado had visited the town in 1855 and with the assistance of a
ticket-of-leave man had marked out a site for a church and petitioned the governor for 10 acres of land. Although the number of Catholics in the region was relatively small, it had increased with the arrival of convicts and
Enrolled Pensioner Guards
The Pensioner Guards were English military personnel who served on Convicts in Australia, convict transportation ships en route to colony of Western Australia, colonial Western Australia between 1850 and 1868, and were given employment and grants ...
(EPGs) and their families at the two rural
convict hiring depots at
York
York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
and
Toodyay. At first Martelli was allowed to use one of the new unfurnished EPG cottages built at the depot, now located upstream of the townsite. The Guards had been occupying
A-frame
An A-frame is a basic structure designed to bear a Structural load, load in a lightweight economical manner. The simplest form of an A-frame is two similarly sized Beam (structure), beams, arranged in an angle of 45 degrees or less, attached a ...
straw huts at the
first Toodyay Convict Hiring Depot and Pensioner Guard Barracks while the cottages were being constructed. When Martelli was instructed to vacate the cottage he was offered EPG
David Gailey's straw hut as temporary quarters. Gailey was an Irish Catholic and helped Martelli in various ways. Martelli reciprocated with small gifts such as a pot of butter that he asked Salvado to acquire for him. In one letter to Salvado he wrote, "I received some plants and herbs which I gave as a present to Mr Gailey." His stay in the hut was short and he had to move into a wooden shack by the river. During heavy flooding in July 1857 he found himself marooned in his "cheerless house" while floodwaters swirled around him. During these years Martelli worked hard for his parishioners while trying to raise funds to build the church.
In September 1856 the Catholic Church had been granted Toodyay town lots 51, 52 and 53 for a schoolhouse, presbytery and church. The following year a lot was secured for a cemetery. He requested assistance from the government, and by November 1856 with help from volunteers the walls of the chapel had been erected, but the church needed a roof; lack of funds caused a lengthy delay.
In March 1858 he was transferred back to Fremantle to serve as chaplain to the
Convict Establishment
Fremantle Prison, sometimes referred to as Fremantle Gaol or Fremantle Jail, is a former List of Australian prisons, Australian prison and World Heritage Site in Fremantle, Western Australia. The site includes the prison cellblocks, gatehouse, ...
. For Martelli to work at the Establishment he had to become a
British subject
The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...
and swear allegiance to
the Crown
The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
; he thus became the first Italian in WA to be a
naturalised
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...
a British subject, although "matters of nationality or citizenship meant little to him". In January 1859, the
Church of Sancta Maria in Toodyay was blessed by Bishop
Joseph Serra. He also consecrated the original
St Patrick's Church in York that Martelli had undertaken to build.
During his time at York and Toodyay, Martelli gained the respect of both Catholic and
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
alike. He and the Reverend
Charles Harper became firm friends at a time when religious intolerance was encountered all too often.
In 1868, after his time at the Establishment, followed by more years of work based in Fremantle, Martelli was given permission to "withdraw" to the monastery at New Norcia. He lived a very happy and active life there before Bishop
Martin Griver
Martin Griver y Cuni (11 November 1814 in Granollers, Spain1 November 1886 in Perth, Western Australia), an Australian bishop, was the second Roman Catholic Bishop of Perth, serving from 1873 until his death in 1886.
Early life in Spain
As a y ...
transferred him back to Toodyay in 1872, where he again served the
Avon Valley district. By then the
new town of Newcastle had been established at the depot, and a new
St John the Baptist Church constructed, where Martelli conducted an unofficial school in a back room. Martelli remained in Toodyay until June 1880 when he retired to New Norcia, his "earthly paradise". He was already ill and died there on 3 August 1880; he was buried next to his friend Garrido.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Martelli, Raffaele
1811 births
1880 deaths
People from Ancona
People from Toodyay, Western Australia
Settlers of Western Australia
19th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests
19th-century Australian Roman Catholic priests
Italian emigrants to Australia