De Ceglie Family

Mauro, Giovanni and Pas De Ceglie worked in Sydney before coming to Fremantle in 1901 and later they arranged for their youngest brother Donato to join them. After years as fishers, Donato and Giovanni returned to Italy to defend their country in the Great War of 1914-18. Giovanni had married Anastasia (Nesta) Germinario and they gave birth to Giuseppe in 1915 and Sergio in 1916. Giovanni was killed in action, and, as was common in those days, his brother Donato married Anastasia to help raise her two sons. Donato returned to Fremantle aboard the Omar alone to rejoin his remaining two brothers, Mauro and Pas.

He then called his 16-year-old Step-Son Giuseppe to join him in Fremantle. Giuseppe arrived in 1931 aboard the Otranto. Mauro De Ceglie's boat was ‘Anita’ and Donato's boat, Lupa. The brothers worked together, pooling their money. They rose at three each morning, had a cup of black coffee, then tended their boats for the day's fishing. Sailing to Rottnest, they could fish with lines for dhufish and snapper. Lunch might consist of bread, onion and cheese. At around three or four in the afternoon they would return to the Fremantle Fish Market jetty with the day's catch to sell. In the evening they ate a meal of grilled fish and soup or spaghetti and meat, with a cup of black tea. After their meal they would go out again to net for herring, garfish and mullet. Leisure time was meagre as they usually worked seven days a week, especially during the peak seasons, and went fishing during both the day and night. Occasionally they would play cards, but not for money, and occupied themselves with correspondence to and from their families.

Donato and Giuseppe worked in Cockburn Sound where the Snapper were abundant, but life wasn’t as ideal as he’d have liked. Initially, they lived onboard their 35-foot boat. In Molfetta, Giuseppe had lived in a house, but when he arrived in Fremantle, he found himself sleeping on bags on a boat. Eventually, with a group of other fishermen from Molfetta, they managed to secure “apartments” on the top of the old warehouses that still line Cliff Street. The old warehouse was opposite Lionel Samson's business, where up to 20 fishers boarded at any time. The kitchen and living area were downstairs and the sleeping accommodation - mattresses on the floor, was upstairs.

By the time he reached his 20’s, Giuseppe was interested in purchasing his own boat with others. There was a buzz about the crayfish which some of the Molfettese fleet were starting to bring in from deeper waters. He decided to join the Paino family, and with Saverio Mezzina purchased the Umberto Maddalena. Giuseppe met Saverio’s sister-in-law Filomena Rotondella in 1940 – love blossomed and they were married. They went on to have 9 children; 6 boys (John, Sam, Don, Mick, Serge and Nick) and 3 girls (Annastacia , Anna and Geraldine). The couple initially had two boys (John and Sam) and life was looking great. World War II then broke out and the family was thrown into chaos. Giuseppe and his Step-Father Donato were interned on Rottnest Island and their boats were impounded. At age 27, now in front of the “Alien’s Tribunal”, arguing why he shouldn’t be imprisoned for National Security reasons during World War II, he proclaimed with strong conviction, “I AM living here, and I will die here”. Filomena wrote passionate letters and pleaded for her husband’s release.

After the war they gradually picked up the pieces and got to work again. Giuseppe would go on to become the successful patriarch of a big fishing family that helped build Fremantle. The kids had an idyllic life growing up in the town where there were no backyard fences. They lived in Nairn Street and Collie Street and their playground was the reclaimed park – the Esplanade Reserve. After school they would go crabbing and prawning and fishing in little dinghies. They could walk the shoreline all the way to South Beach. By their teen years they were already seasoned salts. Their father Giuseppe worked at Lancelin, so the family used to go there during the school holidays and spend time up with other families. They’d also go on fishing trips with their Father. By the time they were 10, all the boys could splice ropes, make pots, tie fishhooks and mend nets.

John, the eldest of the 6 sons, was born in October 1941. During the school holidays he worked at the Fremantle Fisherman’s Co-op processing crayfish. This gave him the experience and knowledge, for later on in life when he worked on the freezer boat St. Gerard. John left Christian Brothers College in Fremantle at the age of 14 years and began working on the Maddalena. He worked on the Maddalena for 3 years with his Father Giuseppe, and his future father-in-law, Salvatore Mezzina. Giuseppe decided to build his own boat to provide a stable future for his sons. The boat he built in 1958 was called the St. Gerard and it was built by Coleman and Sons in North Fremantle. Giuseppe’s wife Filomena was a devout Catholic. Every year after making their new gear for the season, she would ask the Priest to come on board and bless the boat and the crew and all the people on the boat.

The St. Gerard was built as a freezer boat. John, his Father Giuseppe and the brothers worked for more than 15 years in the coast town of Greenhead in WA. At that time there were no seashore depots for unloading their crayfish. Only 2 to 3 boats worked in Greenhead due to the distance and isolation of the town. Giuseppe taught his sons the passages and the grounds where to work as he had learnt in his fishing days before crayfishing started.

After 2 years, Giuseppe decided it was time for John to take over the reigns as Skipper of the St. Gerard. John had completed his Grade I and II tickets. John took over at the age of 21 years, with his brothers Sam, Don and Mick. It was very hard work catching crays, processing them and freezing them on the freezer boat. John’s Mum Filomena was always worried about having 4 sons out at sea all on the 1 boat. Giuseppe reassured their sons were ready to take over and look after themselves. After the crayfishing season, John and his brothers would continue working the shark bay snapper season and would stay away for another 2 and a half months. John also did prawning in Shark Bay and Exmouth Gulf and also in Onslow. John did relief work for Joe Rotondella on his trawler for 6 years. John furthered his career and was asked if he would take on the position of First Mate on a Fisheries research vessel called the Flinders. He took on this work for 4 months and worked with the Skipper Ron Dockrill who taught him a lot about navigation and it was a great experience for him. They went on to do surveys in Shark Bay for prawn scallops and later on went to the Abrolhos Islands and did surveys for crayfish and fish.

In 1966, John married his wife Anna Mezzina. They went on to have 2 children, Giuseppe (Joe) and Filomena. In 2004, after 64 years at sea, John thought it was time for him to retire. John knew his son Joe was ready to take over the reigns and continue the family crayfishing business and Skipper the St. Gerard. Joe continues to Skipper the St. Gerard to this day.

John still loves going up to Lancelin where the boys (his son, brothers, and nephews), all continue to work in the crayfishing industry. John loves cooking for the boys, his family and also especially when his grandchildren come up to Lancelin. He enjoys going out amateur fishing pulling their craypots with his brother Sam and their 2 boys.

His brother Sam went on to Skipper the Maddalena and his boat continues with his Son, also Joe to this day. The third boat in the De Ceglie family, Leading Edge is Skippered by the youngest of the family, Nick. The De Ceglie family story remains firmly entrenched in the history of the fishing industry in Western Australia.