Placanica Family

Fortunato Placanica was born April 1873 in Siderno, Reggio di Calabria, Italy. He first arrived in Western Australia in 1895 onboard the Scottish barque-rigged Glenhuntly. He was a fisherman by trade, and likely to have worked aboard sailing ships prior to arriving.

Fortunato married Matia Elena Fanesi in 1909 in Fremantle. She had arrived in 1908 from San Benedetto del Tronto, Ascoli Piceno, Marche, Italy.

Mattia was born in 1888. She and Fortunato had seven children. Sadly, their first baby was stillborn in 1909. In 1910 Francesco Joseph [Francesco or Frank] was born. Then there was Rose Mary in 1912, Antonio [Anthony or Tony] in 1913, Luigi [Louis, Louie or Lou] in 1914, Amelia Jeanette [Millie] in 1922 and Mary Vera in 1924. All children were born in Fremantle, but they did briefly return to Italy at one point, and re-entered Fremantle on 25 August 1921 via the Orsova travelling in the 3rd Saloon class.

Fortunato was later joined by his younger brother Vincenzo, a labourer, in 1923 Vincent or Vince was born in 1881. He married Teresa Maria Piromalli, who arrived at Fremantle on 15 September 1927 via the Regina d’Italia.

In 1924 Fortunato applied for a fish shop licence for a King Street premises. He and Mattia lived at 56 King Street in East Fremantle and the property was close to his home. The shop did not develop as planned.

Fortunato and his brother Vince settled in Fremantle. They remained there throughout their lives. Fortunato eventually had three houses, which his family lived in at times, and he rented out at other times. Two houses were in King Street (56 and 58) and the other was in Hamilton Street.

Fortunato’s sons anglicised their names to Frank, Tony, and Louis. Uncle Vincenzo was known as Vince. Fortunato – translating to “lucky” in English, used his Italian name throughout his life. Tony and Louis played football for the East Fremantle Rovers. In 1929 the boys were naturalised.

Fortunato’s first boat was a gaff rigged ketch built by Alfred Edmund Brown named Sea Prince. Sea Prince was 45 feet [13.7 metres] long. She was built for pearling, but like so many boats, was sold into the fin fishing or cray fishing industry when her pearling days were done.

Sea Prince was unique as she had a skylight over her cabin. Only one other boat was known to have a skylight, and was rigged the same as Sea Prince, and that was the fishing boat Clonen owned by Felice Travia, bought from Dinny Ahearn.

In 1932 Fortunato was skippering Sea Prince with Paulo Roth on deck. They were fishing with the Clara, Fortunato’s second boat, skippered by his son Tony with Vince’s brother-in-law Vincenzo Piromalli on deck. The fish from both boats was stored aboard the Sea Prince. They were near Beagle Island, north of Dongara. At the end of the day the boats anchored together and separated at dawn to catch their fish.

At 2pm on 23 March 1932 the boats drew together to transfer Clara’s catch to the Sea Prince. The men decided to anchor. Fortunato had arranged for Sea Prince to be slipped in Geraldton.

At 3am on 24 March 1932 Fortunato rose from his bunk. He was restless and wanted fresh air. On deck he realised that the boats had dragged their anchors. The wind had strengthened, and bad weather was coming. He saw they were getting close to the cliffs of the coast, and immediately signalled Tony on the Clara, telling him to throw out his reserve anchor.

Sea Prince went aground between two rocks. Clara fared better because she had an iron-clad keel. She escaped serious damage. Fortunato and Paulo were able to get aboard Clara, escaping without harm except for getting wet. The men decided to remain where they were until daylight, when the tide would lift Clara free of the rocks. They sat out the storm, which calmed with the coming day.

At daybreak it was clear the Sea Prince was gone. The men saved the sails and ropes that were floating where she went down. They lost their 1500 lbs [680 kgs] catch which was stored in the sunken vessel.

Clara limped into Dongara. A hole opened in her hull after the storm, and she needed repairs. Once repaired enough to work, the men headed back out to sea. They wanted fish to make up for the load they had lost. It did not occur to them that wreckage would wash up, or that a search would be started.

Pieces of the Sea Prince did wash up on 26 March half a mile from Dongara, causing alarm when the men were nowhere to be found. Felice Travia went to see the wreckage, and determined it was the same as the Clonen, so it was the Sea Prince. A search was started for the missing men. Fortunato had reported the loss of the Sea Prince in Dongara, but the message had not been passed on when they set out fishing again.

Clara put into Geraldton on 31 March. A search was underway for them, and their arrival caused excitement at the wharf. Clara was leaking badly by this time. A contrary wind had kept her out at sea longer than she had intended. The men had run out of food and were hungry. Clara went on the slip for repairs. The fish were shipped from Geraldton.

Clara was repaired and left Geraldton on 13 April, heading back to Fremantle. Sea Prince was valued at £500. The Sea Prince had been aground in 1926 when her previous owner Mark Margetic had grounded on Collie Ledge [Southern Flats], two and a half miles off Rockingham. She had been refloated after that incident and returned to work without apparent issues.

Fifteen months later, Fortunato had the fishing boat Bronlas. She was a two-masted schooner of 7.81 tons and Fortunato paid £600 for her. She was built by W & S Lawrence in 1900 for the pearling industry. Her previous owner was a fin fisherman, who worked out of Fremantle. Bronlas was registered as Number 11 of 1916. Her official number was 131683. She was 35.2 feet long, 11.9 feet across her beam and drew 4.5 feet [10.73 x 3.63 x 1.37 metres].

In 1933 Fortunato and Mattia lived at 24 Hamilton Street, East Fremantle. Their son Frank married Jean Winifred Ball, the daughter of Francis Ball who was a part owner of the salvage vessel Venus, which was lost in 1923. Francis later sold the Reliance to the Placanica family. Frank and Jean went on to have four children.

On 23 September 1933 Fortunato, Frank, Tony and H Lewis had been out fishing for 17 days. Frank was at the helm when he heard breakers on the lee side of the boat. They were just south east of the Beagle Islands. They were close to a reef. He called to his father, who immediately put the tiller down hard to turn the boat, but the stern was already touching the reef.

Bronlas was driven onto the reef by successive breakers. The waves swept over the bow, pushing her further over the reef. She heeled over hard and fast in two feet [0.3 metres] of water. Unable to ascertain their bearings, Fortunato told his boys to build a raft from planks and kerosene tanks. Then they settled down to await daylight.

When the sun came up, the men saw two crayfishing boats to the east of the islands. They were Derna and Australia. Bronlas signalled by raising and dropping their sail rapidly and the boats responded by launching a dinghy. The men abandoned Bronlas, but they were all unharmed. The cray boats took them back to Fremantle.

Fortunato was sure he could refloat Bronlas and immediately set about organising her salvage. He hired the lighter Reliance and divers from his own community. There were 18 crew made up of hired divers, Fortunato’s sons and volunteers.

On 27 September Fortunato accompanied Frank Ball, diver and owner of Reliance to Beagle Islands. They found the Bronlas battered, and her keel smashed. She could not be saved. The salvage was hampered by weather, and Reliance eventually ran for the shelter of Jurien Bay. In rough seas, they made four trips ashore to collect fresh water.

In 1934 Louie Placanica was 19 years old and was working with Fortunato. He was involved in a fight and failed to attend court. He was placed on a bail of £2.

Tony married Edna May Garland in 1935. Louis married Thelma Alice Harry in 1935. Rose Mary married George Emil Heinrichs. In 1936 Fortunato was involved in the salvage of the Stanford, stranded on African Reef at Geraldton. In 1937 Fortunato had his third boat, White Wings, and purchased the Reliance. A serious storm and injury followed, but he made it back to Fremantle with help from young William Cream and the Ascanus.

On 8 March 1938 Louie was injured on the lighter Agnes while laying buoys. He was taken to hospital. Louis and Tony served in WWII. The war restricted fishing and movement for many families. Rose Mary and George separated during the war.

In 1943 Mary Vera died, aged 18. Rose Mary married Alexander Stewart Cobon and moved to Derby. Millie married in 1947 but later reverted to her maiden name. No children are recorded for either sister.

In 1944 Fortunato was fined for failing to repair 58 King Street, which he had bought for Mary. The house was tenanted. Ill health and grief had slowed Fortunato's efforts to repair and maintain it.

In 1954 Fortunato’s brother Vince died, followed by Teresa in 1955. They had one son, Giovanni Vincent. In 1954 Louie divorced Thelma. He later married Betty Wishart. He prospered in Broome, investing in pearling and horse racing. He commissioned the John Louis, a pearling lugger, named for his son.

In 1971 John Louis became the first Broome lugger to trial hookah gear for diving. By 1974, most of the industry had converted. [The story is told in Hugh Edwards’ Port of Pearls].

Fortunato died on 6 June 1961. Mattia died in 1969. They are buried together at Palmyra Cemetery. Tony died in 1970. Lou and Frank died in 1994. Their descendants include John Louis, Frank, Coral, and Marie. Rose Mary died in 1983; Millie in 2020. The Placanica family made a significant contribution to the fishing and pearling industries in Western Australia. At times they rode their “luck”, but through sheer determination and hard work, they built a life — and a legacy — that has endured.