Bortolomeo RINALDI
1879 - 1936 (56 years)
Has 2 ancestors and 100 descendants in this family tree.
1882 - 1943 (60 years)-
Name Bortolomeo RINALDI [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] Relationship 
with William George BRADY Birth 20 Nov 1879 Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardia, Italy 
Gender Male Death 5 Feb 1936 Meekatharra, Western Australia, Australia Cause: Pulmonary Embolism. - Pleurisy, Carcinoma of Lung. - District Hospital
Burial 6 Feb 1936 Meekatharra, Western Australia, Australia - RC Section – Murchison death cert 6/1936
Newspaper Article15 Feb 1936 [6] Newspaper Article20 Feb 1936 [7] Newspaper Article20 Jul 1946 [8] Occupation Wood Cutter - Miner Certificate of Death Have Patriarch & Matriarch 
Domenico RINALDI, b. 1844, Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardia, Italyd. DECEASED (Father) 
Marta RINALDI, b. Abt 1842, Cologna, Gilera, Tirano, Italyd. DECEASED (Mother) Person ID I11245 MyBradyTree Last Modified 29 Nov 2024
Father Domenico RINALDI, b. 1844, Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardia, Italy d. DECEASED Mother Marta RINALDI, b. Abt 1842, Cologna, Gilera, Tirano, Italy d. DECEASED Marriage 14 Jun 1870 Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardia, Italy Certificate of Marriage Have Family ID F4820 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family 
Domenica GOBETTI, b. 14 Nov 1882, Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardia, Italy d. 4 Mar 1943, Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia (Age 60 years) Marriage 13 Feb 1900 Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardia, Italy Children 1. Dominic RINALDI, b. Between 21 Oct 1900 and 1902, Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardia, Italy d. 12 Apr 1906, Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardia, Italy (Age ~ 5 years)2. Lena RINALDI, b. 1901, Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardia, Italy d. 1906, Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardia, Italy (Age 5 years)3. Unknown RINALDI, b. 1906, Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardia, Italy d. 1906, Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardia, Italy (Age 0 years)+ 4. Marta Lena RINALDI, b. 29 Sep 1907, Lawlers, Western Australia, Australia d. 17 Jul 2006, Dianella, Western Australia, Australia (Age 98 years)▻ Thomas Lydon HUTCHINSON m. 1 Feb 1931+ 5. Dominic RINALDI, b. 19 Jan 1910, Lawlers, Western Australia, Australia d. 14 Feb 1965, Meekatharra, Western Australia, Australia (Age 55 years)▻ Ivy Ethel BRADY m. 1946
6. Robert RINALDI, b. 1912, Meekatharra, Western Australia, Australia d. DECEASED7. Luigi RINALDI, b. 1913, Meekatharra, Western Australia, Australia d. 1913, Meekatharra, Western Australia, Australia (Age 0 years)+ 8. Luigi Vivian RINALDI, b. 13 Dec 1914, Meekatharra, Western Australia, Australia d. 23 Feb 1994, Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia (Age 79 years)▻ Hazel May FORRESTER; Dorothy Margaret GITTOS m. 19369. Unknown RINALDI, b. 1916, Meekatharra, Western Australia, Australia d. 1916, Meekatharra, Western Australia, Australia (Age 0 years)+ 10. Emiglio RINALDI, b. 1918, Meekatharra, Western Australia, Australia d. 24 Jan 1972, Mount Hawthorn, Western Australia, Australia (Age 54 years)+ 11. Arturo RINALDI, b. 27 Feb 1921, Meekatharra, Western Australia, Australia d. 10 Jun 1988, Bayswater, Western Australia, Australia (Age 67 years)▻ Joyce Violet HANSEN m. 1942+ 12. Living Family ID F4819 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 29 Nov 2024
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Event Map Click to hide 
Birth - 20 Nov 1879 - Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardia, Italy 
Marriage - 13 Feb 1900 - Tirano, Sondrio, Lombardia, Italy 
Death - Cause: Pulmonary Embolism. - Pleurisy, Carcinoma of Lung. - 5 Feb 1936 - Meekatharra, Western Australia, Australia Burial - 6 Feb 1936 - Meekatharra, Western Australia, Australia = Link to Google Earth Pin Legend 
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
Books 
"Vikings, Villains & Vagabonds"
The History of an Australian Family
1550c – 2016
by Eric Leslie HANSEN
1301 Pages - 38Mb PDF available FREE via our Blog Store
Notes - Bortolomeo decided to look for a better life for himself and his family. Leaving his wife and children behind him, Bortolomeo sailed for Western Australia to look at the possibilities of establishing a new life there, the plan being that Domenico and the children would follow once he was established. Whilst Domenico was awaiting word from Bortolomeo, tragedy struck with both the children becoming very ill and dying within days of each other. With her husband thousands of miles away in a strange land, the loss of her son and daughter must have devastated Domenica.
No records are available to indicate exactly when, or by what ships the RINALDI family arrived in Western Australia.
Domenico eventually traveled to Western Australia where she was re-united with Bortolomeo. They lived at Lawlers in the outback of Western Australia and it was here that a daughter Marta Lina (Lena) was born on 29 September 1907. According to Lina’s birth certificate there were three previous children born to the marriage. Two of the children, as we know died in Italy, but where the third child, a son, was born and died, is not known.
Eight more children were born in the ensuing years, all surviving except for one male and one female that both died very young.
The early years were extremely difficult and in 1908, Bortolomeo was involved in the cutting and supply of timber to the mines that were scattered throughout the Meekatharra district. The good straight timber was used for timbering up the mines, whilst the bentwood was used to fire the boilers.
With the advent of suction gas engines there soon became the need for charcoal and so Bortolomeo began supplying the miners needs in this regard. In Herbert Barker’s book, Camels and the Outback, BARKER recalls his dealings with “The Bob Renoldi” [sic], as Bortolomeo was known on those days.
BARKER stated that the only job he could get was carting charcoal, which was used by some special engines at the mines. He also said that he was told the charcoal supply was in the hands of an Italian, “The Bob Renoldi”, and had been advised to watch or he would be taken down. BARKER then wrote, “ I found “The Bob”, and he told me to bring in all the charcoal he had ready. This was twenty-four miles out and was in several big kilns. Making a huge pyramid of wood, and then laboriously building a wall of earth and grass over it, with a small hole at the top began the kilns. Alternating layers of grass and layers of earth-ware thrown round the wooden pyramid until they reached the top. The wood was then lit from a hole made at the bottom. When it was properly alight the holes were plugged so that the wood only smoldered, and for several days and nights it had to be watched carefully, the top and bottom holes being controlled so that the wood did not burst into flame”. “When I got there”, BARKER said”, “Renoldi’s [sic] men had the charcoal bagged and ready, and they lost no time in loading the wagon. Ten tons they put on, and what a height the load was! From the top one could see over the tops of all the mulga trees. I took two ten ton loads of charcoal to the mines for “The Bob Renoldi” and he paid me promptly”.
From Barker’s accounts, it appears that Bortolomeo had the charcoal supply business well and truly sewn up.
Bortolomeo employed Italian woodcutters, some; whom BARKER described as short, thick set young men with big black moustaches. (50-Pg 28/30)
With time, came the diesel engine, and with timber becoming much harder to collect as nearby sources dried up, Bortolomeo decided it was time to move on. Lena does not remember leaving Lawlers, but recollects that the family traveled by covered wagon to Meekatharra where they set up a new home.
“The new house was about one and a half miles from Meekatharra at a place called Paddy’s Flat. It had hessian walls and a galvanised iron roof. All the cooking was done outside on an open fire and later on we got a wood stove, but it too, was outside in the open.”
During the early years in Meekatharra, Bortolomeo purchased a wagon, drays and camels, gradually building up a fleet of about twenty or so, which he used for transporting the logs and the charcoal to the mine sites. The charcoal was packed into bag sacks for easy handling.
Lena recalls the huge stacks of logs, and how eager the children were to see the boiler doors open, where they would stare in amazement at the red-hot coals. As they played, the children were always aware of the time, as the mines constantly blew their whistles to remind the workers what time it was. There would be three whistles at 7am, 8am, 12 noon and 3pm, with one whistle on the hour and two whistles on the half-hour.
The camel drivers, who were mainly Afghans, never rode on the wagons or drays but walked beside the camels using big long whips when the need arose.
All the preceding events except for the birth of some of the children occurred before the advent of World War 1.
Bortolomeo, who had never worked in a mine, was always on the lookout for any promising prospect that would one day, see him working his own claim. This eventually occurred after he found good deposits of copper at Kumarina. The RINALDI family moved to Kumarina where things went along very smoothly for a time. Aboriginals were employed to grade the copper, which, due to the war was fetching very good prices.
When the war ended in 1918 the price of copper fell dramatically and Bortolomeo was left with a large quantity of copper sitting on the Fremantle Wharf. This left him almost bankrupt so he returned to Meekatharra with his family to start all over again. One thing Bortolomeo had gained during these years was experience in mining, so it was not long before he found enough gold to start his own mine. He became quite successful and remained so up until the time he retired. (53)
A bad accident befell one of the family members on 24 May 1931. The eldest son Dominic had just visited his future wife Gwen, and after leaving her, to collect his wages from his parents, crashed his motorbike, the result being that he lost one of his legs. Dominic had not allowed Gwen to accompany him on the bike as he considered it dangerous for women to be on motorbikes.
Vikings, Villains & Vagabonds - The History of an Australian Family
Reference Darryl Brady. "Bortolomeo RINALDI". Brady Family Tree in Western Australia. https://bradyfamilytree.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I11245&tree=Brady2008 (accessed December 14, 2024).
Sources - [S855] Mr Eric L. Hanson, Vikings, Villains & Vagabonds - The History of an Australian Family, Vikings, Villains & Vagabonds - The History of an Australian Family Mr Eric L. Hanson.
- [S480] kirstyr-at-wray.com.au, Kirsty Leanne Rinaldi (nee Smith).
- [S590] jzr-at-optusnet.com.au, Melissa Rinaldi.
- [S44] Snail Mail Only, Anthony Ross Rinaldi - Ross, Some Information Submitted by Anthony Ross Rinaldi - Ross.
- [S252] ehansen-at-bigpond.net.au, Eric Leslie Hansen, Some Information Submitted by Eric Leslie Hansen.
- [S954] Trove, Family Notices (1936, February 15). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved August 11, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32987846.
- [S954] Trove, Family Notices (1936, February 20). Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954), p. 60. Retrieved August 11, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37770324.
- [S954] Trove, Advertising. (1946, July 20). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 15. Retrieved December 25, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46159223.