De Rays Expedition

[1] Three hundred and forty[2][4] Italian colonists aboard the ship India set sail from Barcelona in 1880[2] for this new land, seeking relief from the poor conditions in Italy at that time.

[3] Three hundred and forty colonists from Veneto in Italy[4] joined the expedition, and each paid the marquis 1,800 francs in gold or were allowed the option to offer their services in labour for five years.

[5] Housing had not been built for them as promised, but they were able to salvage from the now derelict India and the remains of the two previous expeditions some three weeks supplies,[6] bricks,[6] notebooks and the makings of a mill.

[7] Located at the feet of the Verron Range, that area of New Ireland is mostly dense tropical rainforest and the settlers were unable to carve out the farmland they had been promised.

Sir Henry Parkes, the colonial secretary of New South Wales,[3] responded to their request[4] and arranged travel for the settlers on the James Patterson[1][3] to Sydney.

Eventually, they were hired out by the colony to English-speaking families for thirty pounds a year, in an attempt to force the Italians to assimilate into Australian culture.

[4][8] Families were torn apart, and many of the colonists hoped to settle an area of New South Wales, as enough skilled tradesmen existed among the settlers to form an established settlement.

Hearing of land becoming available in the north, some colonists surveyed and individually claimed[4][8] areas that collectively formed a 3,000-acre (12 km2) parcel, and established the settlement of New Italy[2][8] on the Richmond River near Woodburn in 1882.

[4][8] The settlement is now deserted, but a museum exists on the site as part of the New Italy Visitor Centre, cafe and rest area, adjacent to the A1 Pacific Highway.