Vincenzo, Emanuela and Angelo Candela arrived in Melbourne from Italy on 26 November 1920 on board the shop Orontes. They were sponsored by Vincenzo's brother Giovanni, a flautist, who had migrated to Australia at the age of 12, arriving in Melbourne in 1904 with the Labattaglia brothers, also musicians from Viggiano. Upon their arrival, Vincenzo, Emanuela and Angelo went to live at 51 Palmer Street, Fitzroy, where they lived until 1925.

Vincenzo Candela, born in Viggiano on 3 January 1873, was a musician, photographer and tailor. He married Emanuela Nigro, born 31 January 1882, on 3 March 1910 within a few months of the death of his first wife Angelarosa. Angelarosa had died giving birth to their son Angelo, born in Viggiano on 9 October 1909. Angelarosa and Vincenzo's first son, Francesco, born on 14 February 1906, died on 3 December 1918 of the Spanish Flu.

In Australia the Candela family continued to make homemade pasta, tomato sauce, wine and sausages, as well as roasting their own coffee, as they had done in Viggiano. While they were able to bring several of the items needed for these tasks with them from Italy, they continued to order items by mail from the Italian manufacturer once in Australia. This was a common practice in Italy from the late 1800s until the 1930s, as there were often no retailers in rural centres selling these goods, and many Italian migrants sustained this practice after their migration to Australia as they continued to receive catalogues from Italy.

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