Summary

Baptism certificate and envelope for Agapito Castillo which has been produced by The Fathers of the Blessed Sacrament, St Francis Church Melbourne and certified as correct by P.Jose Visintainer, Parish Priest of Cuenca Batangas in the Philippines where Agapito was born on 20 September 1916. The baptism date was 1 October 1916. The certificate lists Agapito's family details including his parents and grandparents. The document relates to HT 57762 baptism certificate produced in Spanish by the parish priest of Cuenca, Batangas in the Philippines. The envelope is addressed to Mrs Castillo, Agapito's wife and likely part of gathering documentation required for their marriage in 1945.

Philippines-born Agapito Castillo had married Aileen McColl in Melbourne while he was working for the British Phosphate Company and was detained there during World War II.

This item is part of a collection of material relating to the migration and settlement experiences of seamen from the Philippines during the post World War II era in Australia; and the experiences of the local Anglo-Australian women they married.

Physical Description

Document with black printed ink on cream paper.

Significance

This collection and story represents an important narrative in Australia's migration history, regarding the challenges faced by seamen from the Philippines caught in Melbourne during the outbreak of World War II and unable to return home, trying to settle in Melbourne and marry locally-born women of Anglo-Australian background. It also shows the prejudice these women themselves faced. The collection reveals a community of these men and women and their families, connected through family relationships; and it demonstrates the vagaries of bureaucracy, and the influence of the White Australia policy, still officially in force at that time.

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