Thomas Milovitch
FatherPietro Milovitch
MotherCatherina Ivanowich
Pedigree

Birth, Death, Marriage

Thomas Milovitch was born in 1830 in St John's Island, Austria.1 
He married Eliza Meagher, daughter of Patrick Meagher and Margaret Doherty, on 25 October 1864 in St Kilda, Victoria.1 
He died on 20 December 1910 in Mooroopna, Victoria.2,3 

Family

Eliza Meagher b. c 1838, d. 21 Jul 1898
Children
ChartsMilovitch, Thomas, descendant chart
O'Connell, Annie, pedigree chart

Story

Thomas Milovitch was associated with grapes and wine for his whole life. He went from working in his father's vineyard off the coast of Dalmatia in the Adriatic Sea, to vigneron at Tahbilk winery during its early years, to vigneron then wine merchant in Mooroopna in central Victoria.

He maintained connections with his homeland through his work and his choice of friends.

Thomas embraced new world opportunities. Through a combination of his expertise, work ethic, business acumen and lifestyle, he accumulated four properties and a business and died a fairly wealthy man.

Thomas and his Irish-born wife Eliza saw four of their five children grow to adulthood (one died at age 20). At the time of his death Thomas had sixteen grandchildren.

We don't know what prompted this young man to leave his homeland in the Adriatic Sea, or to travel half a world away to Australia. But Thomas Milovitch had every reason to be happy with his decision.
 
Early Life
Thomas Milovitch was born off the Dalmatian coast of then Austrian Empire around 1830. His family name has multiple spellings in Australia and is Tomilsav Milovic in Croatian, the language of his present day place of birth.

We have three usually reliable sources for Thomas's year of birth; his marriage registration, the birth registration of a child, and his naturalisation. These are considered reliable because the information is provided by the person concerned. Unfortunately, the years of birth from these three sources are all different, ranging from 1828 to 1837.1,4,5,6
 
Austrian, Italian, Croatian or Yugoslavian?
On his 1864 marriage registration, 'Thomaso Melowich' was born on St John's Island, Austria.

On the birth registration of their first child Annie, his wife said that he was born 'Thomas Melvouch' in St John, Dalmatia. And on the birth registrations of their other children Mary, Peter, Edward and Korizo, his wife said that he was born 'Thomas Melovitch' or 'Mellivitch' in Venice, Italy.

As part of his naturalisation, Thomas Milovitch said he was born in San Giovanni in Dalmatia, Austria.

According to author Ilija Šutalo, Thomas Milovitch was Croatian and born Tomislav Milovic in Sutivan on the Island of Brac (pronounced brach).

One of his grandchildren, Vincent Patrick Milovitch, is reported to have said on many occasions that the name was Yugoslavian.

Confusion around the country is mainly due to the political situation at the time of his birth, migration, other life events, and when the reporting was done. When Thomas was born, his birthplace was part of the Austrian Empire, but in his administrative district of Dalmatia, Italian was the official language. Later, his birthplace was part of Austria-Hungary (1867); then the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1918); then Yugoslavia (1929); and finally Croatia (1992). From this, it is easy to see why Croatian-born immigrants were recorded as Austrians, Italians and Yugoslavs.

The name St John is easier to reconcile, as St John in Italian is San Giovanni and in Croatian is Sveti Ivan or Sutivan (Saint Ivan). Ivan is the most common Slavic variant of the name John.

The red dot on the modern-day map shows where Thomas was born.7,1,8,5,4,9,10,6,11,12,13
Sutivan, island of Brac, Dalmatia, Croatia
Thomas was associated with wine for most of his life. In his early years, he worked in his father's vineyard in current-day Sutivan on the island of Brac in Dalmatia.14
 
Migration to Australia
We don't have any official documents detailing Thomas Milovitch's arrival in Australia. From the available information, our best explanation is that he worked his passage out, leaving the ship on arrival in Victoria about 1857.

We have been unable to find his arrival in Victoria in the 'Index to Unassisted Inward Passenger Lists to Victoria 1852-1923'. This is despite searching for a myriad of possible spellings of his family name. Probably the best evidence we have for his arrival is that given by Thomas in his 1891 application for naturalisation. Here he says he, 'during the winter of 1857 or 1858, arrived in Victoria on an American ship of which he has forgotten the name, from London'. And 1857 is the year given for Thomas's arrival in the book 'Croatians in Australia'.

There are also reports that Thomas Milovitch came out to Australia with members of the Darveniza family. But Trojano Darveniza's naturalisation letters state that he arrived in 1869 from New Zealand. And the two books 'Croatians in Australia' and 'Mooroopna to 1988' give Trojano Darveniza's first arrival in Australia as 1860. This is still two to three years after Thomas Milovitch.

Not being a British subject, Thomas Milovitch would not have access to any of the bounty or immigration schemes. And not having anyone already in Australia that could sponsor him (as far as we know), it seems most likely that Thomas worked his passage out, then left the ship on arrival in Victoria.5,15,16,17,18,19,20,21
 
Marriage and Family
Eliza Meagher and Thomas Milovitch were married at St Mary's Roman Catholic church in St Kilda on 25 October 1864. They had five children between 1865 and 1875.1
 
Family Life at Tahbilk and in Prahran
On their 1864 marriage registration, Eliza gave her current and usual residences as Prahran, while Thomas gave his as Tahbilk. During their early married life, around 1866 when their first child Annie was born, they lived in one of the small, four-roomed vignerons' cottages at Tahbilk vineyard.

By the time the second child Mary arrived in 1867, Eliza and Annie were living in Prahran. Thomas was by now described as a labourer, most likely at Tahbilk. The remaining three children, Peter, Edward and Korizo, were born in Windsor (1869), Prahran (1872) and Prahran (1875) respectively. And for those three births, Eliza gives a Windsor or Prahran residence.

At least four of the five children were born at different addresses. The couple's marriage, and the birth of all five children, occurred within an area of less than 1 km radius around Prahran and Windsor.

During all this time, Thomas remained at Tahbilk where he worked.

By 1890, at least two of the children, Mary and Peter, were living at Tahbilk.

Thomas was a Catholic, the dominant religion in the part of Dalmatia in which he grew up. And Eliza was an Irish Catholic. The Catholic church would have played a significant role in Thomas and Eliza's family and social life. Perhaps they even met through the church.22,1,13,4,6,11,12,23
Vigneron's cottage Tahbilk vineyard
Work at Tahbilk Winery
In early documents Thomas is described as a vinedresser. In later documents he is described as a vineyard manager and as a vigneron. His expertise was in cultivating and pruning grapevines for winemaking purposes.

Not long after his arrival in Australia, Thomas was one of a small number of vignerons managing the vineyard at Tahbilk Winery near Nagambie. We know that Thomas was at Tahbilk by 1864 and that Tahbilk was established in 1860, so Thomas may have been one of the very first vignerons at Tahbilk.

Tahbilk Winery has no surviving records of Thomas's time there:
In the very beginning of Tahbilk Vineyard - from 1860 until 1879 - blocks of vines were contracted out to individual vignerons, who hand-worked their own holding for the company. We do not have a list of these vignerons in our surviving records.

Thomas initially lived and worked full-time at Tahbilk. From the mid-1870s, Tahbilk was 'reorganised from an experimental estate with a community of contracted vignerons and their families to become a more intensively cultivated winery led by Francois de Coueslant'. His labour-saving measures may have impacted work for Thomas, though in June 1890, son Peter was working there.

By this time, Tahbilk was in a period of decline due to the vine louse Phylloxera, the departure of Coueslant and the death of the owner. The final push for Thomas to find work elsewhere was the death of son Peter. This was at Tahbilk but not work-related.24,25,26
 
Chateau Tahbilk Winery
Chateau Tahbilk winery (now trading as Tahbilk Winery) was begun in 1860 by entrepreneurs Richard Horne and Swiss-French winemaker Ludovic Marie backed by wealthy interests such as J P Bear and Hugh Glass. They bought 640 acres (259 ha) of land on the bank of the Goulburn River, close to where Major Mitchell crossed in 1836.

Marie planted 62 acres (25 ha) of vines in 1860, which grew within 12 months to be 200 acres (80 ha) with the first small vintage occurring in 1861. In 1865 the winery produced 22,000 gallons (100,000 l) of wine and by the mid 1870s had established itself amongst the largest and most successful wineries in Victoria's developing wine industry.

The first cellar and winehouse was built about 1861, a substantial stone and brick building 300 ft (91 m) long, 80 ft (27 m) wide, with a shingle roof. At about the same time a row of small, four roomed workers cottages were built for vignerons who worked under contract on their own allotments. Three of these stone and brick cottages, with cellars and shingle roofs (now under corrugated iron) survive. The vignerons' cottages can be seen in the top left of the sketches below.

The initial complex of buildings, including the extant timber stables and workshops, was supplemented by the erection in 1876 of substantial new cellars, 75 m in length.

From 1876 the company came under the control of one family, the Bears, and was reorganised from an experimental estate with a community of contracted vignerons and their families to become a more intensively cultivated winery led by Francois de Coueslant, an experienced vigneron from France. Coueslant introduced a more consistent viticultural practice with labour saving technology, including the construction in 1882 of the pagoda-like tower incorporating raised grape-crushing machinery on the first floor.

Coueslant is also believed to have added the 'h' to Tahbilk in 1878 along with the word 'Chateau' - this European moniker being dropped in 2000.

The appearance of Phylloxera in the vineyard in the late 1800s (a vine louse that attacks the roots of grape vines and which decimated the European vineyards & Victoria's burgeoning wine industry of the day), coupled with the departure of Coueslant (1888) and the death of John Pinney Bear in 1889 (the Bear family having assumed ownership of Tahbilk in 1876), led to a period of decline in the fortunes of Tahbilk.

In 1925 Reginald Purbrick purchased the property from the Bear family with the idea of rooting out all vines and subdividing it into dairy farms. Finally persuaded that the winery was viable he offered it to his son Eric who took over management and winemaking responsibilities in 1931.

Eric was joined by his son John in 1955, and John's son Alister - a graduate of the Winemaking Course at Roseworthy College, took over the role as winemaker and Chief Executive in 1978 and continues to this day. Alister's daughter Hayley commenced at Tahbilk in 2010 taking on management of Cellar Door and Tahbilk's Wine Club to become the 5th generation of the Purbrick family to have a hands-on role in the life of the Winery & Estate.27,28
Tahbilk Winery
Sketches at the Tahbilk Vineyard 1882
Death of Son Peter Nicholas 
Peter Milovitch died in June 1890. He was just 20 years old and was working at Tahbilk at the time. One newspaper reported he died of 'brain fever', but his death certificate says he died of bronchitis.

Within 12 months the family had relocated to Mooroopna.29,23
 
An In Memoriam appeared in The Age three years after his death:
MILOVITCH - In sad and loving remembrance of our dear son, Peter Nicholis Milovitch, who departed this life on 15th June, 1890, at Chateau Tahbllk.
Immaculate heart of Mary,
Your prayers for him extol,
Oh, sacred heart of Jesus,
Have mercy on his soul.
- Inserted by his loving father and mother, brother and sisters.30

 
Family Move to Mooroopna
It is uncertain where the family was between Korizo's 1875 birth in Prahran, and 1891 when they were in Mooroopna. Mooroopna Justice of the Peace, WS Archer, said in an 1891 document that he had known Thomas for seven years. This would seem to imply that Thomas was in the Mooroopna area by about 1884. But the death registration for their son, Peter Nicholas, says he died in 1890 in Tahbilk. And the informant for that information was Peter's sister, Mary Elizabeth, who gave her residence as Tahbilk. This implies that the family, or a significant part of it, was still in Tahbilk in 1890.6,5,31,23
 
Naturalisation
Not being a British subject, Thomas Milovitch had to be naturalised so that he could apply for a licence to sell wine.

Most of the necessary paperwork for his naturalisation was completed by William McClure Abernethy solicitors of Shepparton on 27 November 1891. Some information of note is his age of 63 (so born about 1828), place of birth San Giovanni Dalmatia Austria, and arrival in Victoria during the winter of 1857 or 1858 on an American ship of which he has forgotten the name, from the port of London.

Given the importance of his naturalisation, we could consider the information Thomas provided as being reliable.

In a letter dated 8 December 1891, Thomas was told his 'Memorial for Naturalisation' had been acceded to, and subject to him taking the oath and paying one pound ($2), 'Letters of Naturalisation' would be issued. The oath of allegiance was taken on 11 December 1891 and forwarded with the one pound and a covering letter. The covering letter included a plea for prompt handling as Thomas was an applicant in the annual licensing court on 21 December when the naturalisation letters needed to be produced.5
 
Family Life in Mooroopna 
By late 1891 the family was living in Finsborough St, Mooroopna (later 24 Main St).

At this time, eldest Annie was 26 and youngest Korizo was 16.

The brick section at the front had a wine shop and two other rooms. The timber section at the back had five rooms with lined partitions of wooden dado (lower part of the wall) and the balance paper and canvas.31,32
 
Wine Shop in Mooroopna
Thomas moved into selling wines in 1891 after purchasing a suitable property in October and gaining a Colonial liquor licence in December.

He purchased a property fronting Finsborough St on 9 October 1891. The property had a 33' (30 m) frontage and was the eastern half of lot 4, later becoming 24 Main/McLennan St. Thomas purchased the property from the Bank of Victoria; previous title holders were John Matheson (junior) and Robert Molesworth (1889), John Matheson (senior, 1879), John Hardy (1878), Daniel Allan MacDougall (1875) and William Simmonds Archer (1866).33,31,34,35,36
Title held by Thomas Milovitch, Mooroopna, Oct 1891
Image: Land Registry Services
Milovitch & O'Connell families once owned 24 (lot 4) McLennan/Main/Finsborough St, 4 (lot 19) Park St and 9 (lot 12) Elizabeth St, Mooroopna
The brick section at the front housed a bar. He sold sherry, chablis, claret, port and other types of liquor. Most of the wine sold was made by Trojano Darveniza at his Excelsior Vineyard. He also sold aerated water made by Darby Brothers cordial manufacturers in Shepparton.

In his 1891 naturalisation, Thomas described himself as a vigneron. This was possibly at Trojano Darveniza's Excelsior vineyard, as the two were close friends. While in Mooroopna, he maintained friendships with other European vignerons in the area.

Thomas would have made wine for his personal use. He made some wine that was exhibited at the 1893 Tatura Show luncheon. Here, other locally made 'special wines' were exhibited by Henri Fortin, Trojano Darveniza, G Pagan, W Meaklim, W Jones, G Gemmill and F Young.5,37,38
 
Thomas Milovitch fined: For after hours trading, Mooroopna, 1900.39
Image: Argus
In August 1896, Thomas purchased block 1, lot 19, Park St (later 4 Park St). It had a 50 link (10 m) frontage by 475 links (96 m) deep and backed onto his wine shop at lot 4 Finsborough St (later 24 Main St). On the same day, his son-in-law Henri Fortin (married to daughter Annie) purchased the adjacent (west side) block 2 of the same dimensions.40,41
Title held by Thomas Milovitch, Mooroopna, Aug 1896
Image: Land Registry Services
In Thomas's March 1899 will, his desire was to leave the licensed premises and an 11' (3.4 m) rear Part St access laneway to son Edward Patrick, along with his wine license, stock in trade and the wine shop furniture except the piano. The remaining 22' (6.7 m) frontage property to Park St and the piano were to go to daughter Korizo. The title for the subdivided Park St block was created in February 1912, fourteen months after Thomas died.42,32,43
 
Friendship with Trojano Darveniza
Thomas Milovitch and Trojano Darveniza were good friends and had a few things in common. They both came to Australia from Dalmatia and so shared the same language, customs and religion. They were both involved in grape growing and cultivation, wine production and wine selling.

Thomas and other family members would have worked at Darveniza's Excelsior Vineyard.

Thomas and Eliza Milovitch sold mostly Darveniza's wine in their wine shop.

In 1892, Thomas & Eliza's daughter Annie married Trojano Darveniza's cellar manager, Henri Fortin.

Trojano Darveniza was executor of Thomas Milovitch's estate. And he signed some of the documents that were part of the administration of Eliza's estate. It is also reported that Thomas was initially named as executor to Trojano's estate.

Further evidence for the close friendship is that Thomas Milovitch is included in a Darveniza family photo.44,15,42,32,45
Darveniza family, Thomas Milovitch (back left), 1897-1898
Image: Croatians in Australia
Trojano Darveniza and the Excelsior Vineyard
Trojano Darveniza (Trojan Drvenica) was born in Trnovica in Dalmatia in 1838. He first arrived in Victoria in 1860 before moving to the New Zealand goldfields near Otago. He returned to Victoria in 1869. With money from his gold mining success, he purchased land near Mooroopna and planted grains and vines.

He began producing wines and established Excelsior Vineyard in 1871. In the early 1890s, he persuaded French-born winemaker Henri Fortin to work in his cellars. The quality of the wines produced and exported made Darveniza's wines famous worldwide. Trojano was elected a member of the Grand Jury of France and was awarded prizes in Bordeaux, Marseilles, Milan, Brussels and several other European cities.

Trojano played a major role in the local winegrowers' association with meetings held at his vineyard. When the destructive phylloxera disease was discovered in nearby Toolamba, he advocated the planting of phylloxera resistant stock.

On two occasions in the 1870s, Australia's most famous bushranger, Ned Kelly, and his gang took shelter in Trojano's winery. He let the men drink from his cellars and fed the men and their horses. The Kelly gang were not people you would argue with.
[The Kelly story is based on a book by Zoni Darveniza, but there is no corroborating evidence for it. Privately, Zoni admitted to Peter Darveniza '... that he 'beefed up' his book with a few spices to make it more interesting.']

Trojano Darveniza remained a bachelor all his life, although he brought out two of his brothers and their families to Mooroopna, and they continued to run the winery.

The Excelsior Vineyard logo below was taken from Trojano Darveniza's 1898 trademark application. Some claim that the Australian government stole Trojano's design for the Australian Coat of Arms. Others say Trojano just wanted everyone to know they were drinking an Australian product.46,47,48
Trojano Darveniza's Excelsior Vineyard logo from a trademark application 1898
Eliza's Elizabeth St Property 
In January 1895, Eliza purchased a block of land in Elizabeth St, Mooroopna. She purchased it from Elizabeth Harvey Patterson of Shepparton, 'gentlewoman', for £81/12 (about $163).

The property had a 75 link (15 m) frontage to Elizabeth St by 307 links (62 m) deep. It was lot 12 (later no. 9) Elizabeth St.49,50,51,52
Title held by Eliza Milovitch, Mooroopna, Jan 1895
Image: Land Registry Services
In July 1898 when Eliza died, the property passed to Thomas. At this time it was still only a block of land.

In his March 1899 will, Thomas left his interest in this Elizabeth Street property to his daughters, Annie Fortin and Mary O'Connell.49,50,42
 
In July 1901, an inventory was prepared by Thomas as part of the administration of Eliza's estate. This inventory describes a house on 36.8 perches of land (¼ acre, 0.1 ha), and income from renting the house.

By May 1911, after Thomas died, the property is described as 36.8 perches of land with a four roomed wooden dwelling valued at £80 ($160). This is about the same as the purchase price for the land only sixteen years earlier. Rental income was shown as zero, so family may have been living there at the time.49,50
 
Other Mooroopna Properties
In November 1902, Thomas purchased a property in Elizabeth St (later Alexandra St), Mooroopna. The property had a 66' (20 m) frontage by 113' 4" (35 m) deep and was on the north-east corner of Morrell St.

In April 1903, Thomas purchased the property next door in Elizabeth (Alexandra) St. It had a frontage of 62' 3½" (19 m) and the same depth.53,54
Title held by Thomas Milovitch, Mooroopna, Nov 1902
Image: Land Registry Services
Title held by Thomas Milovitch, Mooroopna, Apr 1903
Image: Land Registry Services
Failing Health
By the early 1900s, Thomas's health began to fail. Daughter Mary and son-in-law William took over the running of the wine shop.
 
In June 1910, Thomas went missing from his home for two nights. The newspaper report says that when he was found he was exhausted and that he had fallen over a log and being very weak, was unable to get up. It also referred to his 'wanderings'.55
 
Thomas Milovitch (Thomas Nicholas on his death registration) died of 'senile debility' in Mooroopna on 20 December 1910, aged 80. He was buried at Nagambie cemetery with wife Eliza and son Peter on 22 December 1910.2
Headstone of Eliza, Peter & Thomas Milovitch, Nagambie cemetery
Will and Estate
Thomas wrote a will in March 1899, eight months after his wife died. In it, he left something to each of the four surviving children.

To his son Edward Patrick, his desire was to leave the licensed premises and an 11' (3.4 m) rear Part St access laneway, along with his wine license, stock in trade and the wine shop furniture except the piano.

To his daughters Annie Fortin and Mary O'Connell, he left equal share of interest in property in Elizabeth St acquired from Eliza's estate.

To his daughter Korizo (who married Walt Gamble in the same year as the will was written), his desire was to leave the remaining 22' (6.7 m) frontage property in Park St, and the piano.

The grandchildren were to receive the 'rest and residue of real and personal estate'.

As executors, he nominated Trojano Darveniza, Mooroopna vigneron and Thomas McCormack, Toolamba farmer. Thomas McCormack later renounced probate (he had moved out of the area) leaving Trojano to act alone. Probate for Thomas Milovitch's estate was granted to Trojano Darveniza in February 1911.

Thomas's 1911 probate describes three properties. The wine shop and Park St properties were described together, and the Park St property had not yet been spilt into 11' (3.4 m) and 22' (6.7 m) parts. The area was 1 rood 36 perches or about half an acre (0.2 ha) and the property was described as having a wine shop and dwelling house consisting of bar and seven rooms, iron roof. There was a bar and two front rooms built of brick and five rooms built of wood. It was valued at £160 ($320).

The other two probate properties were described as being in Park St, but title documents show they were in Alexandra St. One had a 66' (20 m) frontage with a weatherboard cottage of four rooms and bathroom and an iron roof. It was let at six shillings (60 cents) per week and valued at £100 ($200). The other had a 62' (19 m) frontage with a four-roomed weatherboard cottage with room partitions of partly paper and canvas and partly wooden. It was let at five shilling (50 cents) per week and valued at £80 ($160).

Probate also mentions 'personal estate': furniture (value £3/10/-, $7); a Bord piano (£10, $20); clothing (£3, $6); money in three accounts at the Bank of Australasia Mooroopna (£785/19/7, about $1572); rent (£5/8/-, about $11); one third interest in Eliza's estate (house and land plus rent, £28/8/8, about $57); and stock (£11/15/-, about $23.50).

As for liabilities, probate mentions: cab hire, goods, cigars, work by carpenter CW Kittle, grocery supplies, medicine, supplies from butcher, aerated waters from Darby Brothers, carpenter work, printing and advertising, goods from T Darveniza vigneron (at £35 or $70, about half the total liabilities), labouring, wages during illness to Mrs E Moyle and Miss L Moyle (Emmeline and daughter Lillian) and Mrs Gamble (daughter Korizo), and pan rates for the shire of Rodney.

The total value of the balance of Thomas Milovitch's estate was £1109/12/9, or about $2219. This was a large amount of money. To gain an understanding of what this was worth at the time, consider that it is about seven times the value of the house that he lived in plus the wine shop and business.42,32,54,53
 
In April 1935, having 'received instructions from the Executors of the Estate of Thomas Milovitch', the shop and dwelling was offered for sale. It is described as having a frontage of 33' (10 m) to Finborough St (aka Finsborough St, later Main St) by a depth of 313' 6" (96 m) and 'lately occupied by Mr O'Connell'. Also for sale was land having a frontage of 11' (3.6 m) to Park St by the same depth.56
 
Complications Administering Thomas and Eliza's Estate
When his wife Eliza died, Thomas began administering her estate. Unfortunately, the process was incomplete when Thomas died. Because there was property involved, someone had resolve Eliza's estate so that it was clear which property and other items would then form part of Thomas's deceased estate.

Eldest daughter, Annie Fortin took on that role, which required considerable effort. To proceed more quickly and easily, she had the other three children, Edward, Mary and Korizo, officially relinquish any role in the administration of their mother's estate. This required not only legal documents from each of them, but also documents from attesting witnesses to those documents.

Annie then acted alone to prepare documents for Eliza's estate, including a valuation of the Elizabeth St property. Letters of administration for Eliza's estate were granted to Annie Fortin on 28 August 1911.

There may have been some pressure on Annie to take on this role being married to Henri Fortin who had a key role at Trojano Darveniza's Excelsior winery. Thomas Milovitch's wine shop owed Excelsior Vineyard a substantial sum of money at the time of his death. And Thomas's probate could not proceed - and Excelsior would not receive their money - until Eliza's estate was first settled.50,49,32
 

Citations

  1. [S67] Thomaso Melowich and Eliza Meagher, marriage registration no. 4062, 25 October 1864.
  2. [S68] Thomas Nicholas Milovitch, death registration no. 13871, 20 December 1910.
  3. [S146] Edwardian Index Victoria 1902-1913: Indexes to births deaths and marriages in Victoria, CD-ROM, Macbeth Genealogical Services, 1997, 'Thos Nicholas' Milovitch entry, death registration no. 13871, 1910.
  4. [S62] Mary Melovitch, birth registration no. 23994, 10 September 1867.
  5. [S166] 'Thomas Milovitch', A712 Letters received, no. 1891/R11040, naturalisation, 1891.
  6. [S341] Korizo Mellivitch, birth registration no. 25087, 5 January 1875.
  7. [S76] Noellene Wood, personal communication, 1 August 1986.
  8. [S330] Croatians in Australia: Pioneers, settlers and their descendants, Wakefield Press, 2004, pp. 1, 4, 251.
  9. [S2] 'Brac', Wikipedia, online, Wikimedia Foundation, viewed 24 January 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bra%C4%8D
  10. [S2] 'Ivan (name)', Wikipedia, online, Wikimedia Foundation, viewed 26 January 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_(name)>
  11. [S342] Edward Patrick Melovitch, birth registration no. 18760, 26 February 1872.
  12. [S343] Peter Nicholas Melovitch, birth registration no. 4561, 26 October 1869.
  13. [S344] Ann Melvouch, birth registration no. 5961, 17 November 1865.
  14. [S330] Croatians in Australia: Pioneers, settlers and their descendants, Wakefield Press, 2004, p. 154.
  15. [S21] Lorraine Phillips, personal communication, 30 July 1996.
  16. [S76] Noellene Wood, personal communication, 11 September 1996.
  17. [S330] Croatians in Australia: Pioneers, settlers and their descendants, Wakefield Press, 2004, p. 251.
  18. [S164] Mooroopna to 1988, 1989, p. 97.
  19. [S1] The 'Index to Unassisted Inward Passenger Lists to Victoria 1852-1923' was searched using wildcards so that it would find all known transcriptions of the family name, including Milovic, Milovitch, Melovitch, Melowich, Mellowich, Mellivitch, Melvouch, Milovice, etc. This index covers British ports, foreign ports and New Zealand. Because Thomas said he arrived from London, the 'Index to Assisted British Immigration 1839-1871' was also searched. A similar search for Darveniza was also done.
  20. [S135] Google Groups, newsgroup, Google, soc.genealogy.australia+nz: Erica Long, 'Re: Seamen Indexes & Shi', 26 April 1997, 'The seaman thought to have jumped may, in fact, have just worked his passage out ie worked the voyage out for the cost of meals and arrived to start a new life. This may be particularly true of people who were not British and didn't qualify for cheap passages out under any of the bounty or immigration schemes or those who had no relatives or friends already in the colonies to sponsor them out.'
  21. [S129] 'Trojano Darveniza', National Archives of Australia, online, A712 Letters received, no. 1889/N14683, 1889, 'In the month of September in the year 1869, he arrived in the Colony of Victoria by the ship name of which has been forgotten from the Port of Dunedin New Zealand', viewed 4 December 2017.
  22. [S330] Croatians in Australia: Pioneers, settlers and their descendants, Wakefield Press, 2004, p. 71.
  23. [S349] Peter Nicholas Milovitch, death registration no. 13136, 15 June 1890.
  24. [S67] Thomaso Melowich and Eliza Meagher, marriage registration no. 4062, 25 October 1864, current residence Tabilk; usual residence Tabilk; occupation vinedresser; father's occupation vinedresser.
  25. [S2] Heritage Victoria, Melbourne: 'Chateau Tahbilk', Victorian Heritage Register, no. H0296, viewed 11 February 2014.
  26. [S350] Tahbilk Winery, personal communication, email from Robyn Sutherland, 11 Feb 2014.
  27. [S2] 'A brief history of Tahbilk Winery', Tahbilk, online, Tahbilk Pty Ltd, Nagambie, viewed 21 Jan 2014. <https://web.archive.org/web/20140126030405/http://…
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