Unfortunately not many books or documents have been published about the
history of
Croatian immigration to Australia, subsequently depriving today's Australian's
of their early
ancestors in this conutry.

As a result many people who, have "interesting" surnames i.e. Croatian
sounding surnames
can only speculate about the origins ot their ancestors who unfortunately, in
most cases left
few if any "helpful" documents of any kind which could shed some light on
these "family
tree" mysteries.

However one particular family that has, over the course of 150 years become
totally
assimilated into the "Australian way of life" is about to embark on a journey
"back to the
future".Since discovering their respective "Australian" lives but now fully
aware of their
distinct Croatian origins.

An early portrait of Vincent Gercovich ( Vinko Gerkovic) and his wife
Winifred Rebecca
surrounded by their large family.circa 1880

We're talking here about the many descendants or better said, great great
grandchildren of
Vincent Gercovich (Vinko Gerkovic) who is believed to be the first Croatian
immigrant to
Ballarat Victoria Australia and possibly one of the first Croatian settlers to
Victoria!

The interesting story of Vinko Gerkovic, who arrived in ballarat
approximately around 1848
where he joined thousands of other miners during the legendary "Gold
Rush"days, in Ballarat
Victoria Australia.

The first clue as to who Vinko was came from the diary entries of Vinko's
great-great
grandson Stephen Gercovich from St.Andrews in Victoria Australia who
wrote the following:

Mr & Mrs Stephen & Gaye Gercovich

1998 St Andrews Victoria.

The family of Vincent (Vinko) Gercovich first came to Victoria from Dalmatia
around 1848 to
1850.Not long after that, the then 16 year - year - old Vinko arrived in
ballarat hunting fro
gold.His father Nikola gerkovic was a sailor and his mother was called Vitale
Gerolama.

Working in all types of jobs, Vinko lived in Ballarat Australia until the 13th of
February 1867
when at the age of 28, he married 15 year old Winifred Rebecca Bennet(who
was born on
8/3/1852 on the ship "Success" which was Australian bound from England)."

It is interestinfg to note that Vinko and Winifred were married in the St.Alipius
church in
Ballarat, the same church that is used by the Croatian congregation today to
celebrate mass
held by local Croatian Parish Priest rev.Stjepan Gnjec.

At the time of his wedding ,Vinko was working as a woodcutter while
Rebecca worked as a
servant-girl.

Later, they were to become parents to a total of 13 children ( of which one
child died when it
was only 15 months old).Their children were:

Lucretia Ursula born 1867 reg no. 17861 in Ross Creek Victoria

Emma Ursula born 1869 reg no.11693 in Ross Creek Victoria.

Rosa Gerotama 1871 reg no.12321 in Ross Creek Victoria.

Nicholas David Charles 1873 reg no.27148 in Smythesdale Victoria.

Lydia Angelina 1874 reg no.25932 in Smythesdale Victoria.

Ernest William Henry 1877 reg no.11697 in Smythesdale Victoria.

Albert Edward 1879 reg no.25917 in Smythesdale Victoria.

Arthur Joseph 1879 reg no.25918 in Smythesdale Victoria.

Alfred Theodore 1881 reg no.26252 in Smythesdale Victoria.

Walter Webar 1884 reg no.05612 in Smythesdale Victoria.

Victor Reginald 1885 reg no. 28919 in Smytesdale Victoria.

Leo Milliard Septimus 1888 reg no.15661 in Smythedale Victoria.

Albert Edward Gercovich taken in Smythesdale Victoria Australia just before
his death.

Naturally none of these children are alive today but they have left behind a
large number of
descendants...

Vinko worked in the mines first and later operated the Smythesdale toll gate
and was given
this job as he was talented in speaking several languages

Vincent Gercovich's (Vinko Gerkovic) Australian Naturalization citizenship.

Vinko Gercovich died in Ballarat on the 7th August, 1900 at the age of 61,
while his sife
Winifred Rebecca died in 1928 at the ripe old age of 76

Vincent Gercovich's ( Vinko Gerkovic) Death Certificate clearly shows he
was born in
Dalmatia

Going on the details of this diary entry about the roots of Vinko Gercovich
and from the
photocopies obtained of his marriage certificate and citizenship papers,Vinko
was born in
Citta Vechia (which today is Stari Grad on the Island of HVAR in Dalmatia in
The Republic of
Croatia according to Andrees world atlas of 1912 map 112) in Dalmatia
which was under
Austro - Hungarian ocupation at the time. It's quite possible that Vinko's
ancestors were
from a small village called Nerezina because the surname Gerkovic was
prevalent amongst
the local folk there (according to the Croatian Lexicon of Names Compiled in
1948, in Zagreb
Croatia.).