Levis Family Story

The Levis family history goes back a long way.
My grandfather Angelo Levis born on the 19th August 1894 was a stonemason who worked between Roncan, Italy and Westphalia Germany. He worked with his cousin also called Angelo who moved to USA in 1901.

A few days after WW1 began, they decided to return to Italy but were conscripted at the border into the Italia Army.
My grandfather was rejected because of an eye injury he sustained while working as a stonemason. Sadly, his cousin Angelo died just after the war had been declared.

My grandfather left Italy for the USA where he stayed with relatives and worked as a chef in the Fort Pitt Hotel and then in the Coal Mines, in Pennsylvania until the end of WW1

He married my grandmother Angelina Biachett and began a family.
By 1925 work in Italy was hard to find, Angelo tried to immigrate back to USA but was denied entry because immigration restrictions had been imposed.

He saw an advertisement in the local paper, Australia was needing Agricultural workers and were allowing immigrants to move from Italy to Australia. The local priest vouched for Angelo so he could travel to Australia.
Our Australian Story

Angelo arrived in Melbourne aboard the passenger ship “Regina D’Italia out of Genova 18 April 1927. He was initially housed in the settlement” Block 200, Red Fliffs, Mildura, Victoria and worked picking grapes.

He tried looking for stone mason work but could not find work because economic conditions had deteriorated.
The Italian consul suggested he try South Australia where churches were still being built. Arriving there he also found it difficult to get work. It was then suggested that he move to Western Australia. He boarded the train ad crossed the Nullarbor, Plain to Perth.

Unfortunately, there was very little work as a stone mason in Perth, so he again had to approach the consul. The only work at the time was in a timber mill in Duranllin, near Wagin. The sleep shapers had a quote of 8 Wandoo sleepers per day.

By 1928 things deteriorated to a point where his employment was terminated because the timber mill company he was working for, went broke leaving him without wages. He had just enough money to make it back to Perth. He again approached the consul and the only work available at that stage was working as a labourer for the Chinese market gardens in Lake
Gwelup for Tom Fong. He works for the Chinese market gardeners for 12 months and was able to send enough money to his wife in Italy asking his wife Angela (ne Biancheti) to sell the family home and property and emigrate to Western Australia. They arrived at the Port of Fremantle on the “Maria Christina” out of Genova with three children, Giovani, Ida and Adele, 20th May 1928.

My uncle Giuseppe (Joe Levis) was born in Perth, 13th February 1929.

Angelo and his family leased a plot of land in Coode St., Bayswater, behind the CRESCO fertiliser factory, belonging to Browne’s Dairy.

They grew vegetables for the local Metropolitan Markets which were based at that time on Wellington Street, West Perth – now the City West.

By 1929 the Great Depression had hit the world and economic conditions were bad and money was hard to earn; times were hard. Angelo’s health deteriorated and the work was left to Angela, Giovani (John) Ida and Adele.
At the age of 16 years John had to run produce into the West Perth Markets by horse and cart. At 19 John ran the family business.

Time went on. WW11 was declared in 1939. Italy joined with Germany. Many Italians in Australia were declared enemy aliens. Many Italian families in Australia were incarcerated or restricted in their movements. Angelo and his family were restricted in their movements.
Joe was born in Australia.

They were not permitted to travel outside a 10 mile radius from Perth without a permit. However, they were classed as “Essential Services” with no Political ties with Italy.
They continued to grow vegetables and supplied food for the army services during WW11 and the Korean War between 1950-53.

After WW11 and the Korean War, economic conditions improved. Angelo decided to buy the leased property off Browne’s Dairy.

My father John saw surveyors working in an adjoining property and inquired,
“what were they doing”. The surveyor told him that the site was to be resumed for the new railway marshalling yards for Perth, so the idea of buying the property fell through.

Both John and Angelo looked at several properties ranging from Forrestfield, Chittering and Piesse Brook. Finally looking at a few acres on Glenisla Road, Carmel.
The property was called “Deepdale” originally owned by Joe Gray, who was the Shire President. He then sold the property to Arthur Hawkes, who sold to the Knockolds family who retained the property for 18 months before selling to the Levis family.

The Levis family still own the property: except that it was subdivided in the early 1980’s.
Vic owns 131 Glenisla road. While Augustus owns 151m Glenisla Road and Joe Levis owns 126 Glenisla Road, Carmel.

The property was initially partly orchard with large tracts of native bush.
The bush was cleared by hand to make way for vegetable growing, and years later converted to an orchard.
Joe bought several plots of land bordering Valencia Rd., and Morton Rd., which were sold onto Geoff Ramsay, Tony Condon, Michael Condo and Grieves Nursery.

Between the early 1950’s and mid l970’s the property was in full production.
By 1976 the orchard aspect of the business gave way to water drilling.

I, (Vic) started being involved with drilling around 12 years of age and I was full time drilling at the age of 20 years.
Vic has been drilling for over 44 years, and was one of the very first 50 drillers in Australia to obtain his drillers’ license back in the early 1990’s. For a time, Vic was one of the most qualified drillers in the country when workplace training was just getting into the industries.
Vic operated the EDSON 600 drill for over 39 years.

Ben, is a third generation driller, growing up around the rig and has been working in the drilling industry most of his life and gaining lifelong experiences in the industry, and over 20 years in the Water well Sector, as well as the Geotechnical drilling sector.

Both John and Joe Levis drilled the first commercial 6” steel bore in the Perth Hills to a depth of 100 feet by hand 1953 using a method similar to the mud rotary system, but using high pressure water from a dam supply and a 2”polypipe attached to a post hole cutter and 1” galvanised pipes as drill rods to syphon the cutting out of the bore as it was being drilled
On Joe’s Morton Road property in Carmel.
Joe’s neighbour Alec Robinson and his partner Roy Bovani from Karragullen, were builders at the time-saw what the bore was producing.
John and Joe installed the first Ajax Jack Pump on the bore which was pumping 1800 gallons per hour at the time; followed by a Stalker’s 10hp belt driven vertical centrifugal-the bore was producing 3000 gallons per hour.

We were the very first drillers to introduce the Down Hole Hammer in the Perth Hills in 1976 and pioneered drilling into hard rock in the area.

In 2021 A.Levis & Sons will have been drilling water bores for over 53 years. From humble beginnings of digging bores by hand our very first rig, a modified Prolin post hole rig was purchased and worked by brothers Giovanni (John) and Angelo (Joe) Levis in 1968/69.
John was working with the crew until the age of 88 years (2010) and Joe finished at 84 (2013). An amazing 42 & 45 years of experience bestowed upon John’s son Vic and grandson Ben, to whom the torch has been passed and continue to steer business into the future.