Fr Nicholas Bassetto O.S.A.

Although a number of early Priests preceded Fr Nicholas Bassetto in the general Rochester-Echuca area, he is generally regarded as the ‘first resident Priest of Rochester’. This is despite the fact that his residence was reportedly in Corop¹, not Rochester, although another source suggests he first resided at Rushworth.²

We have no details of his early life other than that he was born in Italy and spent 17 years of missionary work in India. He came to Melbourne in 1869 and by 1873 was attached to St Kilian’s Mission. Soon thereafter he was transferred to Heathcote (1874). In the history of Heathcote Parish by McKenzie McHarg et al³ he is listed as ‘First parish priest of Heathcote’ from 1874 to 1878 but this must not be taken to assume that he lived in Heathcote. It seems that the settlement of Corop was, at that time, part of what Fr Hickey refers to as ‘the Heathcote Mission’. Moreover, since he is recorded as transferring to Echuca Parish in 1876, his status at Heathcote after this date is doubtful.
Although living in Corop, he travelled widely and, for instance, in September of 1876 he is recorded as having visited Tongala Mount Pyramid, Torrumbarry and Terick Terick. A little earlier, he had opened a small wooden church in Corop dedicated to St Peter, and this was blessed by Dr Backhaus (in the absence of Bishop Crane) in Jan, 1875.

Fr Bassetto left Victoria in 1878 and returned to Italy. We do not know whether this was a retirement or whether he left for other reasons. Whatever the case, there is no doubt that he greatly endeared himself to the parishioners along the lower Campaspe and was highly regarded by all.
Many anecdotes relate to his time in the general Rochester-Echuca are. It seems, for instance, that being very short in stature, he required a chair in order to mount his horse! Again, in many of his long journeys to isolated farmhouses (to say Mass) he often went without food for long periods. One story has it that, upon announcing that he would say Mass at a certain house the following Sunday, he asked those present to convey to the woman of that house ‘that I will have one rooster for breakfast and another to take away with me’.
Fr Hickey, in his account of Fr Bassetto written long after the latter’s departure wrote: ‘It is now over seventy years since his first arrival, yet his name is still green, and he is held in veneration by all, irrespective of class or creed’.

1. Hickey, Rev. P. (undated but after 1945). A Short History of the Catholic Church in Rochester. Ed. K.D. Sargeant. Privately published. ↩︎
2. Dullard, F. 1980. A History of St Joseph’s Parish, Rochester. Privately published. ↩︎
3. McKenzie McHarg, M., and Traynor, R., 1977, The Catholic Parish of Heathcote – A History. Privately published. ↩︎

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