The Chimes

The Abbot Placid Spearritt Memorial Scholarship (APSMS) was set up in 2009 in memory of New Norcia’s late abbot. The programme invites scholars to dig into the rich history contained in the New Norcia Archives, which includes diaries, chronicles, photographs, maps, letters and reports – many in Spanish, the language of the first missionaries.

The 2023 recipients of the APSMS are well-versed in the painstaking process of translating foreign documents. Judith McGuinness and Eugenia Schettino – both language teachers – are continuing their previous work on translating, researching and organising the letters written from 1849 to 1868 by Santos Salvado to his brother Rosendo Salvado, before Santos moved to New Norcia.

This continues the translation of and research into the letters of Santos Salvado to his brother Rosendo, which the researchers completed in 2021. These comprise letters written by Santos during his ten years as prior at New Norcia, which were published in the 2022 New Norcia Studies journal as The Letters of Santos Salvado: New Norcia, 1869–1879.

“It was decided to publish the Western Australian letters first because of their immediate relevance to the history of this state”, Eugenia explained. “So this year we are working backwards, revising the 268 letters written in Spain and Italy by Santos to Rosendo between 1849 and 1868”.

The pair met at Central TAFE in Perth where Eugenia was teaching a Spanish Diploma course. Judy had recently completed the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail with her husband in Spain and was enthused to learn her third language, after English and French, so she signed up for Eugenia's course. When Judy attended a New Norcia Open Day in 2010 and learned about the extensive collection of Spanish material in the Archives, she jumped at the chance to use her newly acquired skill. She invited Eugenia to join in their first project together: translating letters written by Rosendo Salvado to Théophile Bérengier from 1874 to 1897.

Both fell in love with the material they were researching and offered their continued services to the Archives. In 2016, they won the APSMS to translate the letters of Santos Salvado that he wrote from New Norcia from 1869–1879. A book of those letters was published by Abbey Press in October 2021.

In 2018 the dynamic duo again won the APSMS to translate letters written by Santos Salvado to Rosendo Salvado from 1849 to 1868. Their 2023 scholarship will enable them to revise, research and organise those letters in preparation for Volume 2 of the Santos trilogy.

Most of their work is done from home, online, through regular contact with New Norcia’s archivist, Peter Hocking, who sends CDs with the scanned letters. Eugenia starts with transcribing the original hand-written letters, reproducing them word for word, including errors, as the transcription has to be an exact copy of the original. This requires regular online research to ensure her transcription of obscure terminology and place names is accurate.

She then sends them to Judy who edits and translates the letters, carrying out any additional research needed. The work is then volleyed back to Eugenia who acts as a critical reader, ensuring that the translations are as close as possible to the original. The team of two say they really enjoy working together on the challenge of spending hours researching, thinking and deciding what is the best translation.

“It has to be said, however”, says Judy, “that translators are never entirely happy with their work. Our translations are not literal; we attempt to translate so that the letters read in English as they would have read in Spanish, with the same tone, emphasis, colour and shades. This means that there is often a ‘better’ word or a ‘more accurate’ rendering of an idea! As we work through these letters for a second time we are encouraged to see that some of our phrasing is very pleasing, but we know that other bits need a rethink and a revamp”.

“For me as a translator”, says Eugenia, “there is no greater joy than to be able to translate historical documents. Winning the scholarship is a great honour. Helping to translate the history of Australia from Spanish into English, knowing that more people will have access to all the interesting times and the hardships that these Benedictine monks had to go through to build a Catholic Mission in Australia 177 years ago, is something that makes me joyful”.

The women intend to complete their project by year’s end.

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