emigration to Australia 1870-1900   

There is no general agreement about the beginning of emigration from Lebanon to Australia.  Some say it started in 1870, others in 1875.  The likely story is that the first Lebanese migrant, Massoud El-Nashbi of Besharri, arrived in Australia in 1880.  He stayed only six months, partly because he was very successful in selling souvenirs which he obtained from the Holy Land and for which the Australians paid large sums of money.

On his return to Besharri, Massoud El-Nashbi recounted his success in Australia and told his fellow villagers about Australia and the friendly and generous nature of its people.

On day in the summer of 1886 some Kfarsghabi men paid a visit to Father Gebrail El-Fakhri, the Parish Priest of Besharri, and while there, a letter arrived from his children who had immigrated to Australia shortly after the return of Massoud El-Nashbi.  Father El-Fakhri found a cheque for ten pounds enclosed in the letter (a large sum of money in those days), and then proceeded to tell his visitors about the success of his children and their work in the mines of Broken Hill.  He promised the visitors the support of his children if any of them wished to immigrate to Australia.  The Kfarsghabi visitors expressed a keen interest in emigration and took up his offer.

In February 1887, Father El-Fakhri received another letter from his children in which they asked him to inform the Kfarsghabis to come to Australia.  After a short period, the first group of emigrants left the port of Mina.

After several months of sailing, the ship arrived in Adelaide, in the State of South Australia, where Father El-Fakhri’s children received the new immigrants with open hearts.  They asked them to discard their original clothes and wear new western-style garments.

Father El-Fakhri’s children rented a room for the immigrants in Broken Hill.  During the first night they heard the Town Clock as it stuck midnight.  They then woke up, put on their clothes and left their room because they thought it was the toll of the bells of the Church calling the faithful to mass (as was the custom in Lebanon).

In the street, the night watchman stopped them and questioned them about their destination.  They responded by making the sign of the cross.  The watchman understood and led them to the Church where he woke the Parish Priest and the Dean, named Joseph.  After they realised that they were Christians from the East, they took them back to their room.

The Dean, Joseph, then looked after them and taught them a few essential English words, including those connected with money, and bought them each a bag with their name and address on it.  He also filled the bags with goods such as needles, pins, etc. and taught them the art of door-to-door selling.  After a certain period of time they mastered the art, began to pick up the English language and started to make a good living.

One day, Youssef Nehme and Hanna Doumit lost their way in a thick forest.  After three hours of walking they saw a distant light and as they approached it they were attacked by wild dogs whose barks awakened the owner of the house and his wife.  The owner questioned the men who were only able to respond with a few broken English words, and then they invited them to their house and fed them and allowed them to spend the night at their home.  Youssef and Hanna woke up early, looked out through the window and saw the cut wheat and seedlings spread out over the grounds.  They got up and climbed through the window and gathered the wheat into bundles.  They then carried them in to be prepared for separating into hay and grain. 

The owner and his wife then woke up and were surprised by the men’s initiative and gratitude.  As a token of their appreciation, they bought all the goods the men were selling for an amount much more than the real value.  They also provided the men with food and drink and arranged for their son to drive them by carriage to their homes.  When they arrived in Broken hill, the two men saw their friends’ utter cries of joy because they thought that they had been lost forever and had given up hope of tracing them.

These men had profound effects on the emigration to Australia.  It was due to their material success that large numbers of Kfarsghabis began to leave the village and arrive at the port of Adelaide, South Australia.  It is worthwhile to mention that Mr George Joseph, the son of the late Khalil Youssef Kanaan, became the Mayor of Adelaide, the city which received the first Kfarsghabi emigrants into Australia.