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Emigration
The Gozitans of New Caledonia
The story of our brothers and sisters who emigrated to Australia at the beginning of the 20th century has long been forgotten. It is a story of courage and heroism, the like of which is very uncommon today. It is also the story of the suffering endured by our ancestors who left our island in order to make a living thousands of miles away in Australia, from where they planned to maintain their families financially.
It was on September 12, 1916 during the great war when 214 passengers left Malta and Gozo on a ship called "Gange". Their destination was Australia. On their arrival they became the unfortunate victims of local riots against immigration taking place at the time. The trade unions were determined to safeguard the jobs of those Australians who were engaged in fighting in the war, hence their opposition to immigration.
 The emigrants arrived in Freemantle on October 21, after a terrifying experience as they met terrible storms on the way, so much so that the ship almost capsized. The rioters prevented them from leaving the ship and after two days waiting, the captain decided to sail towards Melbourne. There they had to undergo a language test, but instead of conducting the test in English, those in charge conducted it in the Dutch language, which meant of course that all of them failed! This was a ploy to prevent the emigrants from disembarking.
On November 5, the ship had to set sail again, this time to Sydney. By now, two months had passed since they left Malta. But even in Sydney they were not allowed to leave the ship. A military guard was assigned to the ship to prevent passengers from going ashore. However, about 44 passengers managed to escape by jumping into the sea and swam towards the shore. Most of them were caught and found themselves in a prison cell.
The authorities were at a loss as to what to do with the Maltese emigrants. Because the ship was registered in France, a decision was taken to send it to Noumea, New Caledonia, a French Colony. The Gange left Sydney Harbour on November 12 heading towards Noumea where at last the Maltese passengers were given accomodation.
After lenghty negotiations, these emigrants found themselves on another ship, the St. Louis, on their way back to Sydney. On their arrival they were transferred on to a very old ship which was anchored at the harbour, and there they waited for three months for another ship which would bring them back to Malta. After many complaints from various people, among whom was Fr William Bonnet, the emigrants were allowed to land ashore in Sydney. This was on March 13, 1917, six months after they had left Malta. In Sydney some of them soon found work with the Lyell Mining Company while others travelled further towards Queensland where they worked in the sugar cane plantations..
A large number of these emigrants were Gozitans, many from Gharb and San Lawrenz. There were 42 (20%) from Gharb and 15 (7%) from San Lawrenz.
Here's a list of those who hailed from San Lawrenz..
Apap Lorenzo |
(ta’ Girgor) |
Axiak Paolo |
(ta’ Vellita) |
Axiak Paolo |
(ta’ Pawlozzu) |
Cassar Giusepp |
(taz-Zogu) |
Cauchi Lorenza |
(tal-Qaleb) |
Frendo Giusepp |
(tal-Ghawar) |
Gauchi Carmelo |
(ta’ Picoru) |
Grima Giusepp |
(tal-Beqbi) |
Grima Giusepp |
(tal-Koli) |
Grima Lorenzo |
(tan-Namrat) |
Grima Luigi |
(ta’ Dajsi) |
Mizzi Lorenzo |
(tal-Begiga) |
Mizzi Lorenzo |
(tas-Swejs) |
Note: This information has been compiled from the book by Frank Zammit: "Il-Ballata tal-Maltin ta' New Kaledonia" and from the book by Barry York: "The Maltese in Australia". There is also a cassette tape about this subject.
Emigration from San Lawrenz to Mediterranean Countries
Is San Lawrenz a village or a town? It is certainly a village in the eyes of the Gozitans, but in the eyes of the world it is a town. Who knows the number of San Lawrenz emigrants in the cities of Melbourne and Sydney in Australia; in New York and Detroit in the United States of America; in Toronto in Canada and in London in the United Kingdom? And in other cities? In this article and others which will follow in the future, we shall see how San Lawrenz has grown and spread itself in so many cities around the world. But before this type of emigration, there was emigration to Mediterranean countries.
Gozo an island of emigrants
From the very beginning, Gozo was a place of emigration and immigration. People came and others left, some to find work here work while others sought work in other countries. Gozo is the land of migration - if one looks at the story of Ulysses who according to Greek mythology found shelter in the cave of Calypso in Xaghra and then observe the air links between Malta and New York - one arrives at the conclusion that the Gozitans are a mobile people who spread themselves around the four corners of the world.. In Australia the estimated number of Gozitans is around 40,000, in the USA around 15,000 and in Canada around 9,000. There are other communities in other countries such as in Britain, France and other Mediterranean countries. I am going to concentrate now on emigration from San Lawrenz to a number of Arab countries, starting with Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Eygpt and then move on to European countries such as France, Greece and Cyprus.
Emigration to North Africa
The first emigration from San Lawrenz headed for the countries of North Africa, mostly to Algeria, Tunisia and Eygpt at the beginning of the 19th century when Malta had just become a colony of the British Empire. At that time huge opportunities opened up for our people because every Maltese and Gozitan acquired British citizenship with all the rights that it entailed. All the British colonies became accessible to the Maltese and Gozitans. Egypt, Cyprus and Gibraltar, covering both ends of the mediterranean sea were very attractive at the time. A number of San Lawrenz inhabitants emigrated to Alexandria and Cairo were they settled down until 1956 when a new regime in Egypt expelled them and confiscated their properties. The majority of them chose to go to Australia or Britain.
French Speaking Countries - Algeria, Tunisia and France
The Gozitan Church had been a pioneer in sending missionaries to North Africa for the purposes of evangelisation. A good number of people from San Lawrenz emigrated mostly to Algiers, Bona and Phillipaville in Algeria and Tunis, in Tunisia. Notwithstanding the fact that these French colonies were French and Arab speaking, the emigrants from San Lawrenz spoke with a mixture of their village and Gozitan dialects and the Arabs understood them due to the similarity between their dialects and classical Arabic.
Research of passports kept at the National Archive Centre Holy Spirit in Rabat near Mdina reveals that many San Lawrenz inhabitants were farmers or manual workers who found employment with rich French families who owned large tracts of land in these countries. In time many of the San Lawrenz emigrants learnt to speak French and followed the example of many of the locals by emigrating once more, this time to France, to the cities of Marseille and Lyon where there were plenty of jobs in the ports and other industries located by the French coast. The San Lawrenz community of Marseille lived mainly by the city's famous port where they engaged in port work, very similar to the work they once had back home and in other industries which sprung up as the result of the industrial revolution. The same thing happened in Lyon, which lacked a port but was the most industrialised city outside Paris. Today we find many people in these cities and other cities in France who are the direct d!
escendants of the early San Lawrenz migrants - many times these are the third or fourth generations. Some of them return to San Lawrenz to find their roots and search their family trees.
Morocco and Libya
There are only a few emigrants originating from San Lawrenz in Morocco and Libya, as these countries were never considered ideal countries for emigration. Those who went to Morocco settled in Rabat and Casablanca and in the towns of Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya. When Italy declared war against Britain, these emigrants were sent to a camp in Italy. Three years later they returned to Libya but when Libya gained independence in 1951, most of them emigrated to Australia and other countries.
Egypt
People from San Lawrenz along with thousands of Gozitans and Maltese emigrated to Eygpt where they settled in the towns of Alexandria, Cairo and Port Said. Egypt was one of the most favourite destinations, so much so that in 1927 there were 20,000 Maltese and Gozitans in Egypt. Back in 1822 when Britain attacked the town of Alexandria, about 8000 migrants returned to Malta and Gozo. Among these we find people from San Lawrenz who either settled back here or emigrated to Australia. In 1950 under the Presidency of Nar, the majority of Gozitan immigrants
escaped from Egypt and fled to Australia or Britain. Today there are very few families in Egypt who originated from San Lawrenz.
Gibraltar, Spain and Greece
The same can be said for the rock of Gibraltar. Only a few can be found on the rock claiming San Lawrenz as their country of origin. Valencia, Barcellona and Madrid in Spain tell a similar story.
However, the Greek Ionian islands, namely Corfu and Cephalonia were very popular destinations. When Malta was under British rule many migrants from San Lawrenz together with other Gozitans in 1815 found work on a number of projects on these islands. Britain aimed at increasing the number of English speaking citizens to balance the Greek populations of these islands. In 1864 Britain returned these two islands to Greece. This caused a stop to emigration to these islands and at the same time a large number of Maltese and Gozitans left these islands and settled in Athens or in the Port of Pireus, while others went to Cardiff in Wales. But there is still a number of Gozitans, some of whom are originally from San Lawrenz found on the island of Corfu especially in Cozella, an island named after Gozo and Maltezika, another island named for Malta.
Cyprus and Turkey
In Cyprus we find a number of small communities from San Lawrenz who emigrated after 1878 when the island became a British colony. Apart from those Gozitans who accompanied the British troops to Cyprus, in 1925 there was a plan for building a village in Cyprus to accomodate about 2000 Maltese and Gozitans, but the plan was abondoned due to shortage of funds and the spread of malaria at the time. Gozitan emigrants chose to work in the towns of Constantinople, Smyrna and Izmir mainly in port related industries. In 1912 there were 3000 Maltese and Gozitans in the district of Galata. In Izmir there was a tiny community but by 1940 almost all the settlers returned back to Malta or Gozo due to unrest in the country.
The role of the Gozitan Church
The emigrants from San Lawrenz always preferred locations where the Catholic Church was established or at least had the services of Catholic missionaries nearby. This was indeed necessary for them not only to keep their Christian identity intact but also to seek help during their years of settling down and learning a new language. They also felt secure in the knowledge that there were a few educated people who were able to help them out in whatever they needed. The missionary and the Gozitan immigrant were complementary to each other and provided encouragment and comfort to each other.
It is well known that when emigrants visited Gozo, the young men from San Lawrenz always enquired about the type of country they were living in. This was a topic of conversation in the wine bars spread around the village. The most popular questions were: "What was the country like? Was there any possibility of employment over there? Any chance of taking me back with you? Can you fix it for me..."
The emigration from San Lawrenz dimished greatly by the outbreak of the first world war and had stopped completely by the beginning of the second world war. But the pioneering emigration of the previous years from San Lawrenz was enough to establish communities in all corners of the world. Their courage and determination changed them from citizens of San Lawrenz, Gozo and Malta into citizens of the modern world. In the meantime the village of San Lawrenz made great strides of progress, even if the village, like the rest of the island of Gozo were completely neglected by the British administrations and in later years even by the Maltese central government.
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