Branches of the Cedar Tree: Lebanese on the Far North Coast

Brisbane Book Launch Event Details

Saturday 24 February 2024  | 1 PM- 3PM

St Anne’s Church Hall, 127 Nelson St Kalinga, 4030

The presentation will be followed by afternoon tea. This is a free event. For catering purposes, please RSVP by email to: [email protected] by 20 February.

The book will be available at the presentation and can also be ordered via the ALHS website: https://alhs.org.au/resources/publications/

About the Book

Branches of the Cedar Tree: Lebanese on the NSW Far North Coast – edited by Anne Thacker and published by the Australian Lebanese Historical Society (ALHS).

The ALHS aims to promote study of the history of Lebanese settlement in Australia as well as develop ways of understanding and recording family emigration histories. The ALHS most recent project collects stories from people who made a new life on the NSW Far North Coast. These families settled across the districts from the Queensland border and south to around Grafton, including Glen Innes. You will read about people, to list a few only:  at the Tweed District – Aboud, Habib, Solomon; at the Kyogle District – Michael, Mellick, Aboody; at the Casino District – Jabour, Bracks, Watson, Karam, George; at the Lismore area Wickham, Skype, Hajjar, Lutvey, Moses and Solomon; and Grafton District with Sweeten and Howley. In all, the book has over thirty family stories.

Until the ALHS was established in 2000, very little was known about the Lebanese who migrated to Australia commencing from as long ago as late 1870s. Classified as Asian, these people experienced legislated discrimination under “the White Australia policy” and so they remained largely invisible within their communities. But they were here to stay and are now among some of the most well-established families in their districts.

The book also has many early photographs and aims to create a starting point for some families who wish to investigate their heritage but are not sure where to start.

More importantly, the whole community will benefit from this book by obtaining a true understanding of the make-up and contributions to the establishment and development of NSW by an important segment of the local community.

It is also a delightful read about the antics of early life around the districts when people “made do” with the often limited resources they could muster under their own hand.