By Jack Bettar

In the vastness of the human story, migration remains a universal narrative, weaving through the histories of diverse cultures and peoples. Whether compelled by necessity, seeking new opportunities, or driven by a spirit of exploration, migration has formed the very fabric of societies globally. Each narrative is unique, bearing the weight of personal dreams, tenacity, resilience, and the pursuit of a better life.

Tracing one’s family history can be daunting especially if family members are no longer with us or if there is not a large source of family archival material available. After my grandfather Lou’s passing in November of 2023, I wanted to research in detail his migration journey. Fortunately, I had recorded numerous interviews with him detailing an oral history of his life. Together with his photographs, letters, and audio/film reels, I had a defined starting point. I managed to access his original Incoming Passenger Card using the National Archives of Australia’s record search feature¹. To my astonishment, a single document uncovered for me a previously concealed history of the actual journey my grandfather took to reach this Great Southern Land.

By the mid-20th century, the majority of migrants coming to Australia from the region of Greater Syria came by sea, via one of the various orient lines. This passage traced the Suez Canal, via Port Said in Egypt, stopping at ports along the route, including Aden in Yemen (then a British colony) and Colombo in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) before reaching Fremantle, Western Australia, then Sydney. Lou (Elias) Bettar, was an exception and one of the few who arrived in Australia by air.

My grandfather’s childhood and early teen years were spent exclusively within the rural village environs of his hometown of Safita². However, fate and circumstance would alter the course of Lou’s life forever. On the 4th of March 1950, his aunty, Josie (Zahie), left Australia on a trip to visit her parents, whom she had not seen in 16 years. She sent a postcard from the ship, S.S. Orontes, to her uncle, Monsignor Malatios Chahoud, then-priest of St Michael’s Melkite Church in Waterloo, writing:

To dear Uncle,
Taken just before the ship sailed out of Sydney. I look very sad, don’t I.
Hoping to be waving hello soon instead of goodbye.

Love to all, Zahie

Photos of her journey from Sydney to Egypt conjure a bygone period in international cruising, including images of fancy dress parties on board and stays at glamorous hotels. Prior to commencing this historical investigation, the exact location of the photo of Josie on the rickshaw was unknown. However, with good general historical knowledge and research strategies, more information can be discerned. I reasoned that this was in a British colony, given the European man in frame, and further narrowed the scope, assuming this was a port city in South-East Asia, given that she travelled by ship. Focusing on some distinctive architectural features on the building behind her, I started researching colonial architecture in Colombo. To my amazement, I came across a photo of the Grand Oriental Hotel on York Street, overlooking the Indian Ocean. Bingo! It was the same location. This process, while somewhat tedious and a mixture of trial and error, can be applied to photos where secondary contextual information is unavailable.

It would be on this stay overseas that Josie would invite Lou, her teen nephew, to join her in Sydney. In 2019, my grandfather shared his feelings about his aunt’s invitation: As a child, I thought that was a great venture. It [Australia] was a new country on the other side of the world. Just imagine: you’re 13 years old and live in a little town in the Middle East, and someone comes and asks you “Do you want to go to Australia?”. Wherever you went abroad, whether Australia, Italy, or Africa, you were going to America! It was very exciting, and I felt overjoyed… it was an enormous experience. I used to show off and tell all my friends that next month I was going to America, and by air! (Lou Bettar, August 2019).

Prior to this trip, the only times Lou left Safita were to obtain his passport at Latakia and his Australian visa from the British Legation Consular Section at Damascus. Thankfully, the accuracy and reliability of my grandfather’s several oral history recollections have served me well in primary source investigation, as I have been able to corroborate with National Archives’ documents the chronology and place names he mentioned. A poignant aspect of his departure, which is something many early Lebanese and Syrian migrants could relate to, is the pain of a mother seeing their child leave: My mum and dad at the beginning agreed to the idea, probably because they thought it was not that serious. However, when the time came for me to leave, mum and dad were very upset. They didn’t believe that I really would leave them. Mum left home, in tears, saying “How can I say goodbye to a young child going to Australia?” (Lou Bettar, June 2019). Despite the high emotions as my grandfather left his homeland, he assured me that he never doubted the decision for a second³!

Using the Passenger Card as my guide, I discovered that my grandfather arrived via Qantas Empire Airways, on a Lockheed Constellation aircraft which seated a mere 29 passengers. While he did remember the journey taking four days, I managed to find the original plane timetable for when he departed Beirut (22nd of May 1951) on Trove – the National Library of Australia’s free research portal. While my grandfather recalled the trip involving short legs, overnight stays and stops in exotic cities like Karachi in Pakistan, Trove allowed me to more precisely piece together the entire trip. In my grandfather’s words: Each leg was a few hours as the plane was quite small. We used to land … spend the rest of the day in that city and go to our hotel. (Lou Bettar, 2020) The full journey on the Qantas ‘Kangaroo Route’ included Cairo, Karachi, Calcutta (Kolkata), Singapore and Djakarta. From Djakarta, Qantas landed on Australian soil at Darwin. My grandfather remembered Darwin Airport as small and unimpressive: The airline told us they fly direct [to Sydney] from there [Darwin], and it was the longest flight on the journey, taking five or six hours. (Lou Bettar, June 2019).

Hotel accommodation and first-class hot meals were also included in the purchase price of your airfare. In Cairo, after landing at King Farouk Airport (when Egypt was still a Kingdom united with the Sudan), my grandfather along with his aunty Josie and her husband, Fred (Fouad), stayed in the grandiose Heliopolis Palace Hotel, which was turned into the Presidential Palace at the end of the last century. The Hotel, constructed in 1910, was an exclusive destination for high-profile guests from European business tycoons and foreign royalty to film stars and cognoscenti. The landmark hotel blended Moorish, Persian, Islamic and Neoclassical architectural elements along with fittings from London, Paris and Damascus. In Karachi, the Speed-Bird Hostel, renovated and operated by B.O.A.C. (British Overseas Aviation Company) housed passengers.

In Singapore, the trio enjoyed a sojourn at the world-famous Raffles Hotel – the name of which alone exudes all the mystique and majesty of mid-20th century travel. This was, of course, after experiencing a Qantas-organised tour of the island city and its surrounds. Only six years prior, the Raffles Hotel had been renamed and administered under Japanese occupation during the Second World War. If you are wondering how travellers managed currency exchanges, currency coupons were given to all Qantas-B.O.A.C. passengers, allowing both recreation and the occasional souvenir acquisition. Qantas described a deluxe cabin service experience, with two stewards and a hostess who provide “constant, yet unobtrusive attention”.

When a loved one dies, they leave behind their life in the form of a golden tapestry. We often believe that we have traced every thread and known every hue of their existence. Yet, when the hands and mouths that once guided us fall silent, we are left to embark on the quest to discover the vibrant shades and fibres we never knew existed. Each untold tale, such as the one recounted in this article, becomes a shimmering strand to reveal the previously unknown parts of their story. While their physical presence may have faded, the essence of their story remains and allows us to remember that they transcend and remain in the timeless embrace of memory.

References and Notes

1. RecordSearch: National Archives of Australia (no date) RecordSearch. Available, (Accessed: 15 February 2024) ↩︎
2. From 1549-1917, Safita was a kaza (district) of the Tripoli Sanjak, and thus it shares immerse cultural, social, religious and political similarities to towns and cities throughout Lebanon and Syria today. ↩︎
3. Words in italics are direct quotations of Lou Bettar ↩︎