Photos

Michel Asmar was already a Master Tailor when he came to Australia from Lebanon in December 1924. He worked for Pike Brothers Menswear Emporium as a tailor but within a short time started working for himself as a Ladies and Gents Tailor. By 1935, he had set up the clothing factory at Hardgrave Road, West End. Six of his eight children were trained by their father and worked in the business which flourished. While family members did the designing, cutting and managed the business, the factory also provided employment for at least twenty machinists. Selling to retailers all over Australia, this family enterprise lasted for about 56 years.

Caption: Asmar Family. Left to right: Phillip. Back row: May, William (Bill), Rose (Rosaline), Hilda. Front row: Renee, Symia (Annie), Michel (Michael), Nell, Rudy, Brisbane, n.d.

Isaac and Footeen Nasser came to Australia from Kousba in 1893 with Isaac’s brother Nicholas and his wife, Karemi. Starting out in Rockhampton, they developed a successful hawking business. They moved to Clermont in 1896 and operated a General Store and Drapery for twenty years. After the death of Nicholas in the devastating flood of 1916, Isaac and Footeen became successful publicans. The Leo Hotel was operated by the Nasser family for 50 years until 1966.

Caption: Leo Hotel, Clermont, Qld, 1923.

Elien George who arrived in Australia sometime between 1896 and 1899 saw the opportunity to establish a business providing clothing and other essential items to the people of Rockhampton and Central Queensland. The 20 year old started out with a couple of pack horses, but soon saw the need to expand and organized the building of a four wheeled wagonette from Messrs Nelson & Co of Rockhampton. Travelling in this wagonette drawn by five horses, Elien established his territory from Mackay to Many Peaks and Emerald to Emu Park and was a very welcome sight on hundreds of Central Queensland properties. The wagonette was eventually replaced by a 1929 Chev, which is still seen today at George’s premises in William Street Rockhampton.

Caption: Elien George and his hawker’ s wagon, n.d.

Ambassador-Clothing-Factory

The family of Raphael (aka Charles) and Maureena Coorey owned this store in Galatea St, Charleville, until it was destroyed by fire in April 1963. The family home is at the left. Raphael Coorey (1889-1953) arrived in 1908 after two years in the US. He worked as a hawker in Northern NSW until he set up a shop in Charleville c.1926. The house was purchased in 1930 and he built this shop adjacent. Leaning against the car is their son, Kevin Coorey, a second year law student at Sydney University at the time, home on holidays.

Caption: Coorey’s store Charleville 1961. Kevin Coorey in front.

Lebanese team at the inaugural All Nations Bowls Day in Brisbane, 22 Oct 1978

Caption: Lebanese team at the Inaugural All Nations Bowls Day, Hamilton, Brisbane in 1978. L to R: Shafik Torbey, Peter Joseph, Nick Dyer, Vince Mahboub

Ken Coorey (1915-1968) arrived in Australia in 1931 at the age of 16. Although his parents had arrived in 1922 and settled in Inverell, his father, Jabour Coorey, a hawker, sent him to Charleville soon after his arrival to learn the drapery business from his father’s brother, Raphael. Ken set up a shop in Mitchell in 1934 where he built up a large business that sold drapery, hardware, furniture, building supplies and dry cleaning.

Caption: Coorey’s Store, Mitchell, c.1936. Ken Coorey out front.

Mr Chafic Gharzuddine was the first Lebanese Ambassador to Australia. He arrived in Australia in Nov 1966 as Consul-General. The Consulate-General in Sydney closed down in January 1968 and the Embassy of Lebanon to Australia was established instead with jurisdiction over Australia and New Zealand. Mr Gharzuddine was then appointed as the first Lebanese Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand and remained here until August 1970. Mr Shafik Torbey was president of the Australian Lebanese Association of Queensland (ALAQ) at the time. Mr Torbey was appointed as the first president of the ALAQ in the 1960s.

Caption: Joan Torbey, Maha Gharzuddine, Chafic Gharzuddine, Shafik Torbey, Brisbane, c.1968