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

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

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

This wooden plaque lists the names of donors and amounts donated to St Maroun’s Maronite Cathedral for renovations in 1917-1918. It is an important part of St Maroun’s history and also of Kfarsghab history. Of the 68 names listed, 31 were definitely from Kfarsghab, another six were possibly from Kfarsghab, and another two were married to Kfarsghabi.

Caption: Donor Board 1917-1918, St Maroun’s Church, Redfern, Sydney

The family of Raphael (aka Charles) Coorey and Maureena Coorey (nee Hanna) 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: Raphael Coorey’s store Charleville 1961. Kevin Coorey in front.

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. Ken and his wife, Barbara George, ran the business until the late 1960s when Ken’s ill health required moving to Sydney for medical treatment. Their son, Gabriel Coorey, continued to run the business until the 1980s when he built a motel on the site. The property is still owned by the family in 2023.

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

Anthony (Tony) Coorey (1911-1951) arrived in Australia in 1922 with his parents and two siblings. The family settled in Inverell where, after finishing school, he worked as a book keeper and sales person for his father’s cousin, Maurice Coorey. Tony spent time with his uncle, Raphael Coorey, in Charleville before renting a shop in Augathella where he set up a general store circa 1930. He built the shop and house, pictured, in 1933. The General Store sold “anything for the house”. He was an active member of the community and well respected. His generosity to the less fortunate was famous. After he died of cancer at the age of 40, his wife, Lily (nee George), who also possessed business acumen, continued and extended the business and built a new store across the road. Although the business was eventually sold, the building with the Coorey name remains to this day. In front of the store are his eldest daughter Antoinette and his young brother John.

Caption: Anthony Coorey’s Store Augathella c.1939. John Coorey and Antoinette Coorey out front.

Habib Coorey (1894-1977) and his wife Adele (nee Maree, 1898-1975) opened the store in 1923. Habib (aka Herbert or Bert), born in Sydney, was the eldest child of the well-known Redfern warehouse merchant, Anthony Coorey and his wife Kattour (aka Catherine). Habib met and married his wife Adele in Palmerston, New Zealand in 1922. Adele was also of Lebanese descent. Anthony Coorey encouraged his children to expand the family drapery business in country regions. Thus Habib and Adele moved to Warwick in early 1923 and lived there until their deaths in 1977 and 1975, respectively. Habib and Adele developed a strong reputation in Warwick due to their customer service and hospitality. Their son Joseph Coorey took over the business and in 2025, after more than 100 years in business in Warwick, it is still owned and run by the Coorey family.

Caption: Habib Coorey’s store, Warwick, c.1930s, L to R: Habib Coorey, Adele Coorey, a staff person, unknown man.

Jamil Hanna (1904-1971) and his wife Therese (nee Coorey, 1907-1964) opened this store in the main street of Goondiwindi, in November 1933. Jamil (aka Jim) arrived in Australia in 1921 and married in Sydney in 1928. He never worked as a hawker but worked for his father’s first cousin, Anthony Coorey, the well-known warehouse merchant in Redfern, to gain experience in the clothing trade. Jamil’s wife was Anthony Coorey’s daughter. Although Jamil was not a Coorey, he called the shop Coorey’s to take advantage of the good reputation of existing Coorey stores spanning the Darling Downs and western Queensland which were established by his wife’s family. The business was successful due to the personal, friendly service offered and the family’s involvement in the local community. Jamil’s wife, Therese, died of cancer in Goondiwindi in 1964. When Jamil had a stroke in 1967, he sold the store to his brother Norman Hanna of Toowoomba and moved to Sydney. The Hanna family ran the business until they eventually sold the store in 2004. When they first moved to Goondiwindi, Jamil Coorey and family lived above the store but later built a home in the street behind and renovated the store substantially to triple its original size. In 2025, the family home is still owned by a member of the Hanna family.

Caption: Jamil Hanna’s store, Goondiwindi 1955. Jabour Coorey, Jim Hanna, 3 female staff, Joe Hanna

Jabour Coorey (1883-1971) arrived in Australia in 1922 and settled in Inverell. He and his wife Anecie (nee Haddad, 1890-1985) lived with their uncle Maurice Shaya for a few years until they could afford their own place. The three eldest children were born in Lebanon, the fourth child was born in Port Said on the way to Australia and the four youngest in Inverell. Jabour spent all of his working life hawking in the New England district. He never ran a store but owned a property in the main street. His youngest sons, Joe and John, began hawking in 1946. By that time, Jabour’s brother Raphael Coorey had a store in Charleville and his two eldest sons, Tony and Ken, ran stores in Augathella and Mitchell. Joe and John opened a general drapery store in their father’s property in 1947. It was a family business and Jabour’s youngest daughters, Nora and Elizabeth, ran the store while Joe and John continued to hawk. They closed the store around 1961. In 1962 John gave up hawking and moved to Sydney, whereas Joe hawked until 1964 before also moving to Sydney to join John in property development. Jabour and Anecie Coorey retired to Sydney in 1964.

Caption: Coorey’s store, 88 Otho St, Inverell, 1948; Jabour Coorey’s son Joseph, behind the counter