How Many Maltese in Australia?

For a long time, the generally accepted figure was 400,000 which always carried the qualifier: "if descendants are included." Then in 1986, for the first time, the Australian Census asked a question about peoples ancestries. Thus, for the first time in Australia's 75 years of national census collecting, it was possible to accurately estimate Maltese ethnic strength.

Prior to the 1986 Census, the only ethnic data available related to birthplaces and languages other than English spoken at home. The latter was a useful guide to ethnic strength but, as the 1986 question on ancestries revealed, there are many more Australians who regard themselves as being of Maltese descent than who actually speak the Maltese language. The 1986 Census found that the figure of 400,000 was way off, a gross exaggeration. Some people in the community accepted the 400,000 figure. Why was that?  Basically, it was  accepted it because it came from what seemed to be reputable sources. The Australian Department of Immigration had established a History Unit in the early 1970s and, in 1974, the History Unit released a series of estimates of numerical strength of several ethnic communities. The estimate for the Maltese was 400,000. (click here to read more).

Maltese in Australia

Maltese in Australia

Historical Background

The first Maltese arrived in Australia as convicts in 1810, followed by the first free settler in 1838. The first organised migrant group arrived in 1883 when 61 Maltese labourers were recruited to work on the sugar plantations in Queensland. Many of these migrants returned to Malta because of the harsh working conditions they experienced.

Maltese migration to Australia gradually gained momentum after 1905. The 1911 Australian Census reported 248 Malta-born residents. Between 1911 and 1919 a further 2000 migrated. The 1933 Census recorded 2782 Malta-born in Australia.

Immigration from Malta increased after 1944, when Maltese migrants were classified as 'white British subjects' for the purposes of Australia's immigration policy. (click here to read more)

Malta Beaches and Coastline

http://youtu.be/C99tJTdirxU

MALTA: Gzira, Ta' Xbiex, Msida & Pieta

This video can be found on You Tube. JasAlf5959 Channel. URL: http://youtu.be/26Qn5c_9ivY

The Case Against Karmnu (Carmelo) Psaila

 Karmnu Psaila was Maltese by birth and a British subject who 

traveled to Libya in 1921 to start and life with his wife Vittoria.  

He owned a barber shop in the shopping district of Suk el 

Turk in Tripoli.  Life was good for the fourteen years he lived 

in Tripoli until he started talking against Mussolini, 

the Italian ruler of Libya at the time.  

In the beginning of 1936, he was being observed by officers 

who later confirmed that every morning between 5:30 am to 

7, Psaila spent his time at the Café Italia, in the Piazza dell-

Orologio, reading the Italian newspapers among them the 

“Avvenire di Tripoli” and commenting unfavorably in public 

on every item of news, which had a ring of victory for the 

Fascist Italy.  Psaila, made the same comments to his clients and 

to the neighboring shopkeepers.  Psaila was in the habit of 

disparaging Italy and to make matters worse he continued to 

an increasing degree his inexplicable aversion to Italians.  Later 

having become aware that he was being watched, Psaila placed 

small notices on the mirrors of his shop requesting his clients 

not to speak of political matters.  Too little to late I suppose 

because soon after that he found himself before a special 

tribunal being accused of, in the time of war, spreading 

exaggerated and tendentious with the object of depressing the 

public spirit and engaged in activities likely to cause harm to 

the national, vilifying the Italian, making use of insulting 

expressions followed by acts of scorn.

There is no doubt in regard to his guilt.  All the witnesses were 

in the position to give evidence in detail regarding the facts.  

The fate of Psaila was made quite clear.  After 

deliberation, the Court found Psaila guilty for the crime of 

political defeatism.  He was sentenced to three years and eight 

months imprisonment.  The Court also ordered that Psaila, on 

the conclusion of his sentence, should be expelled from the 

territory of the State.  

A Maltese Treasure .. Dom Mintoff (6 August 1916 – 20 August 2012)

Mourning Dear Dom - maltatoday.com.mt

James Debono

Blog Monday, August 27, 2012

Mourning Dear Dom

The collective mourning for Duminku Mintoff was also symptomatic of a legacy of the blind devotion to the leader he cultivated to challenge an oppressive status quo.

Former premier Dom Mintoff

by James Debono

Collective scenes of devotional mourning are often the hallmarks of authoritarian regimes seeking to reproduce themselves, churches or sects led by charismatic leaders aspiring to sainthood or the media hyped celebrity culture where funerals are part of a grand reality TV spectacle. Khomeini and Kim Yong Il's funerals belonged to the first type, Pope John Paul's "santo subito" funeral to the second and Lady Di's and Michael Jackson's funeral hysteria are examples of the third category.

That is not to say that western democratic societies are immune to such feelings but grief is mostly reserved to victims of tragic circumstances whose death was either untimely or violently terminated, irrespective of whether the protagonists are celebrities, royals, sportsmen or politicians.  In most cases the first three categories are more likely to be venerated. In itself this says a lot of societies where politicians have long lost their grip on the popular imagination.

In the case of Mintoff we were dealing with grief over the death of a frail 96 year old whose death was widely expected. So one would have expected less drama and more probing commentary. (click here to read more)

This Is So Me ... a Maltese Detective

I found this post on http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/09/saturday-night-genealogy-fun.html
 and wanted to share this because
THIS IS SO ME .................

I think that I am primarily a Hunter or Detective.  I love the hunt, I love helping others with their hunt, I often go off on hunting "trips" in historical records on Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org just to see if I can find something for my own database, or someone else's.

I am also an Ancestor Finder for my own research - I do this type of "deep research" only for my own tree, though.

I am also a bit of a Gatherer and Ancestor Collector - I try to find the collateral lines in my tree and add that data to my database. .... double click to read more