Kōrero: Middle Eastern peoples

Homesickness and family illness compelled Gabriel Farry, his wife Amelia (Jamelie) and their sons to visit their village of Bsharri in 1906. As Lebanese people were classified at that time as Asiatics, certificates of New Zealand residency were required when they left. They intended to return within four years, but Gabriel died in Lebanon and the family were stranded during the First World War. Jamelie’s parents sent them the fare to return to Dunedin in 1923. The teenage brothers Saba and Joe then went out hawking to earn the family a living.