Death and Religion

A large part of what set Syrians apart from other geographically Asian races was their religion. There was definitely a certain level of religious diversity within in the Syrian immigrant population, but the overwhelming number of Syrian immigrants prior to the end of the Second World War identified as Christian[1]. Religion had a deceptively important role in Australian society[2] and this is represented in the part it played in immigration under the White Australia Policy. After 1920 the religion of an immigrant applying for naturalisation was normally reported by police[3]. Syrian immigrants understood the advantage they had if the identified as Christian and often used this in their applications[4]. Religion also played an important factor in the reason for many immigrants leaving Syria in the first place, as many Christians allegedly experienced religious persecution in Syria[5].

Included in this collection are two articles regarding the attempt at building an Oriental church in Melbourne that fell through due to insufficient funds. This situation is a reflection of the fact that the Syrian immigrant population was never a particularly cohesive one. Some have gone so far as to claim that Syrian communities were non-existent[6], however the Everyday Life link on this page demonstrates that there was at least some semblance of community within Syrian immigrants in Melbourne.

Death records are also included in this section as they readily identify the religion of the deceased and also shed some light on what kind of groups of religion were present in certain cities. Most of the details for the deceased come from Victoria, more specifically Melbourne.