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Mary’s Epic Journey in the Midst of an Epic Life

by Dorothy Olive

Photograph Outside "Al Mawy" Sweet Shop, corner of Cooper and Walker Streets, Redfern, NSW

Photograph Abrahim Bookallil and his wife in about 1890

St Maroun Church religious texts, c.1890.

The National Archives of Australia holds hundreds, if not thousands, of copies of a curious document grandly titled “Certificate Exempting from Dictation Test” (CEDT).  The certificates are damning evidence of a Machiavellian government ploy to rid Australia of racially undesirable aliens who had managed to take up residence in this country prior to the passage of the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901.  The default position was that such people would not be permitted to re-enter after a trip outside Australia, unless they had managed to obtain a CEDT prior to departure.

One successful applicant was the apparently unremarkable middle-aged Syrian widow, Mary Sedawie, who in 1930 wished to visit her sick brother in USA.[1]  This essay tells of the quest to unearth Mary’s story, from her birth in Beirut in 1871 to her death in Eltham 81 years later, including that trip to USA.  The story is built up from a myriad of snippets – from government archives, newspapers, birth, death and marriage records, wills, land titles, shipping records, family letters, visits to graveyards and houses, and interviews with her descendants.  Gaps in the story, of which there are surprisingly few, can be credibly filled from published histories of the times, the peoples and the places.  Just as the published history can inform Mary’s story, so too can that story shine a light upon the history, be it in support or contradiction.

The least known part of Mary’s story is the beginning.  We cannot even be sure of her name.  No fewer than 15 variants of it have been found in the records.  (See Appendix A).  It must, however, have sounded something like Jamelia Kapouche.  Mary is clearly a name of convenience adopted for use in Australia, outside the family home.  Most sources record Beirut as her birthplace, although one family document gives Damascus.[2]  In any case, she was definitely Christian, her mother tongue was Arabic, and she always gave her nationality as Syrian.  Whether she had any schooling is unknown, but she was certainly illiterate in English.  In fact, despite half a century in Australia, she never really managed to speak it.[3]  In 1890, at age 20, she married Michael Sedawie in Beirut.  He was three years older than her.  There is some evidence that Michael’s family had seen to their children’s education and that they could speak English.[4]  Indeed, his mother’s maiden name was Stephens, so she may well have been English.[5]  In any case, Michael and Mary were soon blessed with children – a son, Tofie, born in 1891 and a daughter Rose in 1893.  In 1895 persecution of Christians was so acute that the momentous decision was taken to migrate.[6]  Michael went first, alone, probably financed by his father, George, a tobacconist.[7]  Poor Mary, pregnant a third time, was left to follow later.  She gave birth to a daughter, Hissun, in Beirut in 1896.[8]  Three years later, in 1899, Mary and the three children set out on the long journey to Australia.[9]  They were accompanied by Michael’s sister, Agia Sedawie, because she could speak English and could help with the children.  Another Sedawie sister, Martha, followed in 1900.[10]  The family’s timing was fortunate.  Less than a year later, in 1901, the implementation of the White Australia Policy would have rendered them all as unacceptable Asians.

The recorded history of the period confirms that emigration from what is now Lebanon was strong during the 1890’s, much more so to USA than to Australia, and that during that pre Great War era all were known as “Syrians”.[11]  It casts doubt on the purported reason of religious persecution.  Although antagonism certainly existed between Christians and Muslims, historians point to economic reasons as constituting a much stronger push factor.[12]  School education was available in Beirut at the time, and it seems that Michael and his sisters were beneficiaries.[13]  Most emigrants, however had no professional or trade skills.  They tended to be hawkers, traders or rural labourers.[14]

Putting aside any moral considerations which would today dominate discussion of the issue, the White Australia Policy created a particularly galling sense of injustice for the Syrians.[15]  Although the law was clearly targeted at Chinese, Indians and other coloured people, it defined the undesirables simply as “Asians”.  In geographical terms, Syrians, being from East of the Hellespont, were indeed technically Asian.  In colour, dress, religion and appearance, however, they were not distinguishable from Greeks or Italians.[16]  One might conclude that their exclusion was unintentional, but the law as written provided a clear-cut definition for the customs inspectors.  Despite the pained pleas to parliamentarians, bureaucracy was not to be moved.[17]  Syrians were Asians, and that was how it remained for the life of the policy, despite some occasional leniency at the edges by sympathetic inspectors.[18]

Some of the family’s very early days were spent at Seymour, north of Melbourne.[19]  Before 1902, however, the family moved to 40 Cumberland Place, a narrow laneway near Lincoln Square in Carlton.[20] (All habitations have long been demolished.)  Conditions must have been very cramped for the four adults and three children, and even more so as the family inexorably grew.  Phillip was added in 1901, James in 1903, Alice in 1905, George (who died in infancy) in 1908, and finally Michael Jnr in 1910.[21]

The Sedawie Family in 1908, Rear, L to R: Rose (15) Mary (37) Alice (3) Michael (40) Tophie (17),Front: Hissun (12) James (5) Phillip (7)

Photo courtesy of Mrs Joan Sedawie.

All this time, Michael was running a business as a confectioner and fruiterer in Little Lonsdale Street.[22]  A family portrait, taken after the loss of George but before the birth of Michael Jnr, shows a proud, elegant and apparently prosperous group, with no hint of impending tragedy.  Despite appearances, life must have been difficult.  Not only were the physical conditions cramped and the mouths to feed many, but the society was hardly encouraged by governmental policy to be welcoming to strangers with accents.  Worst of all, however, was Michael’s serious deterioration in health.  After years of suffering from stomach and liver cancer and asthenia, his heart eventually failed on 11 February 1910.  He died at St Vincent’s Hospital, aged just 42 years.[23]  Michael Jnr was just four weeks old.[24]  Mary, now 39, uneducated, untrained and not speaking the language, was left to raise seven children.

As indicated above, there was some ambiguity about the status of Syrians in Australia.  Catriona Elder suggests “they were not clearly excludable, but not obviously includable.  They were ‘not quite white’.“[25]  Anne Monsour is more specific: “The White Australia Policy sought to make life so uncomfortable for those already living in Australia that they would leave.  Legislation made it clear non-Europeans were not welcome and discriminatory measures had a tangible impact on their lives.  As a result, the overwhelming characteristic of their settlement story was the ongoing need to justify their suitability as permanent settlers and their right to equal status within Australian society.”[26]

The discriminations they faced included exclusion from employment in certain industries; denial of the right to vote; exclusion from citizenship; restrictions on their ability to hold leases and own property; and disqualification from social services such as the invalid and old-age pensions.[27]

Unlike the Chinese, the Syrians had migrated in family groups, hence showing their intention of establishing permanent roots.[28]  The Sedawie family precisely illustrates that determination, despite the obstacles they faced.

When Michael Snr died the family ranged from teenagers to a babe-in-arms.  Fortunately, eldest son Tofie was already 19, an apprentice tailor and earning a modest income.  We can surmise that his boss, Michael Abourizk, was on friendly terms with the family, because Mrs Abourizk attended to Mary during the delivery of her new baby.[29]  It is possible that Abourizk provided financial support – certainly there would have been little if any savings to sustain the family.  What is certain is that he took Mary under his wing by providing her with training and employment as a machinist in his clothing factory in Earl Street North Carlton.   She was to work for him for the next 20 years and beyond.[30] When this arrangement started, care for the youngsters and baby would have been provided by the older girls,, Rosie (16) and Hissun (14).

Another practical difficulty for Mary was the distance, 3 kilometres, from home to work.  The family’s relocations during the next decade, first to 367 Cardigan Street, then to 26 Lee Street and finally to 566 Canning Street, indicate a desire to progressively reduce the distance to work.  These properties still exist.  Inspection of them also shows steady progress in the family’s living standards.

This period, from 1910 until 1930, is one of consolidation for the family.  The children progressively passed through school, joined the workforce, and married.  At least one of the girls, Alice, followed her mother into the seamstress business[31] and worked for Abourizk.  Six of the seven surviving children married, and it is interesting to note that five of these married into Anglo-Saxon families.[32]  A further indication of a felt need to move away from their Syrian roots is the fact that the second daughter, Hissun, who had been born in Beirut, had changed her given name to Barbara before she was married at age 20.[33]  Mary and Michael had clearly decided upon the wisdom of giving the children born in Melbourne notably English names:  Phillip, James, Alice, George and Michael.

This period included the Great War, and Australian experience at Gallipoli would certainly have painted any ‘Ottomans’ in doubtful colours.  Certainly Tophie had to register as an alien and inform police of any change of address.[34]  As onerous (odious too?) as the process must have seemed to him, the preserved records of these visits to the constabulary enable us now to track family movements from Cumberland Place to Canning Street, via Cardigan Street and Lee Street.  Yet another extant record of Tophie tells a happier story of progressive acceptance:  In 1926 he was naturalised into the Australian community, the first of the Sedawie clan to be so honoured.[35]

This ‘consolidation period’ must have been a struggle for Mary, raising so many children while working for modest income, but the progress of her children would have been a source of satisfaction.  A milestone of achievement was reached in 1927 when the family purchased 566 Canning Street, a fine double storey Victorian terrace home, still standing and still maintaining its original elegance.  The property title lists Mary and her daughter-in-law (Tophie’s wife) Lily May Sedawie (née Grounds) as co-owners.[36]  Why Tophie, who presumably contributed a good share of the funds, is not listed is a mystery.  By this stage, Rose, Hissun and Phillip had all married and moved out, but the remainder of the entourage, including the burgeoning next generation, moved in.  It must have been a real moment of triumph and arrival for Mary.

566 Canning Street Carlton

Photo courtesy of author.

To gain a feel for the antipathy which the family must have experienced through this period, we need only consider some of the unashamedly racist contemporaneous writings, from both politicians and academics.  For example, the founding Minister for Customs, Charles Kingston, spoke of “the necessity of protecting Australia against the influx of aliens, Asiatics, criminals, paupers and other undesirable classes”.[37]  A break-through text on the topic, “Non-Britishers in Australia” (1935) by Jens Lyng considers humanity from the discredited eugenics perspective, ascribing capability and behaviour to racial types, declaring the superiority of the “Nordics”, and providing the reader with sketches of skull types to justify his claims.[38]  Perhaps even more disturbing from the current perspective are the words in the Foreword to Lyng’s book by lauded University of Melbourne History Professor, Ernest Scott: “The ambition to excel, the energy and courage which conquer difficulties and endure hardships and privations, the capacity to solve problems, the love of order and respect for the law, the qualities of initiative and tenacity – these are possessed in greater measure by certain peoples than by others.”[39]  With such rhetoric coming from on high, small wonder that the popular press descended to the infamous cartoons of The Bulletin and this from The Worker:  “ . . . hordes of Kanakas and Chows and Afghans coming into this country insulting your wives and daughters and taking the bread out of white men’s mouths.”[40]

The Sedawies might have been spared the worst of this, but the environment must have been less than welcoming.  Both Lyng and, especially, Yarwood, point out how Syrians were gradually extricated from the worst of restrictions through the 1920s, as Tophie’s naturalisation testifies.[41]  But the yoke was not entirely lifted, as we shall see as Mary embarks on her epic journey.

By 1930 Mary was aged 59 and most of her offspring were married and had moved on.  She was still living at Canning Street with Tophie and his family.  As mentioned at the outset, the Syrian diaspora around the turn of the century was particularly strong towards USA, where it concentrated on the burgeoning motor industry centred on Detroit.  Mary had a brother, Walter, who had moved there.[42] Over the years, she must have corresponded with him, because she knew by the end of 1929 that not only was the global economy crashing, but so too was Walter’s health.  Undeterred by the economic climate, she resolved to visit her ailing brother.  Even at this stage, however, the pernicious trap of the White Australia Policy constrained her.  Despite having children and grand-children here, despite owning property here, despite a life-time of single-handed child-raising, despite decades of hard work at the sewing machine, and despite a blameless record in the community, she was not guaranteed readmission.  Her application for a CEDT had to be accompanied by dual references, which the Customs Department chose not to accept at face value.  The police were co-opted to check out the referees, her employer Michael Abourizk and respected merchant Solomon Jaboor, in face-to-face interviews and to independently verify their stories.  The Taxation Department was required to give her a clean bill of health.  In a case of bureaucratic overkill, no fewer than 22 documents were drafted, typed and circulated between departments all to vouch that this gentle ageing little widow could come back to the only home she had had for over 30 years.  Eventually the CEDT was granted.  On 29 May 1930, Mary sailed out of Sydney Harbour on RMS Niagara into the wide Pacific.[43]

Mary’s Portraits for her CEDT Application, 1930

Source: National Archives of Australia

The CEDT evidently acted as a passport would today, collecting national stamps along the way.  These, along with extant shipping records, enable us to reconstruct her itinerary:

28 May Train Melbourne to Sydney, Overnight in Sydney

29 May Sail from Sydney on the Niagara. Stops at Auckland, Suva, Honolulu, Victoria

20 June  Arrive at Vancouver, Two nights in Vancouver

22 June  Canadian Pacific Rail via Banff, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg to Toronto.  Five days on the train. Overnight in Toronto.

28 June Train Toronto to Windsor Ontario.  Enter USA at Detroit Michigan.

RMS Niagara departing Sydney Harbour, May 1930, with Mary Sedawie on board.

Source:  National Library of Australia.

She spent 14 summer weeks around Detroit (the fate of Walter is unknown), before returning along the same route, arriving back in Sydney on 8 November.[44]

By any reckoning, it was an extraordinary journey for a small, illiterate widow, travelling alone, not speaking the language, in an age when international leisure travel was comparatively rare.  Her CEDT describes her as “5 feet 2 inches, stout, scar below right eye”.  Her photos show her as grand-motherly, somewhat tired, but impeccably groomed.  Delightfully, as a testimony to some feminine vanity, she fibbed on her application that she was just 55 years old, 4 years younger than reality.[45] Her achievement in making this journey has been quite lost from the family memory.  They have no idea how Mary’s journey might have been financed.

Various historical commentators have written of the police surveillance and of the bureaucracy which Mary’s CEDT application unleashed.  Anne Monsour suggests that the Syrians themselves may have been partly to blame:  “Realising that some Syrians were claiming false nationalities in order to gain nationalisation, the Department demanded more detailed reports on the applicants, thereby placing greater emphasis on the role of police as investigators.”[46]   John Moses speaks of “the bureaucratic maze which peaceful and industrious people had to negotiate.”[47]

Two incidents in the aftermath of Mary’s return from USA indicate growing prosperity within the family, despite the ongoing effects of the Great Depression.  First, in 1932, Saint Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church was opened in Victoria Parade, East Melbourne.  In the church’s official history Tophie, Phillip and Alice are listed among the benefactors.[48]  Then, in 1933 the family purchased as an investment the shop and attached residence at 32 Blair Street Brunswick.  As with Canning Street, Mary and Lily were listed as joint owners.[49]

The Canning Street home was becoming more crowded with Tophie and Lily’s growing family, so in the mid-30s Mary and daughter Alice (still unmarried at this stage) moved out to a rental property in the next block, at 564 Station Street.  The pair first feature at this address on the Australian Electoral Roll in 1937.[50]  This is significant because it demonstrates that they had been naturalised and so had become part of the Australian mainstream.

Nothing illustrates the Australianisation of the Sedawie family more than son James’ enlistment in the AIF, his service in the North Africa campaign, his capture by German forces at Tobruk in 1941, his subsequent escape and recapture by Italians, and eventual repatriation after war’s end.[51]

In the late-40s daughter Alice married Roy Ray and took her mother Mary to live with her and Roy on the outskirts of Eltham, which in turn nestled into the eucalyptus bush at the then extremity of Melbourne suburbia.[52]  It must have been a strange and probably difficult transition for Mary.  After a lifetime of urban hustle, first in Beirut and then in inner Melbourne, she was now in remote, hilly, forested terrain, a septuagenarian trudging along dirt roads kilometres from the nearest shop.  Her grand-children, however, remember going out to Eltham to visit her, and always she was endearing.  “A lovely, lovely sweet woman, a real lady,” remembers grandson Noel Sedawie.  “But how did you communicate with her, if she couldn’t speak English?”  “She spoke in the language of a grandmother’s love, and we never had any doubt of her meaning.”[53]  She died at Eltham on 23 March 1952, aged 81 years, of a cerebral haemorrhage.[54]  In her will, which she signed with an X, she distributed her property to her less affluent children and to her 18 grand-children.  Significantly, she placed particular insistence on her funeral being conducted by the rites of the Syrian Orthodox Church.[55]  She was buried in the same plot at the Kew Cemetery as her husband Michael and sons Tophie and Michael Jnr..

Grave of Michael Snr, Mary, Tophie and Michael Jnr at Kew Cemetery

Photo courtesy Annalise Humphries

In so many ways the Sedawie story confirms the written history of the early Syrians in Australia:  the need for the children to quickly learn English; the loss of the Arabic language; the importance of being seen to be Christian; the reluctance to discuss the past; participation in the clothing trade.[56]

This exercise commenced with the simple aim of unearthing a few facts about any unspecified Syrian migrant in the early 20^th century, and considering whether, and how, he/she was impacted by the White Australia Policy.  By absolute chance, I stumbled upon the CEDT application of Mary Sedawie.  I was intrigued by her epic journey to USA.  Picking through other archives uncovered more and more details about her larger journey, her journey of life, and gave me the great pleasure of making the acquaintance of some of her 150+ descendants.  A greater source of satisfaction than submitting this assignment to the University of Melbourne will be to submit it those descendants, to whom so much of it will be a revelation.

By most usual measures Mary was a humble, unremarkable woman, not the type of person who customarily makes the pages of history books.  History, however, consists of the sum total of the deeds of people great and small, and amidst those small ones diminutive Mary Sedawie indeed stands tall.

 

Acknowledgments:  I wish to acknowledge and thank Mr Noel Sedawie (grandson of Mary and son of Tophie) of Mount Waverley and Mrs Joan Sedawie (daughter-in-law of Michael Jnr) of Kew for their generosity in making themselves available and sharing their memories of fading family history.

---

 

Appendix A

The Many Names of Mary

MARY was obviously a name of convenience used on official documents to government.  Her birth given name, in common usage by the family, and her maiden family name are subject to some conjecture.  The following table lists all variants found in the research.

Source	Given name	Maiden name
Phillip’s B/C	Zamelia	Kaboos
James B/C	Jathialy	Cabrrich
George’s B/C	Jamila	Cabboosh
Michael Jnr’s B/C	Jameila	Caboosh
Michael Snr’s D/C	Not given	Kaboosh
Her own D/C	Mary Jamelie	Halboush
Tophie’s D/C	Gamile	Kaboush
Rose’s D/C	Jamilie	Not given
Hissun’s D/C	Mary	Not given
Phillip’s D/C	Jamelia	Kabboush
James’ D/C	Jamelie	Kabboush
George’s D/C	Janita	Cabboosh
Michael Jnr’s D/C	Jamelia	Kabboush
Family Doc 1	Jamielia	Kapouche
Family Doc 2	Jamelia	Kapouche
CEDT	Mary	Not given
Electoral Rolls	Mary	Not given

 

Presumably the wide range of spellings results from any or all of the following reasons:

• Mary’s illiteracy;
• Lack of correspondence between Arabic script and Latin script.
• Mis-hearing between informants and registrars.

• Mis-transcription between manuscript and typescript

Appendix B.  Sedawie Family Chronology

Year	Event	Source
1868	Michael Snr’s birth in Beirut	His DC (1910-42).
1871	Mary born in Beirut	Her DC (1952-81)
1891	Michael and Mary marry in Beirut	Her DC (1871+20) His DC (1868+23)
1891 or 2	Tophie born, Beirut	Michael Snr’s DC (1910-18); His DC 1945-55)
1893 or 4	Rose born, Beirut	Michael Snr’s DC (1910-16); Mary’s DC (1952-59)
1895	Michael Snr migrates alone	His DC (1910-15)
1896	Hissun born, Beirut	Michael Snr’s DC (1910-14) Mary’s DC (1952-56)
!899	Mary migrates, with Tophie, Rose and Hissun and Michael’s sister, Agia Sedawie	Her DC (1952-53)
1900	Another sister, Martha Sedawie, migrates and joins family	Letter Vic Maghabghab to Alice Ray (née Sedawie)
1901	Phillip born	His BC
1903	James born, East Melb.	His BC
1905 or 6	Alice born	Michael Snr’s DC (1910-5) Mary’s DC (1952-46)
1908	George born, East Melb.	His BC
1908	George dies	His DC
1910	Michael Jnr born, East Melb.	His BC
1910	Michael Snr dies at SVH, buried at Kew. Residence 40 Cumberland Pl. Carlton	His DC
1913	Rose marries Farah Batrouney	Her MC
1916	Hissun (now Barbara) marries John Beebar	Her 1st MC
1917	Tophie moves from 40 Cumberland Place Melbourne to 367 Cardigan St Carlton	Alien ‘Change of Abode’ notification
1921	Tophie marries Lily Grounds in Sydney	Interview with Noel Sedawie
1924	Phillip marries Kathleen Cole	His MC
1926	Tophie and Lily living at 26 Lee St North Carlton. Tophie granted naturalisation	His naturalisation file.
1927	Family purchases 566 Canning St, moves from Lee St.  Mary and Lily named as joint owners.	Property title
1930	Mary’s trip to USA	Her CEDT file
1930	Michael Jnr marries Edna Clark	His 1st MC
1932	Opening of St Nicholas Antiochian OrthodoxChurch.  Tophie, Phillip and Alice listed as benefactors.	Church web-site, history poage.
1933	Family purchases 32 Blair St, Brunswick. Mary and Lily named as joint owners.	Property title
Pre 1937	Mary and Alice move to 564 Station St	1937 electoral roll
1940	Michael Jnr marries Linda Kestle	His 2nd MC
1941	James taken POW at Tobruk.  Spend WW2 in Italian camp.	Interview with Joan Sedawie
1943-49	Alice marries Roy Ray, moves to Eltham	1943 and 1949 electoral rolls
1945	Tophie dies at Parkville (RMH?), buried at Kew	His DC
1945	Mary gains Lily’s half share of 32 Blair St Brunswick	Property title.
1945	James released from POW camp, repatriated to Qld via England	Report in The Argus, 1 June 1945
1952	Mary dies, Eltham; buried at Kew.  32 Blair St sold and proceeds distributed in accordance with will.	Her DC.  Her will.
1955	Hissun marries Charles Pratley	Her 2nd MC
1961	James dies	His DC
1965	Hissun dies	Her DC
1968	Rose dies	Her DC
1970	Phillip dies at Hawthorn	His DC
1985	Michael Jnr dies at Richmond	His DC

References