Joseph and Margaret Fenech
| First name | Joseph and Margaret |
|---|---|
| Last name | Fenech |
| Country of Origin | Malta |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1965 |
| Submitted by | Rita Vassallo |
Story
Joseph and Margaret Fenech were married on the 21st of January, 1944 living in Gharghur then moving to Mosta with 10 children.
As time went by they decided to leave Malta to come to Australia for a better life. On the 27th of November, 1965 they had boarded the ship ‘Sydney’ on route to Sydney to meet up with Margaret’s Mother and Father that had already made the journey.
They arrived in Sydney Harbour on the 25th of December. Christmas in Malta is very festive and is during winter, but as they left the ship they noticed there was no one around as well as being summer which made it hard to adjust from what they were use to.
The family were taken to Canley Vale where they first lived in a garage which is all that Margaret’s mother and father had available.
In the hope of creating a better life the family worked hard and saved money which allowed Joseph to eventually build a house for the family to live in and still reside in today.
Joseph passed away on the 8th of January, 1975, making Margaret the backbone of the family. Although Margaret was not fluent in English she knew enough words to get her point across. At most times her sentences were a mixture of English and Maltese but everybody knew what she meant.
The family adapted to the Australian way, still holding small traditions that they had brought with them from Malta. At family gatherings like Easter, Mother’s Day and Christmas traditional Maltese sweets and food all still a big part of the tradition that has been kept for many years, with conversations reminiscing about the life they had in Malta, the journey out to Australia as well as the life they now have here.
On the 1st of August, 2008 Margaret passed away leaving a big hole which will be hard to mend. Through the learning and experience she has had, now passed onto her 9 children as well as their husbands and wives, 15 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren, the family will keep the tradition that she loved so much continuing.