Queensland’s Sugar King:
The Zammit Legacy

Maltese migrants Paul and Pauline Zammit arrive in Australia pre-WWI to settle at Bartle Frere as pioneers of Queensland’s sugar industry. Against impossible odds, crippling privations and discrimination, they raise ten talented children who perform musical concerts to benefit welfare, migrants, war-time patriotic clubs and the Catholic Church.

Calamitous setbacks with polio and alleged tax evasion contrast starkly with gold mining and a 10-month world tour when they sail on the RMS Queen Mary and attend King George VI’s coronation. Zammit becomes Queensland’s first recipient of the Vatican’s Benemerenti Medal. Uncover this incredible rags to riches story.

Malta to Australia

An Historical Biography

“I highly recommend this book to the first, second, and third generations of Australian Maltese...”

“..and never under-estimate the role of women in shaping and directing a migrant destiny.”

— Mark Caruana OAM,
Sydney-based researcher and historian

The Zammit Sisters

Upcoming Events

  • Book Launch Sydney

    Wednesday 1 May 2024
    7:00pm

    Mr Paul Zammit OAM will host the book launch of Queensland’s Sugar King: The Zammit Legacy at the La Valette Social Centre in Blacktown Sydney.

    More Info

  • Indie Author Day Indooroopilly

    Saturday 11 May 2024
    10:00 - 2:00pm

    Are you looking to explore your heritage and publish your story? Come along to the Indooroopilly Library and chat with me..
    I’ve done it.

    More Info Coming

  • Author Talk Gympie

    Friday 14 June 2024
    10.00am

    Join us at the Gympie Library to uncover the remarkable life story of Maltese migrants Paul and Pauline Zammit who settled in Australia in the early 1910s.

    More Info Coming

  • Author Talk Chermside

    Saturday 29 June 2024

    The Queensland Family History Society is hosting an author talk for members. Join the QFHS and learn about the processes and pitfalls in creating Queensland’s Sugar King: The Zammit Legacy.

    More Info Coming

  • Author Event Cairns

    Friday 30 August 2024
    10.30am

    The Cairns Library will host an author event for Queensland’s Sugar King: The Zammit Legacy. Learn about this notable family’s contributions to the community.

    More Info Coming

From the Author

The idea for this biographical work took shape in 2003. Among the youngest of 38 first cousins, I listened to the stories from within the extended family and met strangers on whom my grandparents had left a lasting impression. The culmination of fact-finding over two decades has revealed much more than first imagined, but equally has uncovered new lines of inquiry which are yet to be resolved…

Catherine Smith