Joseph Mizzi has just published a booklet to commemorate 100 years of the statue of Saint Lucy at the church dedicated to the saint in Santa Luċija, Gozo, and its association with the plights of a group of emigrants to Australia at the beginning of the 20th century.

The book is based on other publications, as well as new information which the author extracted from interviews and research at various archives.

In the publication, Mizzi makes references to various works, including The Maltese in Australia by Barry York, newspaper articles, Fr Geoffrey Attard’s vivid account of the The New Caledonia affair and Mgr Joseph Bezzina’s list of donations for the statue made by emigrants based on information found at the archives of the Saint Lucy church.

The booklet also includes an updated list, with original photos found at the national archives, of the emigrants hailing from Santa Luċija, as well as a number of persons, by locality and who were on the trip to Australia, whose voyage was the basis of the entire story.