Frances Barbara, a true Maltese matriarch, has lived in Australia nearly 50 years. She shares her story with Charlene Macaulay:
Long-time St Albans resident Frances Barbara turned 90 in March this year. She has 12 kids, is a grandmother to 41 and a great grandmother to 33, with three more due this year. Mrs Barbara, who still favours Maltese as her first language, tells her story through her daughter, Juliana Barbopoulos.
Where were you born and what was your childhood like?
I was born at St Julian’s [a popular holiday spot on Malta’s coast] on March 11, 1925. My childhood was tough – my parents were poor because of the war and it was very hard for them to survive.
I used to go into the fields, cut flowers and sell them when I was a child. I was one of six kids: four girls and two boys. I’ve also got a half-brother. I never went to school. We didn’t even have food to eat. I had a goat so I would knock on people’s doors and give them a glass of milk and they might give me an egg or a piece of bread or some flour.
How did you meet Angelo, your husband?
My husband was a soldier at that time and I used to sell flowers. He bought a bunch of them from me and, as soon as he turned a corner, he threw them on the ground. But he bought the flowers just because he liked me. When I finished my work and was going home, I saw the flowers and wondered who
had bought them and thrown them away.
Then he did it a second time and it clicked.
I was 17.
Did you court for long?
Angelo was a bit resistant to go and ask for my hand in marriage so his friend went instead. Four months later, Angelo and I were married. We never kissed, never hugged, never walked together [while we were dating]. We weren’t even allowed to sit close. We got married on November 7, 1943.
You had 12 kids. When did you start trying for a family?
Straight away. I became pregnant, lost it and lost five babies in a row before I had my first. One of them was born and lived for two weeks. I had 23 pregnancies and 12 survived, nine boys and three girls: Joseph, Juliana, Anthony, Emmanuel, John, Connie, Charlie, Antonia, Michael, Consilio, Paul and Mario.
Maltese people, at that time, used to have a lot of babies, I think because of the church, The church used to say if you were married and you didn’t make babies, it was a sin.
The whole family moved to Australia in 1966 – why?
My husband’s brother was here and he told him it would be good for the future of his kids to move to Australia.
My husband and two of my sons came six months earlier to set up a home for the family. The rest of us came by boat; it took three months to get here.
We moved into a farmhouse on Main Road West, opposite the train station.
Angelo died aged 62; how did that change family life?
It was a very difficult time for me. Eight kids were still at home, eight boys – can you imagine, looking after them all?
It was hard; they wanted to go out. I’d tell them to come home early, be careful, but they [did as they pleased]. I wouldn’t put my head on the pillow until the last one was home. It’s unbelievable how much one person can do.
Angelo and I had a real love story. I never met anyone else. I said: “I married one person – that’s it.”
What are your interests?
With help from my children, I tend to a vegetable patch. I would say my secret is to eat healthy and be healthy.
I never let anything bring me down and always have a smile on my face, no matter what life throws at me.
How did you celebrate your 90th birthday?
We had a party at Watergardens Hotel, it was fantastic – nearly 100 people were there.
