Person: Eli Dyer

Eli Dyer

Name:
Eli Dyer

Occupation:
Abattoir worker/Hawker,Storekeeper

Religion:
Catholic

Birthplace:
Zahle, Syria/Lebanon

Arrival In Australia:
1895

Years Lived In Brisbane:
1895-1909

Date Of Naturalization:
26/06/1902

Year Of Birth:
1871

Place Of Death:
Mount Olivet Hospital, Kangaroo Point, Brisbane

Date Of Death:
14/04/1958

Spouse

  • Marriage Date: 20/04/1897
    Birthplace of spouse: Zahle, Syria/Lebanon
    Heritage of spouse: Syrian/Lebanese
    Place of marriage: Brisbane

Story

Eli Dyer (Dahur) came to Brisbane in 1895 from Zahle, Lebanon with his widowed mother, Katoora and his three younger siblings, Salem, Eva and Lily. He and his brother Salem, initially found work at the Cannon Hill abattoirs but soon started hawking goods around Brisbane and then further afield. In 1897, Eli married Sadie Malouf at St Stephen’s Cathedral Brisbane. They were both from Zahle, Lebanon and were living in Stanley Street South Brisbane with their respective families. Eli worked as a commercial traveller and Sadie as a dealer.

Eli and Salem worked together for a time hawking through the Brisbane Valley selling to farmers and railway workers. They then ran a general store at Blackbutt until Eli opened his own store at Yarraman. While Salem and his family returned to Brisbane, Eli chose to remain at Yarraman and the store was still operating in the early 1950s.

Eli was a ‘retired draper’ when he died aged 84 in Brisbane in 1958.

References

Brisbane Telegraph, 19 June 1953, p. 3, viewed 15 September 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article217230370.

Nick Dyer, The Dyer Family: a Loving Tribute to Salem Dyer and Mintaha Trad (Brisbane: Author, 1991), p. 6 and pp.14-15.

Queensland Post Office directories to 1949.

Queensland Times (Ipswich), 10 June 1932, p. 10, viewed 15 September 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113990828

Registrar-General’s Office, Queensland, The Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (RBDM).