Documented as one of the oldest and most prolific Greek families in Australia, descendants of the Haritos family are organising a bumper reunion in June to mark 100 years in Darwin.
A huge list of events has been organised to coincide with the Darwin Greek Glendi, taking around 200 family members on bus tours and boat cruises to visit famous spots which played an integral part in the family’s history.
The earliest descendant, Eustratios Haritos, settled in Darwin in 1915 and had eight children. From there sprung a huge empire, with the family having a hand in everything from pearl diving, salt works and crocodile hunting. Famously, the Haritos brothers took Prince Philip crocodile hunting in 1956.
Years in the making, the reunion will see family members travel from far and wide around Australia. T-shirts are being made to mark the occasion, and the family will even have a stall at the Glendi showing off some amazing old photos.
A highlight for the reunion will be a guided tour of Eustratios’ old haunts including the Haritos houses, the Parap markets, the cemetery, the salt pans and Mica Beach.
The Haritos family created a lot of firsts for the Greek community of Darwin.
Eustratios is thought to be the first to have a traditional Greek wedding in the territory, where they had to ship a Greek priest from Perth to conduct the ceremony. It was such a rarity to have a Greek priest in Darwin that Eustratios decided to make it a double wedding, inviting his friend Dick Pitsikis to marry his bride’s sister, Kyriakoula Harmanis.
He developed the salt industry of Darwin in 1919, where he sold salt to the profitable meatworks. By that time, Darwin had ceased importing salt thanks to the work of Haritos.
His grocery store in town became something of a Darwin institution and his fishing and pearling business became quite profitable.
For more information, visit www.100yearsindarwin.com/