The search for the long-lost family of an 88-year-old man from Brisbane has become more curious with a fresh lead from the Qormi St George parish.

Basil John Povis recently discovered that his father, who was from Malta and whom everyone called George Povis, was actually called Giuseppe Paris.

Basil Povis with the newest addition to the family: granddaughter Ariella Mardiasmo- Povis was born on Monday, to his son Lukeus and wife Asti.

But in a “surprising” twist, following the family’s appeal in this newspaper for any surviving relatives in Malta, it has been discovered that the actual surname might be Pons.

The father-of-eight, who is “not getting any younger at 88”, has encountered several dead ends in his search for surviving relatives, probably because of the incorrect information about his father’s actual surname.

Orphaned as a child, Mr Povis was the only child of Mabel-Blanche née Matthews and George.

The London Orphan School recently provided him with records of the enrolment form submitted by his mother. That is when he discovered his father’s real name was Giuseppe Paris, and not the anglicised George Povis.

Equipped with the new information, the family got in touch with this newspaper and Mr Povis urged readers to “get in touch as soon as they can because, for many years, we have only come across dead ends”.

At that point, the Povis family knew that Giuseppe, born in Malta, had died from war wound complications in England in 1934. Giuseppe’s father was Antonio Basil Paris, probably an engineer, his mother was Teresa Portelli and the family lived in Qormi.

In a surprising twist, it has been discovered that the actual surname might be Pons

After launching their appeal, the Povis family had “some amazing assistance from many Maltese”, while Facebook users shared the story.

But the “shock” came in an e-mail from James Agius, a volunteer at the St George’s parish office, who managed to trace Mr Povis’s ancestors in Qormi records.

Mr Agius’s search showed that the original family name was neither Povis nor Paris, but Pons. However, the family name was sometimes even mistakenly written as Bons and one time as Borg.

Basil’s daughter Rebecca (centre) is seen here at baby Ariella’s baby shower with another two granddaughters Crisstal and Kyla Povis. Rebecca is planning on coming to Malta in February to continue the search for the long-lost family.

According to Mr Agius’s research, Mr Povis’s paternal grandparents are Antonino Pons from Cospicua and Theresia Portelli from Qormi. The parish’s records show they had 10 children: Rosa Maria, Joseph Laurence George (supposedly Mr Povis’s father, who was actually known as George), Maria Concetta, Maria Cristina, Michele, Emmanuel, Alphonsa, Carmel, Sebastiana and Georgia.

Mr Agius told this newspaper that in those times, it was normal to join letters when writing, and from the parish’s registers Pons could be very easily read as Paris.

This could have also happened because Pons was not a well-known surname in Malta at the time.

“In fact, in one of our indexes, Pons was erroneously written as Paris, many times as Bons and once as Borg. Also, in those times the majority of the Maltese population was illiterate, and the correct writing of a surname wouldn’t have been questioned.

“I believe that if Giuseppe Pons carried any documentation from our parish to prove his identity when he emigrated, he would likely have had a document from the St George parish written in joined letters, and Pons could have been easily read as Paris,” Mr Agius said.

Mr Agius has contacted the Cospicua parish to try and trace Antonino Pons’s birth certificate, which will hopefully help find more leads.

The Povis family is now making a fresh appeal to track down any surviving Pons family members.

Mr Povis, who loves to travel and is adventurous according to his wife Linda, might accompany their daughter Rebecca on her trip to Malta in February, when she hopes to continue the search for the long-lost family.

Anyone with more information that could help shed light on Mr Povis’s relatives in Malta can send an e-mail to: linda.povis@gmail.com

sarah.carabott@timesofmalta.com