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Boyd Family
Mason Family
1952 - The Year
Immigration 1952
S.S.Ormonde
Stopovers
Britains
Killed in Cairo Riots 1952
Fremantle
Port Phillip
Bay, Victoria
Sydney
Migrant Hostel
Immigration -
Evelyn Mason
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to see a list of people & pages on this web site.
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Stopovers:
-
Click here
Port Said in
Egypt. Port Aden
in Yemen.
Colombo
in Ceylon now known as Sri Lanka.
Fremantle
in Western Australia, Port Phillip Bay in
Melbourne Victoria |
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The migration
scheme started in March, 1947.
Known as 10-pound Poms (or 10-pound tourists, or 10-pound Brits),
these were the British citizens who immigrated to Australia in the
fifties and sixties under an assisted passage scheme, which cost
10-pounds for adults. Those under 18 were free. |
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After World War
II, many ships that had carried soldiers
were converted to meet the urgent need for
the transportation of migrants. Passenger
comforts on these 'troop ships' were
extremely limited. Large empty holds were
fitted out with double or triple tiered
bunks. The food was plain and sometimes
inadequate. Many European migrants were not
used to the English fare that they were
given to eat, and missed their traditional
spiced foods. Similar food was provided in
the hostels and reception camps when they
arrived in Australia. |
Dad:
"Bill
had been thinking about going to Australia for a
while.
"Our friend Kenny Cooper said that they would have to build a bridge
for him to come to Australia." |
Reasons for Immigrating?
Click here
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Dad: "Two blokes came back to Birkenhead and said that Australia
was good. They had been in Sydney for two years. They went back to
their old jobs as Boiler Makers. they blamed their wives for their
return. The wives didn't like living in the hostels. It was
the women who kicked up a stink in Bradfield Park."
"I didn't know how long we would stay. I
left the time open.
Millie and Bob Parkinson came with us. We met Kit and Bob Ferris on
the ship."
"Many of
the women were reluctant to emigrate. If families returned to UK it
was usually because the women wanted to go "home". Life was
more difficult in Australia than they had been led to believe."
I could never
understand how my mother left her family in
UK. It was so unlike her. She said she did
it because it would only be for two years.
Migrants needed to stay for 2 years. (See
below)
I still have the many boxes of letters she received from "home". There
were many sent back.
"Assisted migrants were
generally obliged to remain in Australia for
two years after
arrival, or alternatively refund the cost of
their assisted passage. If they chose to
travel back to Britain, the cost of the
journey was at least £120, a large sum in
those days and one that most could not
afford.
It was also possible for many
British persons to migrate to Australia on a
non-assisted basis before the early 1970s,
although most travelled as Ten Pounders.
This was part of the wider
White Australia Policy.
A quarter of
British migrants chose to return to the UK
but half of these—the so-called 'Boomerang
Poms'—returned to Australia]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Pound_Poms
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Departed from Tilbury
Dock on 10th January, 1952.
under the Assisted Passengers Migrant
Scheme
S.S.Ormonde -
Includes photos taken on board
Click here to see passenger list
for our family.
(Many thanks to
Steve
Jones) |
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"We bought a camera before we left
UK
.
Mum & Dad, with Bob, Glad & Irene (Me) left
England 10.1.1952.
We departed from Tilbury Dock, London." |
The trip took
about 6 weeks. There were stopovers in
Port
Said.
Port Aden, Ceylon,
Fremantle,
Port Phillip Bay, Victoria then to Circular
Quay in Sydney.
Cairo -
There were many
problems taking English families through
Egypt at this time. |
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Overcrowding was
a common complaint. Everyone, including
families, which were split up, was
accommodated in men's and women's quarters. |
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1952 - On the
trip to Australia Mum was placed in a cabin with Kit Ferris and Dad
was with her husband, Bob. They became close friends but Mum and Dad never saw them again.
Mum kept wrote letters to them until
her death in 2002. On the trip they went to
Yallourn
with Mum and dad to visit
Muriel and Bill.
They
went back to UK. Not sure when. |
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Click here
to
see photos aboard the ship,
S. S. Ormonde |
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Fremantle:
Click here
to read dad's account of how we nearly
missed the ship as it pulled out from
Fremantle Harbour |
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Melbourne: Port Phillip Bay |
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There was a 3 day stopover in
Melbourne.
We visited Muriel, Bill
& Susan at Newborough. Bill was working on the power station in
Yallourn.
Arrived in
Sydney:
February 2nd, 1952 |
After leaving the ship, everyone was taken
to Central station where they were put on a
train to Bathurst.
This was late at night and all the kids were
tired (and probably grumpy!)
From Bathurst,
NSW (ex air force centre used for a migrant distribution centre)
some people, such as, Millie & Bob Parkinson were sent back to Victoria. |
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Photo opposite: (Not sure
where
this is!)
Dad,
Mum. Millie Parkinson, Bob Parkinson,
Kit Ferris with her
daughter.
Bob Boyd in front
"Mum was wearing
Kitty's bra as a swimming costume. The water was warm. It
was the only way you could get Mum into the water. Mum stood on my
shoulders and dived into the water", Dad.
"Could Mum dive?" me.
"No", Dad
PS Mum couldn't swim!!!
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Arrival in Sydney
Click
here |
