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Emigration from Birmingham

Thank you very much Aiden,it looks like Agnes was her daughter,(more research).My dad knew the sisters before they went to Australia....it looks to me like he had a cousin he didn't know about:rolleyes:,shall let him know tomorrow.
 
Rowan, thanks for sharing the "Australia Ahead" handbook with us. I read it with great interest, as it gave me an insight into the upheaval it must have been in my parents' lives at the time (they were in their forties).

The first sentence in the book is a reminder of the "White Australia Policy" which prevailed for a good deal of the 20th century, until completely repealed in the early 1970s (my emphasis): "There are no restrictions on the entry into Australia of British subjects of European descent if they are of good character and in sound health. The term 'of European descent' includes the people of British islands stock - English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Manx etc."
 
This is an old postcard that I had from my friend who sailed to Australia in 1958.
It was the Orient Line SS "ORONSAY".

On the back she tells me she is "having a wonderful time. Arrived on the boat at 3.15. Everything she ate she bought up. Has made lots of friends and misses me alot" and she also gives me an address for me to send my letter posting no later than March 7th and the address is in Ceylon.

The postcard was posted at 4pm on the 3rd March 1958 in Gibraltar and she would i think have many more weeks to sail and bring up lots of meals!!! :rolleyes:

We are still in contact but sadly she had a stroke last year and can no longer write to me.

This was a 17/18 year old Brummie girl travelling on her own to make a new life and she made a good one :thumbsup:

Thought it will add to Birmingham social history in 1958
 
Hi Rowan: My story was very similar to your friends but I was 21 years old when I sailed on the "Empress of Britain" to Montreal.

Sorry to hear that your friend has suffered a stroke and can no longer write to you. That is very sad.

I am quite familiar with the SS Oronsay. A close friend of mine going back to l968 had a friend who was a steward on the "Oronsay". The ship used to come in to Vancouver from time to time and there was a panic in 1970 which I remember. There was an outbreak of typhoid on the ship when it docked in Vancouver and the ship was under quarantine for one month. This is an excellent site with lots of photos on board and the total history including the Typhoid outbreak in Vancouver. https://www.ssmaritime.com/ssOronsay.htm
 
As has been said "Poms" emigrated for a tenner - children free - we went in 1965 and went to a migrant hostel as did most people. You had to stay for two years or repay your outward fare (full price not £10) - I didn't feel bad about returning home it was the best thing for me and my children - you needed to have a good relationship to survive the ups and downs.
Australia and the other Commonwealth advertised "plenty of work, opportunities to own your own home and a sunshine lifestyle", all true.
If it can be accessed there is a Panorama programme from 1964/65 called "What is a whinging Pom" which Alan Whitticker did.
Interesting topic,
Sheri
 
Hi Sheri! Thanks for those memories.

I tried to find the "What is a Whinging Pom?" video you mentioned (without success, unfortunately, as it would be fun to watch - can anyone else find it?). I think it was made by Alan Whicker, but I could be mistaken. Whicker came to Australia many times to make documentaries.

Googling "ten pound Pom" yields a wealth of internet material for those who wish to explore further. Perhaps our best-known ten pound Pom is the present Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard who came out with her parents from Barry in Wales in 1966. She became Australia's first female PM on 24 June this year, and may not survive for long as there is to be a general election in a few days time (21 August).
 
Hi Thylacine, It would be fun to see the Alan Whicker "What is a Whinging Pom" programme again - at least it prepared us for what we would find when we got there.
It'll b e a shame to lose your female PM before she's got her feet under the table.
Sheri
 
... It'll b e a shame to lose your female PM before she's got her feet under the table ...

Sheri, I've deliberately held off replying until the outcome of the Australian election was clear, and it's taken two and a half weeks to sort out! :rolleyes: The election was so close that neither major party secured a majority, so there have been intense negotiations with the Greens and several Independents.

The outcome (decided just a couple of hours ago) is that the Australian Labor Party has concluded an agreement with the Australian Greens and three Independents to form a government. This means that ex-Taffy "ten pound pom" Julia Gillard continues as PM, but her majority is wafer-thin (76 seats to 74 for the Opposition). Interesting times ahead!
 
HI friends
sail away to the new lands they used to say way back in the fifties all for a tenner ; but what did it cost you in the long run
you got the sun shine at a cost ; you had to buy your house and find work ; then its back to the old question of health priororty you had to pay for it
so what did they did then and relized the true cost of going over [ sorry] they went now there is people there regretting it bit long in the tooth now
to relized your money his running out cannnot afford to get back for our wonder full free NHS service there as been thousands coming back thats why they are advertising again
come to sunny aussie land No thank you ; i say i am a true brummie and born and bred her theres no way i am living england
you have all these so called expats in spain tearing our national health to bits come over every 3 months cash in the pensions and use our nat health free of charge
when they have the money to pay for it and they slate us english yet its there land and these people talk about it quite openly
any way i will stop winching and say the climate is a changing and these forign countries with all that sun shinethey have had for years is coming to an end
the earth is moving around and we will have all that glourius sun shine and they will end upp with all the bad weather and rain we have had for decades
they all will becoming back to england all those winnching poms as they are called by the aussies astonian
 
The Grass is always greener on the other side, But you have to do what you have to do, thats what makes the world go around. Where did the English come from? Saxons, Normans, who knows, Humans have always explored. New places, new faces. new opportunities. Even in England people move around find places that are different, exciting! BUT eveyone has roots and they are always there. I do think (and at my age that IS dangerous!) that you NEVER forget your roots. John Crump an OldBrit NOW in Parker,Co USA
 
We have rels in Australia who emigrated in 1922, from what my rel can remember the family emigrated because of the promise of work in Australia at a time when there was great poverty in post-war Britain. We have a letter written to Marys mom from her dads mom in 1929 which highlights the poverty over here at that time, when the family in Australia had settled and had jobs - my great uncle went with his wife and her parents and his first child. They had 2 more children over there and it is one of these with whom we are still in contact. Also know that another 2nd cousin emigrated too, but not why, he never spoke about his life in Britain apparently but had lost his brother in Gallipoli.
Sue
 
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