• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team
  • HI folks the server that hosts the site completely died including the Hdd's and backups.
    Luckily i create an offsite backup once a week! this has now been restored so we have lost a few days posts.
    im still fixing things at the moment so bear with me and im still working on all images 90% are fine the others im working on now
    we are now using a backup solution

Emigration from Birmingham

BordesleyExile

BordesleyExile

master brummie
Here are 2 posters & a pamphlet extolling the joys of Australia. The illustrations are from the very academic book Australia, Britain & Migration 1915-1940 A study of desperate hopes by Michael Roe.
1) Does anyone have any posters or pamphlets encoraging migration to Australia, Canada or (then) Rhodesia? If not can anyone suggest links or sources? I searched the newspaper catalogue for the last years of the 19C but found nothing except small ads.
2) Does anyone know how migration was publicised in England or how potential emigrants were able to research, beyond getting information from family, friends & aquaintances?
 
In the 1950/60' migration was advertised in the newspapers and advertised on the TV - so I suppose it would be the same in the 19C (not TV obviously. Australia etc were desperate to increase their populations so I guess there are more posters out there.
Sheri
 
Thank you Sheri. Given that emigration had such a high profile in the early 20C its odd that it is now difficult to find the publicity. Current migration is well addressed by academics, but not historical migration.
 
shirley..those a brillient pamphlets...it would be nice if we could get some more info on how migration was publicised here in england..a most interesting subject...

lyn
 
Thank you, Lyn. Yes, it was an intriguing area of decision making for Brits here wasn't it? I know from Henry Green's book Living, written around 1930 if memory serves, that in Birmingham at least migration was very much discussed amongst workers.
 
When I was about 14/15 in the very early 60's I was at an exhibition at Bingley Hall where they were showing the virtues on moving to Australia. You could have gone on the £10 assisted passage. They made it sound that good I wanted to sign up there and then, but at 14 I don't think they would have had me:cry:

Terry
 
well remembered terry..but yes at on 14 i dont think they would have had you...:cry: and it only cost a tenner..even in the 60s i would think that was cheap...

lyn
 
Thank you, Terry. I suppose nothing disappears so fast as an exhibition, so maybe thats why I am having trouble discovering the decision making material.
 
Has anyone ever seen any similar material extolling the virtues of moving to the cotton mills of Lancashire please? --- one branch of my family seem to do this and I can't really understand why...
 
I find that newspaper report exciting for its relevance, SMTR. My grandfather emigrated to Australia the previous year, 1922. He returned to Birmingham, though I never heard why. I gather from Michael Roe's book that for many years the number of people who came back here from Australia equaled the amount that webt out. There was not always the work promised & conditions were hard. Many men stayed less than 2 years. Given that the common reason for emigration was to improve wellbeing & improve situation it must have been such a let down for so many to return home.
SMTR how did you access that newspaper report? I am wondering quite how I can improve my research for the last century. If you accessed Birmingham Archives then I cannot hope to do the same. I enquired, but never got a reply. Thank you so much for your kindness, SMTR.
Aidan I seem to remember seeing on WDYTYA that familes out of work were sent up north to the mills, but found dreadfull housing when they arrived. Families were even split up. Shame I cannot remember which celebrity was on the programme.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Australia was obviously a good deal cos i too have people leaving London to settle over there.
Was there a deal for peeps from Warwickshire going to USA? I have some of my Parrs leaving (c 1901)and settling in Cooks county .
 
I'm finding this thread very interesting, since my family emigrated from Birmingham to Sydney, Australia, in 1964 when I was 15. We were what the Australian authorities termed "assisted migrants", so it cost £10 each for Mom and Dad, and nothing at all for my sisters and myself. We left from Southampton in December (English winter) aboard the P and O liner "Canberra" (one of the last ships to be allowed through the Suez Canal). I can well remember arriving in Sydney (Australian summer): the beautiful harbour, the HEAT, the air redolent with the smell of eucalyptus oil, and the loud noise of cicadas (doing whatever it is they do: the din is tremendous!).

It was a great adventure for us children, but the streets were by no means "paved with gold", and many immigrants were unhappy and returned home. My Mom was quite homesick and unhappy for a while (until she found a job and made friends). We of course came in for some teasing as "Poms", but it was all fairly gentle and good-natured. In Australia it's always the latest bunch of immigrants who are discriminated against: "Poms", Italians, Greeks, Vietnamese, Chinese, Lebanese (in that order). Now it's refugees from Africa who are being teased (and sometimes, sadly, worse). But Aussies generally are welcoming and friendly, and Australia has become a truly multi-cultural society, and is much better for it.

I'll keep my eyes open for publicity material, BordesleyExile: there might be items available on line from the Australian archives.
 
hi thylacine....how lovely to get first hand the thoughts and experiences of someone who migrated to australia and the posters are wonderful...i am sure shirley will be delighted to read your posts...

lyn
 
Thylacine,
You seem to have a good knowledge of emigration,could you help with this.
Two of my unmarried gt.aunts went to Australia c 1920,they were Mary Jubilee Barrett born 1887,and her sister Sarah Mabel Barrett dob 26.8.1889.
I have tried ships lists and various other sites with no luck,having been to W.A.six times I should have had a look when I was there,but it was before my interest in family research began.:rolleyes:
 
Hi Ray! I'm afraid that kind of research is not really my forte, sorry. But I'll keep my eyes open, and if I come across something relevant I'll let you know.
 
Thanks anyway.As a point of interest,I remember having a chat with a bloke in Perth who told me he was amongs the last of the £10 poms (the last ship)...but it cost him £300:rolleyes:,this was in 1974,would that be about right?.
 
Ray Barrett said:
Thylacine,
You seem to have a good knowledge of emigration,could you help with this.
Two of my unmarried gt.aunts went to Australia c 1920,they were Mary Jubilee Barrett born 1887,and her sister Sarah Mabel Barrett dob 26.8.1889.
I have tried ships lists and various other sites with no luck,having been to W.A.six times I should have had a look when I was there,but it was before my interest in family research began.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Dunno if it is helpful but I have found the following:

UK Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 about Sarah M Barrett (Tailoress from Birmingham, travelling with an Agnes)
Name: Sarah M Barrett
Birth Date: abt 1891
Age: 37
Port of Departure: Australia
Arrival Date: 19 Mar 1928
Port of Arrival: Hull, England
Ports of Voyage: Brisbane
[Melbourne]
[Adelaide]
[Sydney]
[Colombo]
Ship Name: Jervis Bay
Shipping Line: Australian Commonwealth Line
Official Number: 150187

England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2005 about Sarah Mabel Barrett
Name: Sarah Mabel Barrett
Birth Date: 26 Aug 1889
Death Registration Month/Year: 1970
Registration district: Bedford
Inferred County: Bedfordshire
Volume: 4a
Page: 56
 
There are a number of Mary Barretts that took the free earlier, harder transport to that hemisphere if you ever find a missing one in your tree - otherwise I can see no trace of Mary-Jubilee (great name)
 
Thank you very much for the links & posters, Thyacaline. The visuals will help liven up the family history that I am writing. All text would be dull for the family members reading the history.

Australia docs / microfilm can be located in file DOS35 & DOS5 7at the National Archives for anyone interested who is ever in the vicinity of Kew. The handbook detailing Australian joint microfilm copying project contains guidance. The Salvation Army may have material. The book Ten Pound Poms: Australia'a Invisible Migrants by A J Hammerton & Alistair Thomson. The cheapest new copies that I have found are available at the Book Depository. I am indebted to Michael Roe for his prompt & kind help.

Does anyone know of any sites for emigration to Canada or (then) Rhodesia? I am aware of the Zimdays site.
 
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
 
sheri said:
... It'll b e a shame to lose your female PM before she's got her feet under the table ...
Click to expand...

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
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top