Birmingham family migrate to Australia

[ellie]

Some of my English Cooper ancestors migrated to Australia in 1887 with their 8 children. I imagine that the stress, uncertainity, etc to do this would have been extreme.

It makes me wonder what would lead to such a decision to leave family and the life one knew. Was it lack of work, homelessness, escaping problems etc

Whatever the reasons, how would a family have gone about setting this in motion? Today I imagine the use of phones, internet etc would make it easy.

Were there agents to arrange this, were there ads in newspapers, public lectures, what was the expense involved, how would they have travelled to London?

Does anybody have knowledge?

 

[BordesleyExile]

You have certainly provided yourself with a challenge Ellie, as I know from researching the emigration of a family member in the 1920s.
Have you researched the census? Some counties are available on
Free Cen. Click on this link & scroll down to "Search the database"
https://www.freecen.org.uk/
You could search for births, marriahes & deaths on FrreBMD:
https://www.freebmd.org.uk/
The General Record Office, which you could use for the supply of certificates is:
https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/
I have not investigated rail travel, but I have seen historical directories give coach details:
https://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/
To establish sailings go to the National Archives site which links with Find My Past:
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/searchthearchives/?source=searcharchives
I only found 2 academics interested in emigration from the UK to Australia. Michael Roe wrote Australia, Britain, Emigration & Migration 1915-1940. The period is different, but factors you might want to explore might be any social unrest, the wish for betterment, the motivation of the Australian government & whether the UK government was supportive of emmigration.

 

[ELIZABETH1]

You could explore sites like these which explain about the Home Children & Families etc.. - lots of children and families emigrated to Australia, Canada, USA etc.. in the hunt for a better life etc.. there were lots of programmes where people signed up to emmigrate. These may be a starting point for you - I found some of my grandmothers family in Canada through researching these sites.

https://www.middlemoreatlanticsociety.com/

https://www.britishhomechildren.org...t&catid=20:updated-site-information&Itemid=91

 

[sospiri]

Ellie:

Although the link below is to a New Zealand site,

https://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ourstuff/OurPassengerLists.htm

click on the two links on the first page - "The Voyage Out" and the "Regulations" - to get the general flavour of emigration to the other side of the world. Then flick through a few pages of lists for your favourite surname, noting the deaths at sea, the surgeon's reports, and the occasional list of passenger complaints.

Most of the vessels were about a third of the size of the Isle of Wight ferries or less - do you feel seasick yet?

Regards,

Maurice

 

[gibbo2005]

hello Ellie
my wife
and i and six children emigrated from Birmingham to Australia in 1970 it was a big change we managed ok and settled in we came here to get away from the snow and ice the kids suffered with chill blanes very bad and we thought the warmer climate would help we now have 23 grand children and 13 great we have been back a few times but could not stay there Allen gibbo Giibson

 

[ellie]

Thanks for sharing your story. I admire the strenght that people show when theymake such a major lifestyle move.

When you came you would have a little idea of what might lay in store for you, the uncertainity that people in the 19th faced is something that I find hard to fathom. They did not have the privuilege of TV, movies, wiedely avaialble print material to look at.

It sounds like the move was a great thing for your family.

 

[coalman]

According to the records on ancestry.com many people in the 1880's were given both financial assistance and encouragement to resettle down under and the site shows records and suchlike.
BTW my Auntie married a Norman Burgess who was a toolmaker for Austin during the second world war, I think he passed away in 1970 in Solihull Hospital,I remember him as a great fisherman and gardener at their home in Solihull Lodge.

 

[coalman]

I also remember working with a Stan Ricketts at Burman Hi-Ton in Grange Road, Selly Oak back in the 90's, he was the goods Inwards supervisor at that time and a very good mechanic!

 

[ellie]

Coalman thankyou for the Burgess and Ricketts details. At this stage I am not advanced enough in my research to have any details of relatives from this time.