Miss. J. DUNCAN

As 10 Pound Poms, we arrived in Adelaide from Walthamstow Essex on the 19th of October 1951 on SS Ormond...a very old ship that was decommissioned, I was told, soon after our voyage. We were a family of five, Mum and Dad and three children. I was 11 my brother 7 and sister 5. Our trip took 5 weeks. The memories I have are of an eventful mix of adventure, sadness, happiness and stress. The passengers were separated, female and male, sharing cabins for five weeks with strangers. My mother and sister and I with another woman. My Father and brother in with other men. Ours was a cramped cabin with four bunks, two up and two down. The bathroom was separate shared with other cabins...nothing luxurious about this voyage especially when my mother took ill and brother broke his arm. I have fond memories of the Suez Canal, bartering from vendors at the side of the ship in Aden. Then stopping off at Ceylon (Sri Lanka) for the day. The snake charmer, bananas, monkeys and the wonderful swim at a surf beach, so different from South End beach outings "back home". Our destination was Port Pirie, South Australia. With a stop in Fremantle WA for the day. This was a delight because we were to meet my Father's sister Aunty Nan, Uncle Charles and their Girls-Florie, Thelma and Heather- our cousins. We also had our first experience of beautiful Perth and a wonderful day with new found family. The next experience was ghastly...the great Australian Bite! It was cruel, most of the ships passengers were ill as the ship rocked and rolled through to South Australia...also very glad the journey was nearly over!! We landed at Port Pirie. After a train ride to Adelaide, we were billeted in a hostel in Adelaide for a short time while my parents purchased furniture for the cottage we were promised at the sheep station Yallum Park in Penola. My Father had been sponsored by the farmer to live and work, maintaining the farm equipment. Which didn’t turn out very well for Mum an Dad, the farmer had some idea that we were servant class and proceeded to use us as such and the promised cottage had been condemned for twenty years. After four weeks my parents realized we were being exploited and moved us to a small mill town Nangwarri, where my father worked as a engineer fitter and turner, his trade and as a family we proceeded to try to fit in to the Australian way of life...with much anti migrant discrimination. There is so much more to this story, but I feel I have gone on too much! We eventually settled in the West where we had family support...we were lucky! The ten pound pom stories are varied. Most people have had positive experiences, settling in to the Australian way of life easily but many have had a struggle and some just never adapted. I know from our family story, it was very hard with much discrimination, sadness and adjustment. Leaving your family and friends behind never knowing if you would see them again is heart breaking! In our case my Mother and Father did not see their parent's again but they went on to lay the foundation for many generations of happy and successful Australians.

As 10 Pound Poms, we arrived in Adelaide from Walthamstow Essex on the 19th of October 1951 on SS Ormond...a very old ship that was decommissioned, I was told, soon after our voyage. We were a family of five, Mum and Dad and three children. I was 11 my brother 7 and sister 5. Our trip took 5 weeks. The memories I have are of an eventful mix of adventure, sadness, happiness and stress. The passengers were separated, female and male, sharing cabins for five weeks with strangers. My mother and sister and I with another woman. My Father and brother in with other men. Ours was a cramped cabin with four bunks, two up and two down. The bathroom was separate shared with other cabins...nothing luxurious about this voyage especially when my mother took ill and brother broke his arm. I have fond memories of the Suez Canal, bartering from vendors at the side of the ship in Aden. Then stopping off at Ceylon (Sri Lanka) for the day. The snake charmer, bananas, monkeys and the wonderful swim at a surf beach, so different from South End beach outings "back home". Our destination was Port Pirie, South Australia. With a stop in Fremantle WA for the day. This was a delight because we were to meet my Father's sister Aunty Nan, Uncle Charles and their Girls-Florie, Thelma and Heather- our cousins. We also had our first experience of beautiful Perth and a wonderful day with new found family. The next experience was ghastly...the great Australian Bite! It was cruel, most of the ships passengers were ill as the ship rocked and rolled through to South Australia...also very glad the journey was nearly over!! We landed at Port Pirie. After a train ride to Adelaide, we were billeted in a hostel in Adelaide for a short time while my parents purchased furniture for the cottage we were promised at the sheep station Yallum Park in Penola. My Father had been sponsored by the farmer to live and work, maintaining the farm equipment. Which didn’t turn out very well for Mum an Dad, the farmer had some idea that we were servant class and proceeded to use us as such and the promised cottage had been condemned for twenty years. After four weeks my parents realized we were being exploited and moved us to a small mill town Nangwarri, where my father worked as a engineer fitter and turner, his trade and as a family we proceeded to try to fit in to the Australian way of life...with much anti migrant discrimination. There is so much more to this story, but I feel I have gone on too much! We eventually settled in the West where we had family support...we were lucky! The ten pound pom stories are varied. Most people have had positive experiences, settling in to the Australian way of life easily but many have had a struggle and some just never adapted. I know from our family story, it was very hard with much discrimination, sadness and adjustment. Leaving your family and friends behind never knowing if you would see them again is heart breaking! In our case my Mother and Father did not see their parent's again but they went on to lay the foundation for many generations of happy and successful Australians.