Living History

Ten pound poms

I immigrated to Australia when I was twelve with my parents and younger sister. At the time they were selling one way tickets to Australia for ten pounds and it was free for us kids. My Dad decided we should move because we had some family there and the kids, my second cousins, were about my age. I heard later though that Dad wanted us to go because the family there was well-off and he wanted to cosy up to them.

We lived in Sydney to begin with. I know a lot of British kids had it bad in school but I lost my accent fast so I wasn’t teased. I wasn’t allowed to do as much though compared to when we lived in Manchester because my mother had been told stories about dangerous Australian animals and she was worried I would get bitten by a snake. I wanted to go to University but in the end I followed in my Dad’s footsteps and worked with him building houses in the family company. After living in Australia for twenty years my little sister Sarah decided she wanted to move to England but the rest of us stayed and I have been living here now for over forty years.

Andy, Sydney, New South Wales.

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