Joseph Gould
| Town/City | Melbourne |
|---|---|
| First name | Joseph |
| Last name | Gould |
| Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
| Date of Birth | 10/10/2006 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 31/10/48 |
| Submitted by | Jeffrey Gould |
Story
My father Joseph, an East End cabinet maker, born and having lived in London and experienced The Blitz, and the experience of living through two European World Wars, wanted to get, with his most beloved wife Bessy, and his two much loved children, being myself Jeffrey and my sister Beryl, as far away as possible from that part of the world. One day two years after the War, he looked on the map and could see that other than Antarctica Australia seemed the best bet for his family. He liked to have a little bet on the horses now and again, and he said “That’s the place for me, there’s nowhere further away than that. And his bet, thank G-d for all of us, paid off. Our Family arrived at Port Melbourne and we never ever looked back. Joe, our dad, was the most loved and kindly man in our extended family ( he was everyone’s favourite) and everyone was terribly upset to see him taking us and leaving them all behind and why so far away? Even now, and me now 76 years old (and a tough, I thought, old ex-soldier) remember, and tears are coming to my eyes as I write this and think about the the good thing he did for us in bringing our little family to this beautiful and prosperous land of ours. In time, just a couple of years only, my grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, nephews and neices couldn’t bear to be away from my dad so they all ended up coming here too. We are a very big family in Australia now and it’s all because of my dad.
We sailed and arrived in Australia on the P&O Ship, 16,973.81 Tons, Ranchi 31st Oct. 1948. The Captain name was H.S.Tunbridge. It took us six weeks to get here , the ships engines broke down and we had to stay for a week in Colombo till they were fixed. When we got off the ship at Port Melbourne, It was a gloriously warm and bright sunny day. My dad Joe, and I will never forget this as long as I live, looked up at the sky and said “This’ll do me” and he got down on his knees and kissed the soil of Australia. I’ll repeat this again for all the knockers -” I love you my country Australia. This’ll do me, and thank you DAD.