Immigration Stories
Throughout history stories have been used to illuminate, to educate, to recount, to challenge and to engage. Every individual’s life experience is unique and dynamic, particularly for those of us who have journeyed far from our homes to establish new lives in foreign countries.
Australia’s migrant history has enabled us to develop into the strong nation we are today. Personal stories and anecdotes are an important opportunity to enrich the public record and to embellish our history. Immigration Place Australia encourages the collection of immigrant stories. By giving a voice to our immigrants, we hope to record significant experiences with increased depth and nuance. We envision an opportunity to connect generations and to build community via a comprehensive record of the distinctive immigration footprint of Australia.
IPA’s mission is to continue to collect stories until completion of the construction of Immigration Place in Canberra. At that time, subject to the agreement of the National Archives of Australia those stories will be transferred to their website – Destination Australia.
We encourage you to record your stories or those of your ancestors.
All Stories
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I AM GIOVANNI ANTONIO GAMBALE, BORN IN PATERNOPOLI (AV), ITALY
The morning of the 6th of January 1956, I arrived at Fremantle in Western Australia after 13 days of navigation from Colombo Stanco (a port in Sri Lanka) and one month\’s travel …
Giovanni Gambale, ITALY, 1956
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Richard Charles GUTHRIDGE ca 1837-1934 & Eliza PITTS 1844-1914 London, England & Portland, Carapook, Edenhope, Victoria, Australia.
Richard was a 21 year old steward on the sailing ship “Severn”. He met Eliza Pitts (16)…
Richard Guthridge, England, 1856
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I left to be with my wife who had family in Australia and wanted to be with them. At he time we had 2 sons, Howard and Earl, aged 5 and 2.
We travelled by air from Mumbai to Singapore. Then after a few days we boarded the HMS Australasia, a passenger ship, and…
Brian Digby, India, 1971
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In 1944 Latvia was occupied by Germany. In autumn 1944 when the German army was retreating from Russia through Latvia they took me with them to Germany.
My journey to Australia started in a Displaced Persons camp in Rotenburg, Germany where in 1947…
Armands Laula, Latvia, 1947
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Jozef Sikora was born on 18.4.1918 to Polish parents Jozef Sikora and Anastasia Kaul. Jozef was born in Coln (Cologne) Germany and moved with his parents back to Poland soon after he was born. Jozef grew up on a farm near Warsaw where he attended school…
Jozef Sikora, Poland, 1948
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Erna Sikora, born Erna Auguste Wilhelmine Reinking, was the firstborn of 5 children. She grew up in Ilseheide now called Perershagen in Westfalia , Germany. Erna was sent to live with her grandmother who raised her. While at school Erna excelled …
Erna Sikora, Germany, 1948
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The migration of Gerrit (Gerry), Geertje (Gay), with son Marinus (Rien) 5 1/2 years & daughter Aleida (Ada) 3 1/2 years Bleumink. Migration had been on our mind since Gerry & I met, it took 6 years before we could realize our dream. In an overcrowded…
Geertje & Gerrit Bleumink, Netherlands, 1959
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Born on 19 May 1935 I was the youngest of two children to my parents Otto Vilhelmi and Iina Esteri Paattakainen. My brother Mikko and I lived in a village called Viiala, today part of the city of Akaa which is located about 150 km north of Helsinki, Finland.…
Reijo Paattakainen, Finland, 1971
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[Reason for leaving homeland]
He was apparently dared by a friend – and took up the dare.
[About the Journey]
[Impressions on Arrival]…
Martin Kriening, Germany, 1956
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John Thomas Eaton was the second eldest child of Thomas Bishop Eaton (1824 Ð 1905, a Joiner/Picture Dealer) and Henrietta Cooke (1816 Ð 1895). He was a Picture Frame Maker of Eaton Brothers Fine Art Repository at 10 Old Town in Clapham, England. …
John Thomas Eaton, England, 1889
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Born in Shotton/ Connahs Quay area of north Wales in 1888.
Arrived in Aust. in 1912 on board tha “Ragnatira” with the Howard family, he was aged 24. “Rangatira was owned by the Shaw Savill and Albion Co.Ltd. He was travelling 3rd…
St.Malo William J Desborough, Kent UK, 1912
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PHILIP GEORGE (P.G.) CORNWALL
Philip George Cornwall was born in January 1834 in Cherry Hinton, Cambridge, England. He grew up in Barrington, Cambridgeshire where his father James was an agricultural labourer and his mother, Jemima was a shopkeeper.…
Philip George Cornwall, Cambridgeshire, England, 1854
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Mickey Sutherland was born in Boston USA in 1957. His parents Farrell & Pauline were Canadian and moved to Massachusetts for work. His dad was a baseball fan, and named his first child after the New York Yankee legend Mickey Mantle.
The family…
Mickey Sutherland, Canada, 1981
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My name is Pasquale Gagliardi better known as Pat. I was born on 9 May 1948 in Italy in a beautiful village called Ciano in Calabria.
In 1956 my older brother immigrated to Australia in search of a better future and then my father in 1960. My mother together…
Pasquale Gagliardi, Italy, 1961
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I was born into a wealthy merchant’s family with eight other brothers and sisters. Earlier in my life I had not ever had to work a moment in my life as I had servants doing all the work for me. Life was simple until the rise of the communist party. …
Xuan Lan Tran, Vietnam, 1978
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There are a handful of elders left that know how to speak the ancient Greek dialogue where my father was born. This was Tyros in December 1921. When my father left the town of his birthright he cast a stone over his left shoulder, this meant he would never…
Vasilios Psarologos, Greece, 1957
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George was a son of an auctioneer and Parish Clerk at Rayleigh, Essex, and the reasons for coming to Australia are unknown.
George Palmer Rodd and his older brother James arrived in Sydney in December 1857 on the “Duncan Dunbar”, sister…
George Palmer Rodd, England, 1857
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A letter to his mother in 1855 indicates that he had been in some unspecified personal diffculty in England, and this was the reason for his departure to Australia.
Samuel was the son of Isaac Worthington, a draper in Mansfield, England. His mother,…
Samuel Worthington, England, 1853
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Emanuel joined the Italian Merchant Marine at 14 and mistakenly found himself coming out to New Holland (Australia, not Holland) and decided to stay. He was born Emmanuel Danero in Genoa. The Captain on board the ‘Lord Rodney’ called…
Emanuel Neich, Italy, 1826
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WETTENHALL FAMILY TO AUSTRALIA
The Wettenhall family since 1835 reflects the social changes and history of Australia. They emigrated from impoverished conditions to much of the same. Subsequent generations have produced members of the armed…
Robert Wettenhall, England, 1835
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My name is Alfredo Tognini born 1927 in Colorina (Provincia Sondrio, Italy). Left Italy for Australia in 1950 for work reasons.
It is a long story, I will leave out those sad and long years during the war; it would take volumes to tell that storyÉI was…
Alfredo Tognini, Italy, 1950
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Frances Putland was born 12 February 1828 in Denton, Sussex, England and was baptised in St Leonard\’s Church of England. With her parents, John and Sarah, and brothers, Henry, Thomas, John, William and George, Frances arrived at Holdfast…
Frances Putland, England, 1840
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George Bartram was born in 1825 in Buckinghamshire, England. He arrived at Port Adelaide from Plymouth on the Theresa in May 1847 and continued his trade as a stone-mason, residing in Kensington.
George married Frances Putland in Holy Trinity Church,…
George Bartram, England, 1847
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Luba travelled from war torn Russia to Australia with two small children, Inga and Anna.
She came on the good ship “Skaugum” from Naples arriving on 27/3/1950. Passenger 1694.
Luba was able to find employment as a factory worker.
At …
Luba Tschuiko, Ukrainia, 27/03/50
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Ruth Eliza Parsons was born on 29 September 1909 in Hammersmith, London, a true Cockney.
In 1912, Ruth immigrated to Australia on a ship called the Beltana with her parents, James and Jane, brother Albert and two sisters, Edith (Pat) and Ada. A third…
Ruth Parsons, England, 1912
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Federico Giacomo Brustolin was born on 4 January 1908 in Rocca D\’Arsie, Belluno, in Italy\’s Veneto province.
A skilled carpenter, he left Italy in 1928 to escape being forced to join the Blackshirts Ð he had returned from France …
Federico Brustolin, Italy, 1928
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STEFANO LOPES Ð ITALIAN MIGRANT
Stefano as a boy – Stefano Lopes was born on the 4th December 1916 on the island of Filicudi, North of Sicily (Italy) Twenty days later, his father died on Christmas eve. He was raised by his mother and sisters.…
Stefano Lopes, Italy, 1950
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