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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Charles left Riga, Latvia due to the impending invasion of Russian troops in September, 1944. He was 16 years old. .
Charles, his mother and sister travelled to Germany by ship and eventually managed to get to the British zone in Wurzburg where Charles…
Charles (Ivars) Eglitis, Latvia, 1948
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William Henry Moore (born c.1797), his wife Mary Ann Montgomery and their children: Louisa, John, Andrew, Eliza, George, Margaret, Henry, Edward and Annie were Bounty Settlers who took up the offer of a paid passage from Ireland to Australia in …
William Henry Moore, Northern Ireland, 1841
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Patrick Maguire and his wife Ann Noble lost 3 children in 3 weeks in Ireland and decided to come to Australia. Their daughter Dorothy wrote a wonderful portrayal of their early years which is abbreviated here.
‘We left Ireland and caught the…
Patrick Maguire, Ireland, 1856
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The life of Martha McBride.
Martha McBride was born in Crosshill Village, Scotland, the fourth child of ten children born to Robert and Mary McBride. Her father was a boot maker. In 1924 Martha together with three of her sisters, Agnes, Annie, and …
Martha McBride, Scotland, 1924
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Peter Siokos was the eldest of a family of three children, and, believing that the only way to look after his own family of 5 children and wife Dimitria, was to emigrate to Australia, a country perceived to provide opportunity for everyone who took …
Peter and Dimitria Siokos, Greece, 1954
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Daniel Boston was born at Nacton near Ipswich, Suffolk, England on 12 October 1831. He immigrated to Australia with his brother, William, arriving in Sydney in October 1854 on the ship ‘Anglo Saxon’. He married Eliza Berryman, settling…
Daniel Boston, England, 1854
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Henry Nicholson was born at Leven, Fifeshire, Scotland on 23 February 1857. He immigrated to Australia c1878. In 1891 he married Margaret Ross Darling also from Scotland and had six children. He worked as an engineer at Joadja, NSW, Mount Magnet,…
Henry Nicholson, Scotland, 1878
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SAMUEL MCWILLIAM Founder of the ‘McWilliam\’s Wines’ family
Samuel McWilliam was born on the 15th April 1830 at Raloo, near Larne, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He was the second son of a family of six boys and one girl from…
Samuel McWilliam, Northern Ireland, 1857
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It was only after John Louis Edwards died in 1929, that his wife Dorothy opened his locked ‘Pandora\’s Box’, and found that she had actually been married to John Edward Price born in England in 1844 – What a shock!
Young John…
John Louis Edwards, England, 1859
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OUR STORY 1982 Carol and Mike Batten, England
In the late 70\’s, during the belligerent period between Egypt and Israel, Mike was seconded to the Arab British Helicopter Company from Westland Helicopters of Yeovil Somerset. On their return…
Mike Batten, England, 1982
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[Reason for leaving homeland]
TO GET BETTER CONDITIONS OF LIFE
[About the Journey]
I CAME TO AUSTRALIA FROM LONDON TO AUSTRALIA WITH THE SHIP ORCADES IN 1951 & MY SON ARRIVED ON THE SHIP ORSOVA IN 1954
[Impressions on Arrival]
VERY GOOD, MY FIRST…
Antonio Da Costa, Portugal, 1951
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[Reason for leaving homeland]
Fear of Russians invading Hungary and Communist oppression.
[About the Journey]
We came via 4 years in camps in Germany and then 1 year in Italy then by boat To Australia (placed on wrong liner as we were to go to Argentina.…
Thomas Bakacs, Hungary, 1949
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Dad fought in World War II and in Africa. We lived in the small village of Plati in the mountains of Calabria and although reasonably well off by village standards, we drew water from a tap in the square, washed clothes in the river and rarely ate meat.…
Antonio deMarco, Italy, 1951
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[Reason for leaving homeland)
Lack of employment opportunities in northern England.
[About the Journey] Not Known.
[Impressions on Arrival]
Alex Neat arrived in Australia as a 17 year old and spent the next 7-years working on the NSW south coast…
Alexander Neat, England, 1907
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James and his new bride Mary left an Ireland still suffering from the effects of the potato famine, to escape the prejudices and institutonalised anti-catholocism that denied them opportunities to pursue their fortune and control their own destiny.…
James Crimlisk, Ireland, 1852
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John James Steeden, born John James NEEDS, in Hayfield, Derbyshire on 26th May 1905. Schooled in Manchester until he was about 14 years (1919). Started work at the railway yards. When he was about 17 years (1922) he was caught stealing biscuits from…
John Steeden, England, 1924
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Re Gerard H. Verhoeven, name reservation IBA01HR of 3/8/2006
I arrived in Australia on the MV ‘Tahitien’ on 13 November 1953, aged 28. Born in Rotterdam and growing up in Indonesia, I came via the (then) Dutch colony of Cura�ao to Sydney.…
Gerard Verhoeven, Netherlands, 1953
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Jane arrived in Sydney NSW, aged about 20, on 9th October 1845 and subsequently had a son, Charles, and a daughter fathered by Thomas Bridgeman.
Jane eventually moved to Queensland, remarried and had from 3 sons and 6 daughters living numerous descendants.…
Jane Eyles, United Kingdom, 1845
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Thomas Bridgeman (b. ca 1807) and wife arrived at Port Adelaide on 17 October 1837 on the ship ‘Katherine Stewart Forbes’, the 11th ship to arrive at the settlement. His wife, presumed to be Sarah Hewitt, was born ca. 1814. Thomas disappeared…
Thomas Bridgeman, United Kingdom, 1837
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In a letter written by Hannah O. Penn to her children later in life, she described her arrival in Australia: ‘I Hannah Penn (age 24) arrived in Queensland March 2nd 1880. I had a wire from a friend in Thargomindah to say wages there were very good.…
Hannah O Penn, United Kingdom, 1880
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Frances Myrah Ewins, also known as Myrah Ewens, arrived in Brisbane on 5 November 1874 as a free passenger on the ship, the ‘Darling Downs’, which had departed London on 25 July 1874. She was single and aged 21. She subsequently married…
Frances M Ewins, United Kingdom, 1874
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Alfredo Meloni migrated from Rome, Italy, to Australia in 1961. After a brief period in Lakes Entrance, Victoria, Alfredo moved to Hobart, Tasmania, where he settled. In 1962 Alfredo’s fiance, Marcella Gizzi, followed him from Italy to …
Alfredo Meloni, Italy, 1961
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Michael Dwyer ‘The Wicklow Chief’ and his wife Mary (Doyle) arrived in Port Jackson on 15th February 1806 on The Tellicherry.
He was for 5 years, a Captain in the Society of United Irishmen defending, at times single handed, his beloved…
Michael Dwyer, Ireland, 1806
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Reason for leaving homeland – TO GET BETTER CONDITIONS
About the Journey – I TRAVELLED FROM LONDON WITH THE SHIP ‘ORCADES’
Impressions on Arrival – VERY GOOD…
ANTONIO DA COSTA, PORTUGAL, 1951
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James Maillard Patchell was the seventh child of John and Annie Patchell of Moneymore, Ireland. His father John Patchell was the Surgeon Superintendent of the Government Emigrant Ship ‘ Crescent’.
Two of James\’s older brothers…
James Patchell, Ireland, 1862
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Charles was the son of Frances and Charles, a Quaker banker and brewer of Leighton Buzzard, and the second of nine children. He was an undergraduate at Cambridge and came to Australia at the age of nineteen as a doctor recommended the milder climate…
Charles Frederick Reeve, England, 1877
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Parents Ewen ( Hugh ) Ross and Ann Nicholson left Concordan Skye Scotland as part of the ” Clearances” on a Highland and Island Emigration Society ( HIES) assisted passage – they left with their 8 children on the ship Arabian on …
Alexander Ross, Scotland, 1854