Brenda Jones-Evans

Story

In England when we were both nurses, in Southampton, Bruce, my charge nurse and I were sitting in the New Forest when I asked him what his dreams were. He replied that he wanted to come to Australia, and if he could find anybody silly enough to go with him, eventually have his own nursing home. Well, I was the silly one, (now the lucky one) because we married had a daughter and when she was one year old, in 1952, he received his sailing papers to travel to Australia, but on this own because you could not take your wife and child unless you had accommodatiion for them. He was to go to a Sanatorium in Melbourne because he was also a T.B. and infections diseases trained nurse. When he arrived he was sent to an overnight Nissen Hut accommodation, the next day going to Cheltenham to the then sanatorium. He was engaged as a nursing orderley and paid as such, because they had no trained male nurses. He then lobbied the government to be able to be employed as a registered nurse and paid the same as female nurses! the boot was on the other foot in those days

After some time he was able to procure along with another male nurse, a small nursing home and he was able to send for me and our daughter. We arrived one year after he left as “Ten Pound Poms” on the P and O liner “The Maloja”. I left my large family in the New Forest (I was 21 years old) and the 6 week trip was not so bad even though we were allocated a 6 berth cabin with only females and kids, the males were allocated to 6 berth males only cabins – some of the women in my cabin had husbands on board! We had no air-conditiioning in the tropics and had to sleep on deck in deckchairs, it was unbearable down in the lower decks. Then the HWS broke down, only cold water would flow, we took advantage and dressed up as green taps with frozen water hanging as silver paper for the Fancy Dress, yes , we had lots of fun, saw loads of interesting countries and experienced coming through the Suez Canal as amazing. We enjoyed happy times on board with other migrants.

6 weeks later we arrived in Freemantle and then Melbourne, our destination. It was the last trip for the good old “Maloja” as she was then scrapped. When I first arrived in Melbourne in my English hat and coat, it was warm so I very soon took it off. Around the pier it looked very industrial and also swampy with a beacon standing in the distance, still standing! in Beacon Cove now! As we drove along the boulevard I thought that this seafront would look so lovely with large palms planted along the foreshore and I hoped one day it would be. The sand and the sea looked so lovely. When I arrived at the nursing home where we had accommodatiion at the rear (sleepouts) I felt disappointed. However, we got on with all the hard work, and enjoyed it.

My husband and I ran the nursing home and then another, worked hard for years, and eventually he designed and built in 1964 a new 40 bed Hospital, acute medical and surgical. We were there for about 15 years. We had 4 sons, 3 born in the 50’s and one in the 60’s. Educated our 5 children who are all now very successful, my daughter a Garden Designer, one son an Artist and Architect, two sons are Film-Makers, one the designer of the Ned Kelly film, the other son is a professional Photographer. They have all been successful in their chosen fields and we are very proud of them. Their father died in 2006 but has left a fine legacy of creative and successful kids.

I have been able to travel to UK to visit my family often (3 others settled here eventually) I love being an artist now, I paint, weave, knit, travel and love my computer especially the photography and iphoto making DVDs etc. I love travel, gardens, the bush especially the NW coast of Australia, we have been round Australia 4 times in a caravan and learned a lot about this lovely country. We now have 10 grandchildren, one at University studying architecture, one in final year at school, the others are all under nine years and all very creative.

Australia has been a wonderful place to bring up the children – freedom, fun and sun and every opportunity is here for you if you have the dedication and are prepared to work towards your dreams.

Now, after living in many different locatiions around Melbourne, I look out of my window in my apartment in Port Melbourne and see all the wonderful sights of the shipping, the people enjoying themselves, the sea the sand and especially that ribbon of wonderfu palm trees along the margin of the bay, that I dreamed about in 1953 when I was 21.

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