Brian Surgenor
| First name | Brian |
|---|---|
| Last name | Surgenor |
| Country of Origin | N / Ireland |
| Date of Birth | 13/02/66 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1990 |
| Submitted by | Brian Surgenor |
Story
I was born in 1966 in the Royal Victoria hospital on the Falls road to Joseph Surgenor & Kathleen Surgenor to a family of 6 in total.
My father was a Protestant and my mother Catholic after being burnt out of our home in a protestant area of Belfast we moved to a Catholic area and there our family settled.
The conflict in the North of Ireland was becoming extremely volatile and being a young male coming from a Catholic ghetto life could be dangerous. I decided early in life that Belfast was not the place I would settle.
I left at 19 years of age and traveled to Guernsey, Channel Islands, lived there for 4 years and from there came to Australia on a 1 year working holiday with a girlfriend. I lived and worked in Sydney and after some time my girlfriend and I split up and she returned home to the C/ Islands.
I meet Jane Adams (Surgernor) on Christmas day 1991 we immediately feel in love and from here on I knew my life would be spent in Australia
Jane and I had two beautiful daughters Cait & Niamh whom we love and adore.
On arrival in Australia the thing that I loved the most was the openness of the people and the ability to get ahead on your own merits.