Cathleen McVey

Story

My parents Charles and Marion McVey were raised in “the gorbals” – a slum area of Glasgow, Scotland. They migrated to Australia with my sister Anne-Marie aged 4 and myself aged 15 months with the hope of giving us a better life. Eventually all my father’s family would also migrate to Australia and settle in Tasmania but it was the last time my mother would see any of her family again.

We came by ship – the SS Chitral. The journey was long and arduous for parents with young children. It took approximately 6 weeks. The crossing of the equator was a highlight and cause for great celebrations and tradions. The most difficult time for my mother was the crossing of Bass Straight from Melbourne to Tasmania. During this last leg of the journey to our new home she suffered greatly from sea sickness. This became our family joke in that she had travelled half way around the world by ship but only became seasick while crossing Bass Straight.

My parents loved Tasmania with all its scenic beauty and opportunity for financial stability. We stayed with family in Devonport for the first two years while my parents worked to save for our own home. We then moved to Burnie and a brand new home in a brand new estate. Here they had another child – Lynette who was born in 1957. This home remained as our family home until both our parents died in the late 70’s and early 80’s. By migrating they gave us a life we could not have dreamed of had we stayed in the gorbals. They were both involved in the community with my father introducing soccer to local youth. He also ran for local government in the 1960’s. They have left behind 10 Australian grandchildren, 4 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren (and still counting)

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