Constance Ella Scrimshaw
| Town/City | Geraldton |
|---|---|
| First name | Constance Ella |
| Last name | Scrimshaw |
| Country of Origin | England |
| Date of Birth | 29/06/45 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1963 |
| Submitted by | Constance Ella Sullivan |
Story
Reason for leaving homeland – I wanted to find new horizons.My foster brother had already migrated to Geraldton WA.
The journey for me was a one off. I had never been on a cruise before and have never been on one since. We sailed past Gibraltar and Spain. We stopped at Piraeus in Greece and visited Athens. We experienced the Suez Canal and stopped at Aden. Then into the Indian Ocean for Colombo in what is now Sri Lanka and finally Fremantle.
I loved the place right from the start despite it raining when I arrived. I did find the summer a bit hard to get used to at first and some of the expressions too. I have a photo of the Orcades, the ship I came on up on my wall. I am on the Welcome Walls at Fremantle Museum too. My foster brother George Edland married Marlene Ireland and lived in Geraldton till 2006. Marlene’s mother Lil came to Australia aged 16 and is now 101(2010). I married Robert Edward Sullivan(Bob) here in Geraldton in 1966. We moved into our house here in 1966. I have 4 children, Julie married to Rob with sons Vincent and Austinn, Linda married to Andrew with sons Kurt, Troy and Chad, David married to Taryn with sons Shae, Kaden and Blake and Susan married to Brendon with children Taylor, Nathan, Sophie and Ashleigh. Sadly Bob passed away suddenly in 2008 after nearly 43 years together. I still attend the church where we were married, St.George’s in Bluff Point, Geraldton. I am now a Justice of the Peace and find it very interesting and rewarding. George actually came to Geraldton to join his real brother Walter who passed away in 1975. He was married to Win Blake. My father, George Ernest Scrimshaw came to join us in 1984 and passed away here in 1985, my mother, Ella, had passed away in 1957 in England.
I became an Australian Citizen in 1984 just before my father arrived here. In 2013 it will be my Golden Jubilee of my arrival in Australia!! I am so pleased I made the decision to come here and I thank God for the opportunity.
I have been to most places in WA from Esperance to Kununnurra and had one trip to Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide in 1984 when we actually met my father at Melbourne Airport. Dad and I had to return by coach as the car we were in was full up with 7 of us and not room for 8. Currently I have Julie and Susan living in Geraldton with their families and Linda lives in Karratha with her family and David is in Kalgoorlie with his family.