Edmund & Kathleen Roshier

Story

Edmund and Kathleen Roshier and their four sons, Alan(17), Henry (Arnold)(16), Michael(12) and Maurice(10), sailed from Southampton England, in the ‘New Australia\’ on 19th November 1951.

Our family lived at Hillingdon, Middlesex, on the outskirts of London in a block of six terraced houses in a street where all the houses were basically the same. This was a working class area and after the Second World War jobs were hard to find but Dad found work driving trucks and repairing diesel fuel pumps. Shortly after he successfully applied for a job with the Iraq Petroleum Co. which paid good money and where he spent the next 2 years. The home in England was sold in preparation for the family to move to Iraq but trouble was brewing in the Middle East over control of the Suez Canal. This put an end to our plans, and following an advertisement in the paper for ’10 Pound Assisted Passages’ to Australia the family decided to apply. After the war, Dad found it very difficult to settle down in England and I\’m sure this was also a deciding factor.

The voyage was a big adventure to us exploring the ship and playing games on the deck. We had never seen so much food available at meal times and found it strange to be waited on. The first port of call was Algiers in the Mediterranean where we were to pick up water. We anchored offshore and trading boats pulled alongside and hoisted their wares on ropes to the deck for passengers to buy. The view of Algiers from this point was one of a desert oasis with buildings and palm trees but when we landed and disembarked the reality was one of squalor, begging, and people lying in gutters.

We docked at Fremantle W.A. and Dad was offered a job as a diesel mechanic but decided to keep on going to Sydney. We went ashore at Melbourne and my most vivid memory was seeing donuts being made in the window at the Downey Flake restaurant in Swanston Street.

We docked at Sydney on a cloudy afternoon of c.17th December 1951, then boarded a train at midnight for Bathurst and the migrant camp at Kelso. The journey took 6 hours and this length of time on a train was completely foreign to us. The weather was HOT and uncomfortable after leaving England in the middle of winter, and Mum was prepared to turn around and go back home. During our 3 weeks at Bathurst jobs were found for Dad and me as mechanic and apprentice mechanic at the new Morwell Power Station in Victoria. Arnold was apprenticed as a carpenter in Yallourn. We lived at the migrant hostel, just outside Yallourn in Nissan huts for the next 18mths – 2 years. The huts were hot in summer and cold in winter and the close proximity of the huts afforded very little privacy but everyone was in the same boat and made the most of it.

The family then moved to Brooklyn migrant camp in Melbourne. Dad joined the Air Force at Laverton and Mum worked at the Maribyrnong Ordinance factory making ammunition. They lived in Laverton for some years and eventually we all moved out, married, and had families of our own and spread out across the country.

Impressions and Experiences:

I spent 6 months at Yallourn after the family moved to Melbourne and one weekend decided to travel by train to Melbourne. When I arrived at the station the train had just left and thought I would wait for the next one only to be told that there wasn\’t another one till tomorrow!!

After living in a block of six terraced houses in England the space and distances in Australia was mind blowing. It was a completely different life-style here and we were all happy to be a part of it Ð The language and different expressions soon became part of our life and all our cars were ‘bombs’.

Maurice and I were naturalized and took the opportunity of trips back to England and childhood memories, but Australia has always been home. – Alan –

Impressions:

When Mick and I arrived at Bathurst we felt we had definitely arrived in a promised land. So much space and freedom to run around in, with new animals plants and reptiles to discover.

Our impressions after arriving in Yallourn confirmed our feelings about Australia. Plenty of bush and rivers that flooded massively, ice cream, lollies and plenty of stuff we had never seen before because being born in the middle of a war you don\’t really know much about ‘lovely stuff’. We felt we were part of a pioneering spirit with so much to see and do and the opportunity to contribute to this new world.

Since our arrival I have always loved Australia. I have visited England twice in 2006 and 2008 and although enjoyable, it has confirmed my pride in calling myself Australian. – Maurice

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