Joan White

Story

My family were looking for a new start after World War 2, there was still rationing in England in 1950 and my aunt and uncle Hilda & Jim Haywood had migrated in 1949 and were sending glowing reports of this wonderful new country. My grandfather Harry Jackson, grandmother Lily May Jackson, mother Marian Thomas and myself left family and friends and set off in the SS Somersetshire in September 1950.

The first memory I have of the journey, is of a very smokey steam train ride from the village of Rawdon in Yorkshire to our port of departure. I recall wooden seats on the train and being told to shut the window as soot was blowing in. The vessel SS Somersetshire had been used as a hospital ship during the war and has the distinction of being the first ship to use penicillin on wounded service men and women, quite a small vessel carrying 180 passengers plus crew. Our journey was of six weeks duration, during that time my mother and to a lesser extent my grandmother were both overcome by seasickness for the first two weeks. Mens and womens sleeping quarters were segregated – men in one part of the ship, women in the other. The cabin I shared with my mother, grandmother and one other lady passenger was quite small, 4 single bunks with a small handbasin, but we were lucky we had a port hole. Each morning a crew member came to our cabin with cups of tea sweetened with condensed milk – I am still unable to drink tea with condensed milk to this day. The ship was kept spotlessly clean, all the brass handrails were highly polished. Meals were taken in shifts, children first etc. The tables had small rails around to prevent all the cutlery and crockery from sliding off should there be bad weather (no stabilizers in those days). Many times parents had to scramble to retrieve offspring’s plates of food from the far side of the table. The ship was equipped with a playroom for children and I can remember the King Neptune ceremony on crossing the equator, we all got dunked in the pool. We travelled past the Rock of Gibraltar and through the Meditteranean. The Suez Canal was fascinating and I remember the high sand dunes and being able to see just the heads of the arab people going about their business on the other side of the dunes. The ship visited Ceylon and men and women climbed rope ladders on the side of the ship and brought woven baskets and all manner of goods to sell. Flying fish and dolphins always seemed to be keeping us company on the journey. Every morning my grandfather would take me for a walk around the deck, a highlight of my day. The ship always had music playing through loudspeakers and it seemed that the officers and crew were trying to make our journey as comfortable and happy as possible. Entertainment was a large part of the trip. Our first encounter with Australia was docking at Fremantle and then travelling across the Bight to Station Pier, Melbourne. We landed on Melbourne Cup Day 2nd November 1950. It seemed like it was 110 in a waterbag, very hot.

Our family were met by my aunt and uncle, who had rented a house for us in Ormond, a cool brick home with lots of trees in the garden and doves. A new home was under construction in Maribyrnong (owned by my uncle and aunt) so within a few weeks we were all ensconced at 18 Lindenow Street. The floorboards had not been laid and we walked around on bearers for a while. The neighbours were friendly, although they had trouble understanding our accent. My grandmother and grandfather worked in the ammunition factory in Maribyrnong until retirement to fulfill the requirements of our sponsored passage. Only my aunt and uncle have returned to England for a holiday. I grew up thinking that I was Australian, until it became necessary for immigrants to become citizens which I did in 1985.

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