Theodora Brakel (Me)
| First name | Theodora |
|---|---|
| Last name | Brakel (Me) |
| Country of Origin | Holland |
| Date of Birth | 16/04/32 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1952 |
| Submitted by | Theodora McCabe |
Story
I migrated to Australia with my parents and younger brother, from Holland on the M V Johan van Olden Barneveldt on 23 January 1952, arriving in Sydney on March 6 after an extended stop-over in Fremantle WA due to industrial trouble.
My father had a small pottery business in the university city of Leiden, making vases, dinner sets, pots and mugs etc. His business went bankrupt and he did not want to go onto Social Security benefits and being still traumatised from World War 2, he wanted to get out of Europe altogether.
The Australian Government was offering assisted passages so the family decided to come to Australia to join my older sister who had already migrated and lived in Canberra.
The journey out to Australia was quite long and interesting as the vessel, the Johan van Olden Barneveldt, was the last ship to pass through the Suez Canal because of the conflict between the British and French Governments and Gamal Abdel Nasser, who had taken over the Egyptian Government. The United States of America and Britain had promised aid to Egypt for the construction of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile. This promise was retracted due to problems with Nasser and in retaliation he nationalised the Canal.
We arrived in Fremantle in February during a strike on the waterfrontand spent five days there before travelling on to Melbourne and then Sydney – arriving on 6 March 1952.
Sydney was a most impressive city and my family – parents and brother, Hans, settled in a boarding house in Edgecliff.
As my older sister and her husband lived in Canberra I went for a short stay with them. Whilst there I found a job as a waitress at Lawley House in Barton and Stayed in Canberra.
At the time Canberra’s population was just over 20,000 so it was a rather small city, but a very beautiful one with plenty of parks and gardens and impressive buildings. It obviously was well planned and with such a small population there was a tendency to see familiar faces where-ever one went.
After two to three years at Lawley House I obtained a position at Universiy House, at the Australian National University. I met my husband, Barry McCabe in 1953 and we were married in 1955. We now have three sons, all married , and seven grandchildren all living within two suburbs of us. I became naturalised in 1957.