Preparing for, and making the Journey to Tasmania-1956-57 to the aftermath 1961-62 Preparing In May 1956, I responded to an advertisement by Australia House, London for the intended recruitment of Engineers for the Australian Postmaster General’s Department (PMG’s Dept) in various States of the Commonwealth. After being interviewed in June, I was offered on10th July a post as a Group Engineer on a salary of £A1467 p.a. subject to a probationary period for 6 months, following which time I would, if successful, be given a permanent appointment in the Australian Public Service. Following my acceptance of these conditions, and having passed a medical examination, I was advised on 17th September that I had been appointed as Engineer, Equipment Section, Tasmania, and my family had been booked on SS Orcades leaving London on 2nd January 1957. I must have rung Australia House to say we could not leave so early as we had to sell our house in Moss Bank Close, Bolton, and settle other affairs etc. and could a later sailing be arranged. On 19th September I received another letter advising me that, as I had requested, an alternative sailing had been arranged, on SS Orion, leaving Tilbury on 1st February 1957. On 12th November I was advised that family accommodation would be made available for us for a temporary period in the Departmental residence in Upper Tolosa Street, Glenorchy until it may be required to house another employee. Finally, on 13th December, we got formal notification of our sailing date and time on the SS Orion. The Journey Early on 1st March 1957, Marie and I, with Bernard (6), Catherine (5), the twins Anne and Mary (3), and Bobby (9½ months) left Manchester London Road (now Piccadilly) railway station for Tilbury Docks, having been seen off by my brother, George, Marie’s brother, Joe Quinn, and my Uncle Syl Marshall. At Tilbury we embarked on the SS Orion sailing to Melbourne. We were travelling 1st Class, so we were allocated a cabin with two compartments, one for the four older children, and the other for Marie and me and a cot for Bobby, on the third deck down. A Maltese family with four children had similar accommodation in the next cabin. We never got to know them as they seemed to keep to their cabin throughout the voyage, apparently very sea-sick. My main memory of the journey is the inconvenience at mealtimes. The children had meals in a separate childrens dining-room, at a slightly earlier time than the adults, who were expected to dress formally for their meals. Consequently, we had to dress the children suitably for each meal, take them down for their meals and ensure they were ok, and then rush back to our cabin to dress for our own meals, As soon as we had finished our meal we had to collect the children, wash or tidy them, as necessary, before taking the older ones to the childrens play area, where a supervisor would help to amuse them. Remember this occurred three times a day throughout the voyage on the Orion! After having dinner, all 1st Class passengers were expected to join the Officers for drinks. We tended not to bother going. Another memory of the meals was how rich the food was that we were served at all meals. Rationing had only finally been abolished in England about three years before we sailed, so we had little experience of the exotic (for us) dishes served at all meals. We even had such rare wines as ‘Blue Nun’ poured out at Dinner! I can remember how much I longed for toast at breakfast, but it never appeared on the table. For meals we always sat at the same table. There were six seats, two for Marie and me, two for two Australian girls in their twenties, who were returning home after a two year furlough in Europe, and a friendly Catholic Liverpudlian in his early sixties. The sixth seat was reserved for a junior officer at Lunch and Dinner. On one occasion however the Captain ate with us, which we found rather awesome. A notable event was during the third week I think, when Bobby, who was only just over ten months old at the time, walked his first few steps, from Marie to me. He was twelve pounds weight when he was born, so whether that indicates that there is a connection between birth weight and the ability to walk early, I don’t know, but considering he took his first steps on the deck of a ship at sea, I’ve always thought it to be an amazing feat. I also remember being very annoyed one time when taking the children to the play area. We were in a lift between decks and a couple, probably in their late fifties, got in and the man asked if they were all mine. I said they were, and he remarked “You won’t be having any more, will you?” I didn’t think it was amusing, but very impertinent from a stranger, so I said, “Mind your own business!” I think it riled me so much because my mother suffered sometimes from nasty remarks occasionally about her having a big family. Another event was when we ‘crossed the line’ ( the equator). There is (or was) a ritual whereby at the moment you crossed, everyone who did so for the first time, is paraded before a panel presided over by ‘King Neptune’, and is then coated in some white substance and pushed into a sea-water pool. Subsequently, each person is presented with a certificate signed by ‘King Neptune’ on which his/her name, date of crossing, and the longitude is entered, as evidence of membership of an exclusive club. Because of the Egyptian closure of the Suez Canal, the ship had to sail round the Cape. Hence we had a half day to see Cape Town. What we saw of the city was not especially interesting, but we did get a good view of Table Mountain and took a photo of it. We were a bit shocked at seeing public toilets with notices ‘For Whites Only’ We had stopped a few days before at Las Palmas in the Canaries for a half day, so we had taken the opportunity for a brief look round the Cathedral there. It was quite dark inside, but before we could examine the murals a scruffy man insisted on joining us. He merely pointed out some of them as he couldn’t speak English. I tried to make it obvious that we didn’t want his guidance but he persisted. As we left he held out his hand for payment. He was unlucky! Entertainment on board consisted mainly of frequenting the bars, and attending the evening dances. The majority of the 1st Class passengers seemed to be well-heeled professional people, who had all the correct evening wear for socialising, and plenty of money to spend, so we only went to these dances once I think. In any case, we didn’t like to leave the children alone in the cabin in the evening, even if they were sleeping. I can’t be sure, but I vaguely remember that we were able to go to Mass on Sundays in either the ballroom or in the 1st Class dining-room during the voyage. Our first landing in Australia was when the ship docked at Fremantle for several hours. Fremantle appeared to be the industrial part of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. We were met there by a Personnel Officer from the PMG’s Dept of that State. He took us on a tour of Fremantle and showed us a wonderful view of the beautiful Swan River. He then kindly took us to his bungalow home, which was, as J later realised, a typical Australian home, although it seemed to me to be exceptional at the time. In his back yard (garden) he had oranges and bananas growing. The last time I had seen thes growing in ordinary homes was when I was in Tripoli with the Army. There were also many colourful flowers that I didn’t identify. After we had re-embarked on the Orion, it headed for Melbourne. I had my 43rd birthday on board before disembarking there on the 3rd March. We were met by another Personnel man from the Victoria PMG’s Dept. who took us to a B&B guest –house. It wasn’t very impressive as accommodation, as it was rather cramped for the seven of us, but it was fairly cheap and thus a boon, as we had to pay for our own overnight expenses. It was also close to the city, which was useful as we had to spend three days there for some reason, possibly because the house in Tasmania had to be got ready for us, and so we passed the time looking round the area, which included Fitzroy Gardens in which was a little house which apparently belonged to Captain Cook, the explorer, or sitting in the guest-house room. We were therefore glad to leave Melbourne on the 7th March, and catch the ferry to Launceston in the north of Tasmania. We were met there by Mike English, a Personnel officer from Hobart. He was a Catholic and very helpful. I think he drove us down to Glenorchy, and thence to the Departmental furnished house in Upper Tolosa Street. As an indication of my belated realisation of what a huge step my decision now meant to our lives for the future, I remember saying to myself on the next morning, or soon after, as I was hanging the washing out, “What on earth are we doing here?” On the whole it would normally have been a worthwhile decision I think. We stayed there for the next 13 months at a rental of £A8 18s 6d per fortnight. By that time we were able to purchase our own house, 9 Catherine Street, Berriedale. On the first Christmas in Tasmania, we gave the three girls a black doll each, which they treasured until well into their teens, and, I think, even later. The Aftermath We lived in Catherine Street until we left for England in early August 1961, by air, courtesy of the generosity of PMG colleagues, as, even with the addition to my savings, of the full refund of my PMG Superannuation contributions, I could only afford to pay for the return to England of myself and the other six children by ship, leaving towards the end of August. As it turned out, that meant that Marie would have been dead before we got back to Bolton. She had flown back to England already, with Frances, in mid-July, as, following her operation for cancer on the 1st May at Calvary Hospital in New Town, where she stayed to recuperate for two weeks, and then spent a further two weeks convalescence at a friend’s in Taroona, I was advised that her condition was unfortunately fatal, because the cancer had affected other parts of her body, so that death would almost certainly occur within a few weeks. Hence, she (and we) would need to go back to England as soon as possible if we wanted her to spend her last days with her own people. During the intervening period before we left, some friends organised a party, which was held in our house on the 28th July for John’s 3rd birthday, as a kind farewell to us all. On 31st July 1961, I applied to the PMG ‘s Dept. for an unspecified amount of compassionate Leave of Absence, in the eventuality that I could return to Tasmania. However, by the end of 1961 this seemed unlikely, so in January 1962 I offered my resignation, which was only officially accepted on the 7th July 1961, by which time I had already married Margaret.. Subsequently, on the 10th November 1962, I wrote to the PMG’s Dept. asking what would be the likely outcome if I decided I was able to return, and sought re-employment with the Dept. I received a reply, dated the 15th November 1962, which said that my application would be treated favourably, but I did not pursue the matter any further.