Notts emigrants to Australia


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Thinking of ourselves as having been poor is an odd notion. My parents didn't have a phone, car, bathroom or a holiday other than a caravan week in Skeggy. I didn't think of us as poor. Mam and Dad got a tv in 1960, a phone and bathroom in about 1965. They never aspired to a car. Nobody on Peveril St., Lake St., Gadd St., or Bovil St., had a car. Was it a 'poor' area? Not as far as we were concerned. Poorness and wealth are relative terms.

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I think back in the 50’s most of us were ‘poor’ but didn’t realise it at the time as it was the norm for most people. At grammar school many of us came from similar backgrounds but our parents had aspirations for us and we studied hard to get into university or enter a profession. I came from a Methodist family so the ‘work ethic’ was instilled although I ignored the religious aspect. I’ve always enjoyed work and the subsequent rewards that effort brings.

 

 

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I never thought myself as poor , I thought it was normal to have holes in my shoes and not having things others had. Only when I was 11 and being offered a place at a school where you stayed till you were 16 and needed a uniform did I realise that I came from a poor family. I was lucky I stayed at that school and had a better education till I was 15, when I made the decision to leave as I saw the problems my mother was having on how to purchase new uniform for the next year. I am not complaining as I knew many who were a lot worse off than me. People do start off disadvantaged , only a good education can give them the start in life they need. Years ago it was possible without the educational qualifications to advance, not so much now ,  people nowadays need certificates of all different things to gain employment now. Most are condemned to a lifetime on minimum wages. Many go to schools where they are expected to fail and they are treated as such, they may come from one parent families where no one cares less about them. I started at the NCB as an apprentice electrician at 15 a friend also started on general mining the same day, after about an hour later I saw him walking away crying he was told to go as they found he couldn't read, how he had been let down in life . 

I not criticising you PP but a weeks holiday in a caravan, whilst I was young I can only remember going away twice and that was on day trips to Skeggy and there was many of my friends never had that. 

Sorry to go on about it but I often hear people go on that people can make it if they work hard, many work hard all their life and never make it.

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I have taught many children whose parents or, more often, parent spent every spare minute at work so that they were able to take their offspring to Disneyland for a holiday every year. This necessitated the child being farmed out to after school clubs, relatives, friends...anyone who would look after them. So many of those children expressed the opinion to me that they weren't loved, nor wanted. Money was more important.

 

As children, my sister and I never had foreign holidays and, most years, no holiday at all. Our mother didn't work but she was always there at the school gate, lunchtime and afternoons. Always eager to listen to what we'd been doing. Always ready with a cuddle.

 

My parents, like most, had little spare cash but there was always lots of love. That's all that matters. Without it, you're in big trouble.

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I think the upsetting thing for many is the disparity in incomes.  It seems like there are many today who are collecting ridiculously high incomes.  Even if they get fired for incompetence they collect some kind of golden parachute, which Joe average would never get.  He just gets laid off.

I suspect most of us here come of a generation when there was still pretty good opportunity.  I learned the electrical trade and ended up with my own little business in Canada.

Emigration used to be an option and I'm glad I took it, but even many of the countries that once welcomed skilled Europeans don't want them.  (That's another hot topic I won't go there)

Today there seem to be, astronomical differences between the pay of the CEO and the assembly line worker, assuming he can even get a job.  He looks at that and naturally becomes angry.

I'm not opposed to good pay and benefits to those who work hard, but I think the feeling has become that some money needs to trickle down from the top a bit more equally.

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Have to agree with you Jill love matters but being one of 10 children with a b*****d of a father who was an violent abusive selfish man who lived for his ale and went on adventures for months and years at a time that was missing in my home. My mother was broken woman, both physically and emotionally but she still did her best, money was important if he wanted the money for his enjoyment mother went even shorter .  That was the norm for a lot of families in them days , many of the children of these families have done very well for themselves. What I mean by education is not only the 3 R type education but also on life it self , instilling aspirations into them and that these are available to them and how to achieve these.

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1 hour ago, trogg said:

Sorry to go on about it but I often hear people go on that people can make it if they work hard, many work hard all their life and never make it.

 

Few people, hard workers or not, become millionaires by the sweat of their brow. Most of the rich either inherit it or have others who make them rich.

 

I'm firmly of the opinion that the ability to make money is a talent, much the same as painting a picture is a talent. The was a survey some years ago, I think it was the Times, that reported  7 out 10 of the top earners in the country did not have a degree. Education is important but Steve Jobs, Philip Green and Richard Branson among others had no or very little higher education and became billionaires.

 

Walking through Nottingham you will see beggars, Big Issue sellers and those less fortunate - but out of how many? 

They are a tiny proportion compared those of us who live comfortably. The disparity between rich and poor is not as prevalent as it once was.

Socialists will bang on about it but compared to the Elizabethans or Victorians the gap is less than many think. There will always be examples of extreme poverty just as there will always be the mega rich but on balance the gap is not as wide as we tend to think. The standard of living I and most people I know are unrecognisable from that of our parents. 

 

I think I'm in danger of climbing on my soapbox here so I'll shut up...

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Brew whatever you do don't shut up, I am sure you know that I read with interest what you post and agree with most of what you write, but I think this topic is going off topic and straying into politics so I will say no more.

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The other big difference these days is that poverty is more visible than it was. Walking around the city centre you can't fail to see people who are living on the streets and sleeping in shop doorways (regardless of the reason for them being there).

 

In the past, those people existed, but weren't so public; they inhabited their own areas and spaces, and didn't usually venture into the 'normal' world where they could be seen by 'normal' people. There seems to be more poverty because more people are aware of it.

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When I were growing up in Radford, having three brothers it was a case of first down, best dressed !

Never saw the sea until I  were 15, and I  must admit, it terrified me. Didn't  have my first holiday until I was about twenty, courtesy of my future in laws generosity. I did get a couple of long weekend school trips to Ravenstore youth hostel, near Bakewell. Allus said we weren't brought up, we were dragged up. We lived in a slum clearance area, but it never occurred to me we weren't well off, we just got on with it. We were all in the same boat so it didn't matter.

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44 minutes ago, trogg said:

Brew whatever you do don't shut up, I am sure you know that I read with interest what you post and agree with most of what you write, but I think this topic is going off topic and straying into politics so I will say no more.

I second that.   Partly my fault, sorry!

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15 hours ago, MargieH said:

I think I'll stick with the Britain of the first verse, which does still exist in some parts of the country,

MargieH

The Britain of the first verse is the one I remember too, the country lanes along the Trent valley, and in north Nottinghamshire, the hills and dales of Derbyshire and the windswept lonely fens of Lincolnshire were all part of my childhood and still evoke memories today.

Having spent most of my life down under the rest resonates inside me too.

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I live down one of the picturesque lanes of the Trent valley with views of the wooded hills on both sides. I can be in the hills and dales of Derbyshire within an hour and we regularly visit Bakewell. Like you I love the fens of Lincolnshire, again easily accessible. I especially like this area on a bleak winter’s day. 

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  • 2 months later...
On 2/12/2020 at 2:24 PM, Oztalgian said:

MargieH

The Britain of the first verse is the one I remember too, the country lanes along the Trent valley, and in north Nottinghamshire, the hills and dales of Derbyshire and the windswept lonely fens of Lincolnshire were all part of my childhood and still evoke memories today.

Having spent most of my life down under the rest resonates inside me too.

Beautifully said  Oztalgian.

I grew up in Radford on Faraday Road and then Ainslie estate. Left England on December 20th 1964 to settle in Adelaide and met and married an Aussie girl in1973

When I asked her to marry me she said that she would one one condition - that I change my allegiance to the Australian Cricket Team.

Having made the momentous decision to do so, I then became an Australian Citizen. A decision that I have never regretted. Australia has been very good to me.

Lived in Adelaide until 1983 when I was transferred to Melbourne and have been there ever since.

Having had to leave school before my 15th birthday I was determined to make a better life for myself and to give my children all the advantages that I was denied.

We put all three of them through private school and University and they all took full advantage of this opportunity and have made may wife and I very proud of them.

I have been back to the UK many times and like you, wandering through Derbyshire and even just walking through Woollaton Park, I get a flood of happy memories.

Having said that, I am always pleased to return home to Australia, particularly in light of what is happening at the moment.

The UK appears to be having a very bad time and I hope sincerely that all of you who read this will stay safe and well.

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Hi Radford Boy,

Where did you live in Adelaide? We got to OZ in '75 and moved to Adelaide in '95

Strangely enough I managed a company in Ringwood for a while regularly travelling between Sydney and Melbourne. If memory serves me correctly Ringwood is about 10 minutes from Blackburn

 

 

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My uncle and his family went to live in Australia many years ago. They went to stay with relatives on a sheep farm in Alice Springs . Right in the wilderness. He was a policeman in Nottingham but stood no chance in Oz so he did what he could and stayed there for a while. E He became a prison officer and eventually Governor . Still in Alice Springs which by that time was becoming a town of some size. His children, my cousins were sent to boarding school. Eventually he retired and went to live in Brisbane . They have had a good life. Don't suppose for one moment that they would have regretted it. My dad applied to go too but was refused. Not sure why but he too was a policeman and seem to think he was too old to do the same job there.

So instead I married an Italian and came to live here.:laughing:

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I once met the richest man in the world, indirectly, he was my boss and was visiting one of his very expensive investments, I was in pit bottom at the time checking the mineral skipping gear out ready for afternoon ore winding. He was very friendly and polite, his Father bought out De Beers in SA, he's dead now and Jnr has taken over the corporation. You could say his family struck it rich by accident, Grand dad was an out of luck prospector who approached a widow hanging clothes out to dry, he wanted a glass of water, the story goes he kicked a rock near her garden fence and spotted a glint that was pure gold in the rock, the rest is history and there's a huge hole in the ground where that house and farm used to be, richest gold strike in history, and the mine is still producing gold from well over a mile depth. His name was Harry Oppenheimer.

 

 

Talking of "fitting in" we live in a very rural area where people are set in their ways, most around here are direct decedents of pioneer settlers from before the American Civil war, their folks cleared the land by hand.

I talked to a fellow ham many years back who was born in this area, just down the road in fact. He asked me a question, have you been burned out yet, meaning our house, which we haven't. Apparently, way back when he was a kid, if "your face didn't fit", they made you very unwelcome, right down to burning your house down.

In fact we have been made to feel welcome and are accepted as "locals" here.

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On 4/19/2020 at 6:49 PM, Oztalgian said:

Hi Radford Boy,

Where did you live in Adelaide? We got to OZ in '75 and moved to Adelaide in '95

Strangely enough I managed a company in Ringwood for a while regularly travelling between Sydney and Melbourne. If memory serves me correctly Ringwood is about 10 minutes from Blackburn

 

 

Initially at Henley Beach but then when I got married we bought a house at Fairview Park. Lived there until the shift to Melbourne in 83.

We lived in Glen Waverley until 8 years ago when we downsized and moved to Blackburn. You are quite correct about Ringwood. It is about 10 minutes East of Blackburn

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My Grandfather's half sister went to Oz from Nottm. in 1919 with a chap called John Munson  Their descendents seem to have done well in Adelaide as senior members of the local Police force.

 

Much later, my neighbours from here in  deepest, Lancs.  who are basicaly Scousers, moved over to Oz. 1995 I think. All did well. One of their daughters became a successful school teacher and the other is I believe pretty well known as Sarah Farnsworth, ABC Court Reporter.  (Channel 9?)

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/sarah-farnsworth/2804112

 

Sarah used to babysit my kids.

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Sarah is the Melbourne court reporter for the ABC (our version of the BBC). We only get to see her in Adelaide when Victorian court cases are of national interest. Her most recent national coverage was following the acquittal of Catholic Cardinal  George Pell of child abuse charges. very competent she was too. Why is it that most female reporters/presenters are most often more articulate than their male counterparts.

 

There are times when Australian states and Territories act like 8 different countries and can be very insular. You would think the road rules would be standard but you'd be wrong.

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Sarah has done very well.  She always visits us when she's back over here... as do her Mum and Dad. 

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Not only road rules but health care, police, and education. Having 9 State governments in this day and age in addition to the federal government is absurd

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Absolutely agree Radford Boy, they cant even agree on the guidelines in the fight against Covid 19

Tasmania has just over 500,000 people South Australia has about 1.6 million and the ACT and NT don't make 600,000 together

To put that in a UK context Nottinghamshire has 786,000 and the East Midlands has over 4.5 million and Nottingham has over 320,000 people

We also have 74 council areas or their equivalent. Are we over-governed - you bet we are

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