G’day..ex-Nottingham now in Oz.


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Hi I’m Martin (Marty). I live in Melbourne Oz. I was born in Carlton. Grew up in Mapperley. Went to Mapperley Plains Primary and Henry Mellish (smelly Henry). Lived in Arnold before emigrating to Australia in 1978. 
love to visit (pre COVID) and soak up the accent. Some people are “proper gobby “.  

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Welcome Marty, I have cousins living in Melbourne, Greensborough to be exact. hope you find our little company entertaining .

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This topic reminded me of a friend of my sister's, Beryl A Mackin,  who emigrated to Oz. A Nottingham girl, she married James Anthony Mellors (known as Tony) at St Aidan's church in Basford in Summer 1967. After a honeymoon in Rimini, they emigrated to Oz,as ten pound poms. Tony secured a position as a draughtsman.

 

They never looked back. Found the scanned wedding photos the other day. They look very dated now!

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Hi Marty, Another ten pound pom, Oztalgian here, now in Adelaide, but came out to Sydney in 1975, best move I ever made.

Thanks to the folks on here I am still learning about Nottingham and the Shire I was born and brought up in.

Whereabouts are you in Melbourne, I know it well from working in the automotive manufacturing sector for 40 years and often sat in a jam on the Tulla Freeway watching a plane take of thinking I should have been on that one.

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The only ten pounder I knew was a mate I worked with, Bob Woodcock. He went out in early 72/3 to join the prison service. Gathered he did quite well, but lost touch quite a while back. Hopefully none of you ten pounders will have met him professionally!

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My wifes sister  (a Bickley )went out to Adelaide late 60s or early 70s  vowing to return to the UK but never did . On her second marriage now and a few years ago moved to the Gold Coast and absolutely loves it there .

 

She phoned at Christmas and it was a balmy 28 degrees , they rarely wear more than t-shirts and shorts . She's been back just twice for short holidays but would never move back here .

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Hi Oztalgian.  We are in Montmorency. I did a bit of contract work in Adelaide after retirement. Lovely place.

 

On 11/5/2019 at 7:33 AM, Radio Pete said:

Fascinating photo, bringing back great memories - 31, Woodborough Road was my grandfather's shop - Oscar Shrive. He was a grocer who also sold bacon, cheeses and teas. He also sold corn and I used to love going to the shop from where we lived in Beeston Rylands to feed the corn to the pigeons! 

 

 

Hi Radio Pete. I am not sure how the reply function works on this site - got me a bit confused! My name is Martin. Oscar Shrive was my great uncle and brother to my nan: Daisy Shrive. I gather Shrive was shortened from Shriver (German?) We used to visit Uncle Oscar in his shop.

 

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Hiya! Guys,

Reading about your lives in Aus makes me feel envious, especially so in winter in the UK. I nearly was a £10 Pom in 1963-4, but circumstances intervened in my application. My two friends who I applied with went and I suspect my mail was interfered with by a close member of my family.

Had I been more persistent in pursuing my application things may have been very different. A simple 'phone call to Aus House may have been all that was needed.

Happy New Year!

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4 hours ago, Winnie6664 said:

Hi Oztalgian.  We are in Montmorency. I did a bit of contract work in Adelaide after retirement. Lovely place.

Spent a fair bit of time at a sister company of ours in Thomastown, and a supplier of specialised cutting tools Lovitts was in Greensborough. That is about as close as I got to Montmorency work wise. Wouldn't be too long a drive out to Yarra Glen, some beautiful countryside up that way.

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Although me and the wife ere accepted for the £10 Pom system the offer was turned down just 2 weeks before departure. This was just days away from selling our house and with some furniture already sold. They had noticed on the application that I had received eye surgery and said that this invalidated the insurance that went with the package. We could have gone at our own expense but with 2 young children and no insurance it was not to be. Three of my cycling pals and a neighbour went over with their wives and did very well. Like me they were skilled men and had jobs lined up. We went out to visit them all about 8 years ago. Perth, Canberra, Adelaide and Sydney.

I remember the interview with the Aussie immigration officers in 1967, when we had to take our children to prove that they were white!

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I hadn't realised that the £10 pom scheme only ended in 1972; I'd assumed it was longer ago. I could almost have qualified for it myself.

 

A few years ago there was a TV documentary about the scheme. People who had taken up the offer were interviewed and asked for their views in hindsight.  About half said they hated it and came back within a few months; and the other half are still there and think it's the best thing that ever happened.

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A cousin of mine went to Oz on the £10 pom scheme around the very late 60s. Her father had relatives there and she went to stay with them initially.  After a while, she decided it wasn't for her and her parents had to find the fare to bring her back.

 

 

Homesickness was a probably a huge factor for those who returned. Today, with digital communications, that would probably be almost eliminated.  My father very much wanted to go but mum vetoed the idea.

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One of my late uncles was a ten pound pom, departing in Feb 1968 (he was 39 at the time).  Six weeks to get there by liner (via Gran Canaria, Cape Town and Fremantle).  Stayed there for two months (Brisbane and Sidney) and didn't like it.  He said the cost of living was much higher than back home and he failed to secure employment.  With savings diminishing, he paid about £200 for his return (another six weeks by boat via New Zealand, Tahiti, Mexico, Panama and Barbados) and had to pay the Aussie government £150 compensation (for not staying there two years).  He put it down to experience and treated it as a round the world trip.

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I didn’t find out til years later that my Dad wanted to take us to Oz as £10 Poms but Mum just wouldn’t wear the idea as she was very close to her widowed Mum and her 4 siblings.   I do remember in the early 60s that Dad was offered a transfer of jobs which meant moving to Stevenage, Herts and Mum put her foot down even to that idea.   My mother was certainly the boss in our house and when she passed away at the very young age of 64 my poor Dad was lost. 

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I have cousins in Perth who went out in the late 50’s with my aunt and uncle. My aunt and cousins have visited here and we have an open invitation to go over there but, although I have a pilot’s licence, I don’t enjoy flying unless I’m in the driving seat and I certainly couldn’t stick a flight of that length. Anyway my passport has expired and I don’t intend to renew, although I may need one for my Scottish trips soon!

 

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Not relevant I know but I recall reading that in the mid 60s, if you emigrated to Australia, you were immediately eligible to be called up for duty in Vietnam. (Australians were also fighting there with the yanks).

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Finding this thread so interesting I had to get my laptop to reply.   Come on Invision, get your act together and fix your software.  It was better before you 'upgraded' it than it is now.

I may have said what I'm about to say on other threads if so please forgive.  The old memory is not quite as good as it was.

 

I nearly became a ten pound pom in the late 60s.  I was all set to send in the letter when my late wife vetoed it.  (More in a moment) 

 

I think the ten pound pom scheme was good, but I wonder if it was also a bit dangerous in that folks could sign up and go without really considering much beyond the cheap fare.  Coming back was not cheap if you decided you didn't like it.

 

Anyway, late wife vetoed it because she thought she would never see her parents again.  She was close to them and I didn't want to spoil that.  One of the things I loved about her was that she was always open to discuss options and possibly compromise.  She was a thinker and would not do things in a hurry.   She said she'd like to leave the UK and Canada would be within easier and less expensive flying distance. 

 

I didn't know the first thing about Canada except they played ice hockey and it snowed a lot. :rolleyes:

Long story short.  We did a lot of research and decided to give it a try.  About that time a big ad' appeared in the paper saying all the trades Canada was looking for.  Mine was one of them so off we went to Birmingham for an interview.  We were accepted and the paperwork was processed.  There was no assisted passage, we sold our furniture and used the money for one way plane tickets to Toronto.  That tended to make you think.  No easy coming back.  After that we sold the house didn't have a lot of equity in it so didn't have much money to take.

 

First few months were tough.  You needed a Canadian license to work as an electrician so I got a job servicing appliances while going to nightschool to learn Canadian electrical systems.  It was hot and humid in Toronto in July and just about wore me out working all day and then off to Downtown TO for my classes until 9 p.m.  Home at ten, quick sleep and do it all over again. 

 

No health insurance, that didn't kick in for the first six months.  You just hoped none of us got sick enough to need a doctor.

Loved Toronto, big city, but safe and loads of stuff to do.  Only real problem for us was that house prices were beyond us.  Eventually moved to Calgary, Alberta,  2500 miles away, like emigrating all over again.  (Story for another time)  Got our first house there.  Brand new and affordable.

 

So got my license, got a job in electrical and never really looked back.

 

Since she died, moved to the US.  Very like Canada in most ways, much warmer dahn sahth.

 

Would I do it again?  Absolutely, it's been a good life, but I would warn anybody, count the real cost it was not easy, but I was only 25 then.  Thought I could do anything.

 

Would I come back?  Doubt it now.  Probably die here.  Even bought a cemetary plot here

 

Sorry for long post I guess I need to write a book.

 

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I can only do it on my laptop BK until they sort this software out. 

Can't post anything much on my Ipad, but I do enjoy reading all your posts

Let's all hope this year will be a bit better than last.

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Moved to Canadain 1970 got a good job as millwright still doing it 50 years later got married to a Kimberley girl who emigrated to Canada with her parents in 1957 had children and grand children. Miss friends and relatives in UK and the seaside but get back about every four years, Canada has been very good to us.

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Loppy, while I  can read your posts and from others like you, it's gonna be a great year !

Don't forget, I want the next chapter. I'll even purchase a can of dog food.

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  • Cliff Ton changed the title to G’day..ex-Nottingham now in Oz.

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