Leaving austerity Britain for the New World: how thousands emigrated to Australia from Liverpool docks

Apr 19 2008 by Peter Elson, Liverpool Daily Post

The £10 emigrants broke out of beleaguered postwar Britain hoping for a better life in Australia, but even getting there was traumatic. Peter Elson reports.

IN THE style of the times, they are dressed in their Sunday best and do their utmost to smile for the photographers.

But the stress shows: with anxiety etched on their faces behind the cheerful visages, parents clutch their children – and the children often clutch cuddly toys. Sometimes grandparents are there, too, probably clinging to their few treasured possessions in their hand- luggage.

These are the postwar £10 pound emigrants facing the moment of truth – for better or worse – just before boarding the ship that will take them to a new life very different to their old one.

Wearied by the Second World War, ground down by the lack of prospects and the deadening effect of seemingly infinite austerity in Britain, these were the individuals and families who were willing to abandon everything to take a chance on a completely new start in the unknown.

They were heading for Australia and New Zealand aboard ships from Liverpool and other UK ports. But this was no instant nirvana, as we’re not talking about jet travel in the age of instant gratification.

Long before a glimpse of the good life, these emigrants had to first face a four-week voyage, often on an elderly vessel, itself jaded by long wartime service as a troop or hospital ship.

During the passage to the far ends of the earth, the emigrants would have to cope with segregation of men and women, crowded and claustrophobic dormitory cabins.

Then there were the lengthy bouts of seasickness, the heat of passing through Suez and the tropics, the inevitable tensions of being cooped up for a solid month with people not of their choosing.

"You can’t stress enough how these voyages were life-changing experiences," says Geoff Lunn, who has written a book about the £10 assisted passages, called And The Crew Went Too.

The title refers to the fact that often the crew jumped ship and effectively emigrated as well. Sometimes they were actively recruited by the Australian authorities for work in the outback.

"Many emigrant ships sailed back to Britain with fewer crew members, particularly in the stewarding departments, than they set out with," says Geoff.

"With it now being the norm to take holidays in the Mediterranean and North America, you forget just what these emigrants were embarking on. These were voyages into the unknown, in every sense.

"Back then, it was usual to take your holidays in the next town or nearest seaside resort. Place that experience to being trapped in an eight-berth dormitory suffering seemingly eternal seasickness, as the ship rolled constantly across the Indian Ocean.

"There was no air-conditioning and only communal washing facilities. Oppressive heat and crowded conditions led to frayed tempers. Sometimes fights broke out between passengers and among crew.

"With Britain’s entire passenger fleet pressed into trooping during the Second World War, it took time to convert them back into civilian use due to steel and skilled worker shortages.

"It was more a case of quantity rather than quality. Many older, life- expired ships that had also been battered in the war were kept going to supply the number of berths needed for the £10 assisted passage."

The scheme involved the emigrants paying £10 per head for their one-way passage to Australia and New Zealand with either of both of the Australian and British governments covering the remaining travel cost.