My parents met through my dad’s sister who worked in a department store with my soon to be Mum. Dad used to go into the store after work on a Friday evening and ask his sister if any of the other girls were free for the evening. My aunt introduced my dad to my mother one day and before anyone knew it they became a couple and so started their lives together.
After they had four children, my parents discussed moving to Australia from England.
By the time they got round to emigrating to Australia, they had eight children. At the time, in the mid-sixties, my parents were told they would be made very welcome in Australia, due to the fact that there were about six females to every male. My family comprised of seven males and three females. Australia needed more males at the time, so we were accepted instantly as “ten-pound poms”.
We moved to Australia in March 1967.
After the eight children had left school, we all started working straight away, there was never a problem finding work for any of us.
Personally, I have always been in work, never unemployed for more than a week, never received unemployment benefits, and quite often, I have worked two jobs at the same time.
This is important to me because after being in Australia for thirty years, I finally got round to going back to England for three months holiday. I visited old school mates, the village where I grew up and went to see my old boss at the farm I worked at during weekends and school holidays before I left England.
Before I left England, and the farm I was working at, my boss asked me if I had any mates or knew of someone that might want to take over my job once I moved to Australia. I recommended a mate, and he was given the job.
After thirty years, that same mate was still working at the farm. Ha had never married and had rarely been out of the village. Other mates, as well as some of my cousins, either worked for themselves or travelled abroad to get work. Very few of them owned a home, their lives appeared quite boring and depressing, and they were impressed with how my family had done so well once we had moved to Australia.
I could never thank my parents enough for making that decision to move to Australia.
After that three-month holiday, there was no doubt in my mind at all that I was much better off and having a much better life in Australia than I ever would have had if I had stayed in England. Probably still working at that old farm.
Phil Hughes
September 2024