Constant Reader, I am attempting, as I have said several times, to locate evidence of my dad through the trail of records; to that end I have been interrogating the records database at the National Archives of Australia (NAA). I am looking for any and all records of the Department of Immigration Reception and Training Centre, Bathurst and I have found a series of photographs (part of NAA series A8139, A12111 & C4076) of the camp and its residents from 1950 and 1951.
The photographs, which are quite formal, were most likely taken for publicity purposes and give some indication of the spartan nature of the place (the site and all the buildings were ex-Army and so were light on creature comforts) and of the life there for the "New Australians" as they were often called at the time. Its also useful to remember that a person's stay here was always intended to be short - long enough to learn basic Australian English, some basic skills, and to acclimatise to the new country and its people.
Image 1: Children at gate, 1951 (NAA A12111, 1/1951/22/26; barcode: 7427675).
Image 2: Family room, 1951 (NAA A12111, 1/1951/22/29; barcode: 7427678).
Image 3: English class, 1951 (NAA A12111, 1/1951/22/34; barcode: 7427683)
Image 4: Carpenters at work, 1951 (NAA A12111, 1/1951/22/32; barcode: 7427681)
Image 5: Children at play in front of Centre, 1951 (NAA A12111, 1/1951/22/31; barcode: 7427680)
Image 6: Family walk, accommodation in back, 1951 (NAA A12111, 1/1951/22/30; barcode: 7427679)
These image and associated information are viewable through the NAA database,see the link at the top of this post. The image captions are taken from the NAA record for the photograph. The originals are part of NAA series A12111, Immigration Photographic Archive 1946 - Today.
Images: © Commonwealth of Australia, 1950 and 1951.
The photographs, which are quite formal, were most likely taken for publicity purposes and give some indication of the spartan nature of the place (the site and all the buildings were ex-Army and so were light on creature comforts) and of the life there for the "New Australians" as they were often called at the time. Its also useful to remember that a person's stay here was always intended to be short - long enough to learn basic Australian English, some basic skills, and to acclimatise to the new country and its people.
Image 1: Children at gate, 1951 (NAA A12111, 1/1951/22/26; barcode: 7427675).
Image 2: Family room, 1951 (NAA A12111, 1/1951/22/29; barcode: 7427678).
Image 3: English class, 1951 (NAA A12111, 1/1951/22/34; barcode: 7427683)
Image 4: Carpenters at work, 1951 (NAA A12111, 1/1951/22/32; barcode: 7427681)
Image 5: Children at play in front of Centre, 1951 (NAA A12111, 1/1951/22/31; barcode: 7427680)
Image 6: Family walk, accommodation in back, 1951 (NAA A12111, 1/1951/22/30; barcode: 7427679)These image and associated information are viewable through the NAA database,see the link at the top of this post. The image captions are taken from the NAA record for the photograph. The originals are part of NAA series A12111, Immigration Photographic Archive 1946 - Today.
Images: © Commonwealth of Australia, 1950 and 1951.
1 comment:
I actually enjoyed reading through this posting.Many thanks.
Department Of Australian
Immigration
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