Summary

Beryl Adams migrated to Australia from England as an assisted migrant on the SS Oronsay in February 1959. She travelled back to London to visit family on board the SS Arcadia in 1967, returning on the SS Oriana in 1968, and would continue to travel back and forth to London for the rest of her life.

Introduction:

Beryl Adams migrated to Australia from England as an assisted migrant in February 1959 at the age of 23. She was persuaded to make the move due to tragic personal circumstances and by a close school friend, Margot, who sent her numerous photographs of life in Australia. The most striking for her were images of the wonderfully exotic 1958 Moomba festival.

Early Years:

Prior to migrating, Beryl lived in Kensington, London and worked as a seamstress for high end couture designers Victor Stiebel and Norman Hartnell and through this was involved in the creation of the wardrobe for Princess Alexandra's trip abroad to Australia in 1959. Beryl gave her mother 25 shillings per week as many children did at the time, and saved the rest to go toward the required £10 for passage to Australia.

Sponsorship for migration came in the form of an Australian-based family friend, whose child had boarded with Margot's mother while in London and was happy to return the favour.

Sailing to Australia:

On the morning of 26 February 1959, her cases were collected by Stevensons luggage services, and Beryl caught the train from Waterloo Station to meet the SS Oronsay at Tilbury. She was to share a six berth cabin and travel tourist class. Her first impression of the ship was as a luxury liner, she noted that there were beautiful fittings throughout and the food was exquisite. This resulted in Beryl partaking of her first gin and tonic, and trying passionfruit for the first time.

Arriving in Australia:

She was met by Margot off the ship, and welcomed into her flat in Moonee Ponds, which she shared with 'Mrs Smithy'- an older lady who occupied the other part of the house, and 'looked after' them. Later on, Margot and Beryl bought a house in Cochrane Street, Nunawading for $17,000 with a $3000 deposit, at an interest rate of 17 ½%. They had a hard time, as the bank was wary of lending to two women as they would rather lend to a family.

Working Life:

Beryl found it initially difficult to find work, as there was little demand for couture custom sewing in Melbourne at the time. She eventually found work after four months with Georges department store as a machinist. Beryl found little enjoyment in the machine work, and asked to be moved to the ground floor as a sales assistant. She floated between many departments and enjoyed this role considerably more, and would continue in this role for other companies for the rest of her working life.

Prior to her leaving the UK she had been working on the travel wardrobe for Princess Alexandra's trip to Australia. The princess travelled in September and was wearing the wardrobe that Beryl had worked on. As circumstance would have it, the photograph on the front of the Australian Women's Weekly on 29 September featured her wearing the exact dress that Beryl had worked on prior to departure.

Returning to England:

Beryl then found that her mother was unwell due to rheumatoid arthritis and decided to travel back to see her. She scrimped and saved and made the fee for passage on the SS Arcadia, departing for London on 30 May 1967. She left her employment at Georges not knowing exactly how long she would be gone for. The atmosphere on the liner back to the UK was carefree, and most people treated it as a holiday cruise - in contrast to her initial nervous migratory voyage.

While in London, Beryl worked for the Marshall and Snelgrove department store on Oxford Street, so that she could contribute to the family income, and also fill her days. Her return to Australia was on the SS Oriana, with an initial sail date of early April. The ship was delayed till 19 May 1968, and returned to Melbourne as planned.

Back in Melbourne:

Beryl returned to work in Melbourne, this time as a sales assistant for Henry Buck's, working in the shirt department, dealing with clients who required custom fittings. Over the years Beryl would continue to travel between Melbourne and London, mainly for leisure and to see family.

Beryl Adams Collection:  

This collection comprises of 160 objects that relate to shipboard life and international travel for leisure in the post-World War II period. The collection primarily consists of shipboard ephemera collected and saved by Beryl, such as menus, port information and souvenir postcards. The significance of the collection lies in the connection of the three separate voyages to one person, and contributes to the ongoing narrative of migration and international travel to and from Australia.

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