Summary

Photograph of a house in La Linea Spain overlooking the Rock of Gibraltar, circa 1936. The image is a picture of John Gordon-Kirkby's first home.

John was born in Gibraltar on 26 August 1936, his parents having crossed over from the Spanish mainland so that he would be born a British subject. They subsequently lived in Morocco. In 1961 John migrated to Australia as part of the assisted Bristish migration scheme, working in Papua New Guinea and remote central Australia for many years. He became an Australian citizen in 1987.

Description of Content

Black and white photograph depicting a view of of the Rock of Gibraltar, taken from the garden of a domestic house circa 1936. The house is to the left of the composition, with a tiled roof, white walls and a small terrace looking out over a garden with a palm and fig tree. There is a deck chair visible in the foreground of the composition.

Physical Description

Black and white photograph, printed on gloss Velox paper, white border.

Significance

This is a small but quite comprehensive collection of material representing the immigration process of a British subject. We have few birth certificates and passports in the collection and these, with the identiy documents and the receipts illustrate the process of purchasing the well known 10 pound assisted passage as well as the exchange of identity document for passport. The photos were brought with the donor and illustrate his early childhood home. It is important to continue to acquire these immigration document collections as they strengthen the range of stories and types of documents.

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