Summary

Black and white photograph showing Doris Atkinson sitting with her children Joan and Geoffrey on a park bench in Middle Park, 1949.

The Atkinson family had only just arrived as migrants from England when this photograph was taken. The family remembers that they came on the first 'British all-migrant ship', MV 'Georgic', which arrived in Australia on 12 February, 1949.

A motor-ship, the 'Georgic' was the last liner built for the White Star shipping line. She was constructed by Harland and Wolff Ltd in Belfast, Northern Ireland in the early 1930s. Her inaugural voyage was in June 1932 on the Liverpool to New York route. In 1934 Cunard merged with White Star, and the 'Georgic' was then based in London. In 1940, during World War Two, the 'Georgic' was refitted as a military personnel transport ship. The following year the ship was bombed and suffered great damage. After being rebuilt, the 'Georgic' continued to provide war service and repatriation work until 1948. She was then refitted once more as a one-class emigrant carrier for the Australian government. In 1955 the ship was de-commissioned.

Description of Content

Mother, boy and girl sitting in a public seat on a footpath. The girl has a bow in her hair and appears to be doing up her shoe. A row of houses is in the background, with a delivery truck parked in front of them.

Physical Description

Digital image file. A digital photograph was taken of the original black and white print.

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