Summary

Photograph of Harold Lucas and four friends posing for a photograph with their cameras during their voyage from England to Australia on board the 'Castel Felice', May 1963. Harold is standing in the back row left, wearing a dark shirt. Harold and his wife settled in Melbourne for a number of years before relocating to South Australia and then to Queensland.

The 'Castel Felice' sailed to Australia as an immigrant ship on a total of 101 voyages between 1952 and 1970, carrying over 100,000 immigrants to Australia and New Zealand. She was commanded by an Italian crew and carried passengers from many different countries including Italy, Germany and Britain. By the time the 'Castel Felice' entered the Australian migrant trade at the age of 22, she was already an old ship, having been launched in 1930 and utlilised during World War II. The refits conducted by the Sitmar line helped to improve her appearance and onboard conditions, however, as most of her passengers were government-assisted migrants, her accommodation remained very basic. The 'Castel Felice' was retired in 1970.

Description of Content

Group of five men, three seated in front row, two standing in back row and two boys, posing each holding their own cameras. They are outdoors and in casual clothing, one without a shirt. Women can be seen in the background watching the scene through a window.

Physical Description

Black and white photograph.

Significance

This image is evocative of the migrant ship voyage and illustrates the popular use of personal cameras to record what was for many, their first and last ship journey. This journey was taken onboard an important migrant ship, the 'Castel Felice', which transported thousands of post World War II migrants from the UK and Europe to Australia.

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