Summary

Photograph of Sister Annie Smith, on the left of an unidentified woman, probably at National Children's Home and Orphanage, Bramhope near Leeds, England, 1941-1950.

Sister Annie Smith was identified in this photograph and named by Shelagh (formerly Sheila) Philpott in correspondence from Peter Philpott, 3 June 2019 (see research file). The Bramhope Sister who accompanied Sheila and the other girls from England to Australia in 1950 was named as Sister Anne Dixon by another ex-Bramhope Sister, Mollie Harvey, in correspondence 9 December 1964 (copy in research file).

Part of a collection of documents, photographs and an oral history inteview relating to Shelagh (formerly Sheila) Philpott (nee Bannister), an unaccompanied British child migrant. The material documents her time in care in the National Children's Home and Orphanage in England at Bramhope, near Leeds; her migration to Australia in 1950 and her efforts to trace her family later in life. The research file includes photocopied material.

Description of Content

Two mid-aged women, standing together on a large lawn with a two-storey gable-roof building in the background.The woman on the left has her head turned right to face the photographer and the woman on the right is seen from the back. Both women are wearing long, belted overcoats and flat-heeled shoes, the woman on the left is hatless and the woman on the right wears a close-fitting felt hat. Annotated on reverse in handwriting in blue ink.

Physical Description

Black and white photograph

Significance

Statement of Historical Significance:
This collection documents the experience of an unaccompanied British child migrant who was relocated to Australia under the UK child migration programmes of the post War period, and to whom an apology was formally made in 2010 and reparations made under the UK Child Migrants Fund in 2019.

The documents are enriched by an oral history interview of the former child migrant, now in her eighties. The material covers the period before her migration as well as the lengthy period in Australia when she suffered from the ongoing impact of that migration programme. It documents her later return as an adult to England to find her family and her mental struggle with her identity. The material includes items showing the part played by local Australian social welfare organisations and their relationship to the after-care efforts of the UK National Children's Home.

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