Genealogy Chat

Does any one have any information about, People who emigated to Australia in 1957 under the £10 scheme?? Many thanks helen.

Sorry can't help but would be intreasted in the answer as my uncle went over in 1956 - 1957 and necer came home again.

Oh, the 'ten pound Poms'. Government scheme during the 50s and 60s, jointly sponsored by Britain and Australia to give cheap passage to Brits who wanted to emigrate to Australia. I cant remember what the criteria were, but dont think it was very stiff. The Australian Government provided temporary accommodation in Camps and helped the Brits to get jobs. (A neighbour of ours went out on this scheme, came home two years later because they were homesick, stayed 6 months, went back to Aus, came back again...) OC

Apparently Under the £10 scheme you had to have a job to go to (have a trade that was in demand) You had to be able to support your sself and family. When first arriving you had to stay in Hostels. If you had a criminal record you were not allowed to join the scheme. Is there anything else you wanted to know ? Luv Angie xxx

Google 'ten pound Poms' heaps of info. Hope this helps. Cheers Gerry (a ten pound Pom)

Try http://naa12(.)naa(.)gov.au/Login(.)htm. This site is the National Australian Archives and if you put in a name it brings up some of the names of families who left England on the £10 assisted passage scheme. Gives their date of birth, names and dates of births of children, date and name of the ship on which they sailed. I have been lucky enough to find several of my rellies who emigrated. Jean x.

That's a bit of a liberty, if you had a criminal record you could not go. I mean Australia is full of them, well their descendants at least.

Thank you for these answers,thank you helen.

Hi, My husbands uncle went over. His first job was selling encyclopedias. He still lives there now. In the Outback. H

My hubby nearly went with parents in the early sixties but his mum thought she was pregnant. They bought the ticket and everything.

I have an uncle (still living) who went out under the £10 scheme, lived in Victoria for thirty years or so, got homesick, came back, and is now living in... Luton. Andrew.

My Aunty Em is a £10 POM now in her 80's living in a nursing home in Adelaide, bought all her family up out there and as far as I know loved it, struggled in the beginning. Loads of cousins I have never met but are now getting interested in family tree so we email each other. Marie Kent

hi my sister and her husband and two young children went to aus in 1966 and still live ther they have been home about 3 times to visit but wouldnt come back to live. i think it too a lot of courage to do that love linda x x

Steven I take a bit of offence to that. I'm an Aussie and didn't come from convicts. I'm only first gen Aus on dads side and second on mums. Many people didn't and many convicts also returned to the Uk after they've served their sentances. Then there is also the large amount of immigrants, boat people and refugees from a number of other nations. Gypsyjoe By the way my dad and his mum were 10 pound poms, they came out in 1951. His father had actually gone to Aus in about 1949 to look for work first.

When I was a kid, I remember mum dragging us up to Australia House and getting all these forms for us to be among the ten pounders. Dad was a docker and they were crying out for dock workers to develop their ports. Mum filled in the forms, told Nan and she broke down crying. We never went.

Gypsy Don't take offence - even if the original settlers were convicts, they were almost exclusively petty criminals, transported for stealing a loaf of bread or a handkerchief, crimes which wouldnt even warrant a punishment today, let alone the label of Convict. The serious criminals were hanged, not deported! I tend to think of early Australians as being unfortunate people, who generally speaking, worked hard and 'made good' when they got the opportunity and that is something to be proud of. OC

True OC Many did go on to make good and of course there were those that didn't. The Ironic thing is that is they hadn't ended up in Aus they probably would have starved, died of disease or something and their future generations would also have to continue the struggle. Those that were deported and made good lives forthemselves had it a lot better off. Then there is the fact that it was reguarded as hell on earth and look at how many people from the UK do migrate there these days, that's even funnier. Gypsyjoe

Just like to add another point about the 10 pound Poms. My Grandparents came on over on this scheme. My grandfather got the passage for free as he served in WW2 and could go to anywhere in the Commonwealth after the war. My Nanna had to pay 10 pounds. They came out within months of each other then got married in 1950 in Oz . Julie in Oz

My husband and I came out here in Jan. 1974, we were told that we were among the last of the $10 poms. Our 4 younger children came free but the two eldest had to also pay $10. Under the scheme there were different catergories, We came to Queensland and were sponserd under a scheme by the Qld.Govt. as my husband had a trade needed at that time. Under the scheme we went into a hostel but were guranteed a Housing Commission house (Council house in UK) within 2 wks of arriving. Othere came under a different scheme and were housed at a different hostel and in some cases had to wait for a much longer time before being housed, although you could find your own accommodation. If you returned to the UK within the first two years you had to refund your full fare, although I believe many managed to avoid this..

Di No, it wasnt that hard to save a tenner - but it would have been very hard to save the full fare! Considering the wage of the average working man was something like £5 per week in the 1950s, even a tenner was a lot - each! Australia WAS vastly underpopulated and had a chronic shortage of skills too. They didnt want convicted criminals - well, who would? (Only Britain in 2006, but that's another thread) Olde Crone