Win in Australia SOME PICTURES Winifred Rose Stokes | a journey by sea | 1930
PAGE 1 The journey RMS OTRANTO WAS BUILT FOR THE ORIENT STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY IN 1926. Photograph by Allan C. Green - This image is available from the Our Collections of the State Library of Victoria under the Accession Number:, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15690847 The Otranto departed Londan on the 4th of January 1930 with 654 passengers on board and arrived in Brisbane 35 days later. Win’s occupation on the Passenger List was described as “Kitchen hand”: she was listed on the Queensland immigration register as arriving on the 17th of February 1930. She stayed with a Mr &Mrs Whyte at a farm or homestead called Booroomba on the Fernlee Road in the Balonne district of Queensland, about 580Km west of Brisbane.
PAGE 2 THE PLACES Booroomba Booroomba situation Dirranbandi Dirranbandi is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Balonne, Queensland, Australia. The locality is on the border of Queensland with New South Wales. In the 2016 census, Dirranbandi had a population of 640 people. Wikipedia Dewarra was the house of Mr & Mrs Whyte in 1930. St George St George is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Balonne, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre for the Shire of Balonne. In the 2021 census, St George had a population of 3,130 people. Wikipedia Boweet was the house of Mrs Whyte senior in 1930. Tweed Heads
PAGE 3 THE PICTURES Just arrived
PAGE 4 “Booroomba”
PAGE 5 “Boweet” St George: Mr Whyte’s mother’s house
PAGE 6 Mr & Mrs Whyte on the way to Dirranbandi
PAGE 7 “Dewarra” Dirranbandi Road
PAGE 8 Dirranbandi station
PAGE 9 On the way to Fernlee for a load of wool Bullock team carrying 7½ tons of wool
PAGE 10 Tweed Heads Tug crossing the Tweed bar after taking out a coastal boat
PAGE 11 RESEARCH Winifred Rose Stokes was born on the 3rd of November 1907 to Robert & Fanny Stokes in Wandsworth. She was the sister of Frank Robert Stokes, father of the author. She had two elder sisters, Ellen and Dora. The family lived in Nelson Grove Road Merton from at least 1911 to 1921. Why did Win go to Australia? Emigration to Australia Empire Settlement Act assisted migration scheme co-funded with the British Government. Farmers, domestic workers and juveniles were especially sought after by Australia There is a record of a Mr C Whyte travelling to Brisbane on the ship Orama in 1926. Why did she return? Dora said that Win had to come home to look after Bob who was 16 at that time. Ellen had already married Jack Bentley in 1927 and left home. Dora would have been 20. The Great Depression For Australians, the decade of the 1930s began with problems of huge unemployment, because the fall of the stock markets on Wall Street reduced confidence throughout the world. Most governments reacted to the crisis with similar policies, aimed at slashing back government spending and paying back loans. The Australian government could do little to change the effects of the slump and the tough economic times ahead. This affected the country in many ways. Because of economic downturn, people’s lives changed drastically. Australia had supplied huge amounts of wool for uniforms during World War 1, and many exports helped Australia achieve a high standard of living in the 1920s. The majority of the people of Australia lived very well prior to the fall, so they felt the effects of the depression strongly. Because of the severe economic contraction, the reduction of purchasing goods, employers couldn’t afford to keep excessive workers. A five-year unemployment average for 1930-34 was 23.4%, with a peak of approximately 30% of the nation being unemployed in 1932. This was one of the most severe unemployment rates in the industrialised world, exceeded only by Germany. Win returned on the White Star line ship Esperance Bay sailing from Sydney to Southampton, arriving in April 1933. Although listed as an Australian resident she was intending to stay in England. She gave her return address as 15 Mawson Close, Kingston Road SW20. (Wimbledon Chase)
PAGE 12 Esperance Bay In 1939 Win lived at 375 Kinston Road Ewell with her sister Ellen. Win was working as a canteen cook at Lines Bros Ltd, Triang Works, Morden Road, Merton, where Jack was a toolmaker. Win’s sister Dora, who lived in Sutton with her husband Richard Gary who she married in 1936, was a wheel spoker at the same factory. In 1939 R0bert Stokes had bought a house in Twickenham (22 Rivermeads) and lived there with his second wife Ivy and son Frank.