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July 2023

Ten Pound Typists

Post WWII Assisted Passage to Canberra

Information pamphlet, Australia House, London1

Australia’s post second World War reconstruction program involved schemes that encouraged migrants from European countries to settle here. Campaigns were run to attract migrant arrivals and to encourage Australians to welcome them. As in other parts of the country, this was important for the development of Canberra and the ACT. Canberra’s development had stalled through the depression and war years and the end of the war opened up opportunities to restart the city’s growth. Housing was needed to accommodate the departmental staff moving to Canberra and government office buildings were being built, but not all of the vacancies for tradesmen and office staff could be filled by the existing population. The skills and training of the migrants taking advantage of assisted passage schemes were sought for Canberra’s expansion. Migrants came from many different countries, but initially people from the United Kingdom were targeted by the Department of Immigration. This month’s article looks at files that document how two separate groups of skilled migrants were accommodated in Canberra in the years following WWII.

According to the Federal Minister for Immigration Arthur Calwell, if 1,000 building tradesmen were brought out from Great Britain in 1947 they could all be profitably employed in Canberra alone.[i] The number of tradesmen approved was in fact 600, and planning started in August 1946 for them to be accommodated in ‘huts with single bed cubicles’ that would be rebuilt from dismantled buildings from the Narellan Military Camp (near Camden, Sydney). There was no time lost. By the end of September a survey was completed and the buildings were being reassembled to create a new hostel in Barton near the Molonglo River sandwash. It was given the name “Riverside Hostel” and the huts were ready for occupation by the end of 1947.[ii]

Surveyors field book - Riverside Hostel.3

The new hostel accommodation was completed with little time to spare. The first ‘quota’ of migrant tradesmen were all ex-servicemen who arrived in Canberra on the 10 January 1947, having arrived in Australia on board the ‘Largs Bay’ and disembarking in Sydney a few days before. The most numerous were carpenters and bricklayers but there were a variety of trades represented including electricians, plumbers, plasterers and painters. The group was met by Prime Minister Chifley and Arthur Calwell at the George V Memorial in front of the Provisional Parliament House. Chifley welcomed them by saying;

you come here to join us in the very great work of expanding Canberra into the most beautiful and one of the most important cities in the world [i]

As well as politicians, other dignitaries addressed the group. The High Commissioner for the United Kingdom, the President of the Trades and Labour Council, the President of the Returned Sailors’, Soldiers’ and Airmens’ Imperial League and leaders of churches in Canberra all wished the new arrivals well. Jim Scott, one member of the migrant party, responded for the tradesmen conveying their pride in being ‘the first to be asked to come out and help build up Australia’[ii] We can assume the new arrivals were oblivious to the existence or role of the Australian Capital Territory’s Advisory Council, but its members were more than a little put out that they hadn’t been given an opportunity to welcome the ACT’s new residents. The minutes of their next meeting included questions on why ‘no person spoke who had ever been elected by the people of the Territory’. Their concerns were relayed to the Minister for Immigration who wasn’t sure whether to take the grievance too seriously, arguing that ‘the migrants and other persons invited could not be expected to stand for a long period listening to innumerable speakers’[iii]

Prime Minister Chifley, Arthur Calwell and reporters greet British tradesmen.3

Another group of British migrants were soon to follow in the tracks of the tradesmen, armed with a different set of skills. The Australian Commonwealth Public Service sponsored British women to be employed as typists and stenographers in Commonwealth departments under the assisted passage scheme. The first group of 8 women arrived in Canberra on Friday 30 October 1947. There is no indication that they received a similar welcome as the tradesmen did, the Canberra Times reporting that they were transported directly to their accommodation at Mulwala House. Jackie Dempsey observed that Canberra ‘looks ever so countryfied’ and Joan Wilson ‘was surprised to find Australian girls, whose reputation abroad was that of being outdoor girls, used so much rouge’.[i]

Canberra Times reports on the arrival of British typists4

The following Monday they commenced work at four different departments; the Treasury Statisticians Branch, the Public Service Board, the Department of the Interior and the Department of Works and Housing. To help others follow in their footsteps, a pamphlet was sent to Australia House in London to provide helpful information and a list of conditions of employment for typists who were considering taking the long trip to Canberra. If selected, typists would receive priority in shipping over other assisted passengers and they would be assured suitable accommodation once they arrived. Canberra was promoted as

a new city – only a little over 20 years of age. Six years of war and the depression years interrupted its development. Today it has a population of 17,000 persons…The surrounding countryside combines mountain with undulating country; the “view winds down rippling grass slopes over the city and upwards to rapid ridges and ravines which rise to the beautifully lifting scarp of the Monaro plateau”.[i]

By 5 March 1948 fifty-five typists had migrated from the United Kingdom and arrived in Canberra to take up similar positions.

In October 1947 Calwell revealed that many of the tradesmen that took up work in Canberra did not stay for long. Of the 525 British tradesmen who came to Canberra in 1947, just 157 were still residing in Canberra 10 months later. It was thought there were various reasons for the tradesmen leaving town. Many appear to have met up with partners, relatives or friends in other parts of Australia, while others were attracted by better working conditions or lifestyles in the larger cities.

These records show that there were some challenges to Canberra’s post WWII growth. Establishing a steady workforce initially proved to be difficult, but many migrants who arrived later from other parts of the world, as well as the United Kingdom, would help to turn the tide. If you would like to know more about these records please contact ArchivesACT by filling out our online form.

Images

1 – ArchivesACT, ArchivesACT, British Migrants (Tradesmen) New Australians: Living and Working Conditions: Naturalisation Ceremonies.

2 – ArchivesACT – Surveyors Field Book – S2135

3 – Courtesy National Archives of Australia – NAA, A1200, L21159.

4 - Canberra Times – British Typists Arrive in Canberra – 1 November 1947, p2.

References

[i] ArchivesACT, TL6133 – Riverside Hostel.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Canberra Times – British Migrants “Eager to Get Cracking” on Job. 11 January 1947, p.2.

[iv] Ibid.

[v] ArchivesACT, British Migrants (Tradesmen) New Australians: Living and Working Conditions: Naturalisation Ceremonies.

[vi] Canberra Times – British Typists Arrive in Canberra. 1 November 1947.

[vii] ibid

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