Phineas Beatus
A Polish Jew born in 1830 in Kalisz, Poland. His family’s social and financial position was well-established, however Poland was not a sovereign country and punishment and repression under Russian rule made life difficult.
Balgownie / Fairy Meadow Hostel
The post-World War 2 migration agreement between the Commonwealth of Australia and the United Kingdom was signed in 1947 but it was not until 1950 that it began fully operating. Shipping shortages during the early days of the agreement prevented a large number of people from the United Kingdom from migrating to Australia under the…
Berkeley Hostel
Berkeley Migrant Hostel was built during the second stage of the Commonwealth Government migrant hostel building programme which saw the start of building hostels to accommodate British migrants and families. One part of Berkeley Migrant Hostel commenced operating on 27 December 1951 with the construction of the second part of the Hostel delayed by temporary…
Assaf (George) Badran
The early Lebanese migrants started arriving in Australia in the mid-19th century. They came from the area of Mount Lebanon. Because this area was the province of Syria in the Ottoman Empire (Turkish territory), they were called ‘Syrians’ or ‘Ottomans’. Financial hardship and religious persecution were some of the reasons the Lebanese left their homeland…
Marzia Bonacina Zochil
Marzia Bonacina Zochil & The Bonacina Family Balgownie Migrant Hostel, 1961 We left Italy in 1961 arriving in Australia in March. My parents, Giulia and Efrem Bonacina decided to migrate to Australia because my father, when renewing his contract to sell expensive machinery for a baking firm, was unable to secure the 10% payment his…
Andrew Best
Balgownie Hostel, 1969 I was 11 years old and my family decided to emigrate from England. My father was interviewed by BBC Two on the boat. Rain to Southampton and he said that he couldn’t really see any future for his family in England. We lived in Manchester and every time that he settled into…
Eric Taylor
Balgownie Hostel, 1954 In 1954 my Mum (Lavinia, 37) and Dad (Alan, 37) decided to emigrate to Australia. At that time, they had three sons: David (15), me, Eric (10), and Peter (6) and they were concerned about their future as we were living on the small island of Guernsey with perhaps few prospects. (Little…
William Gartley (Binks) McGill
Balgownie Hostel, 1952 William (Binks) McGill was my Uncle, whom I never met, as he sailed to Australia a few weeks before I was born. From Australian Immigration Records I have found that William Gartley McGill (born 23 February 1916 in Scotland), Annie Boyd McGill (nee Adair) (born 31 March 1927 in Scotland) and Yvonne…
John and Brenda Theobald
Berkeley Hostel, 1959 My wife Brenda and I, together with our 14 month old twin boys, Ian and Peter, departed Tilbury, Essex in England on 6 June 1959 onboard the SS Orontes and arrived in Sydney on 16 July 1959. On one income we did not seem to be able to save a deposit for…
Tony Hart
Balgownie Hostel, 1965 My parents, Derek and Margaret (Peggy) Hart, my two older brothers Laurie and Chris, my younger sister Jackie and I left Wales, UK, in 1965. We travelled by air via the USA (possibly Los Angeles) and arrived in Australia on 2 April 1965. The decision to come to Australia is that my…
Conrad Heininger
The history of Dapto’s first Butchers’ Shop can be traced back to August 1855 when 13 year old Conrad Heininger and his family arrived in Sydney from Germany.
Unanderra Hostel
Unanderra Hostel was not the first hostel built to accommodate migrant workers in the Illawarra but it was the first Commonwealth Migrant Workers’ Hostel. Australian Iron & Steel (AI&S) and Lysaghts Works Pty Ltd had started to provide their own workers’ accommodation while they waited for the housing and accommodation situation to improve, with AI&S…
Evelthon Imisides
Born in Vatili Northern Cyprus in 1900. As a young man he worked in the silkworm industry in Vatili and eventually also as an irrigation superintendent.
Evelthon arrived in Australia in 1928, and was among the early Greek Cypriots to arrive in Australia. On arrival he lived in Sydney for a few years where he worked as a chef in one of Sydney’s restaurants.
Joe Wah Gow
Arrived in Australia from the village of Long Tou Wan in Canton China in the late 1890s. He first settled in Cairns, Queensland and then moved to Wollongong in 1911. He married a local Chinese woman Ida Ko (Dockson) and had 5 children who were all born in Wollongong.
Steelhaven Hostel
Australian Iron & Steel In 1949 when AI&S was operating and expanding their own company workers’ accommodation that was Karingal Hostel, it also needed to establish another hostel in the locality for its migrant workers. There was still insufficient accommodation available at the Commonwealth Hostel at Unanderra to house these migrants most of whom, in…
Karingal Hostel
Australia Iron & Steel After World War 2, in the 1940s and 1950s, practically every industry in Australia was experiencing labour shortages and were relying on the Government immigration schemes. Housing materials were also in short supply throughout Australia after World War 2 and problems with Government finance for hostels and union disputes all contributed to…
Tambakis Brothers
Peter, Harry and Theo came from the Greek island of Kythera, located on the southwest tip of Peloponnese Peninsula.
Hermine Rainow
Hermine Rainow and her Legacy to Wollongong Migrants Mrs Cosmopolitan” was how Hermine Rainow described herself when she was featured in an article that appeared in the Illawarra Mercury on 23 September 1971. Her father was Austrian, her mother Hungarian, she married a Bulgaria, the family spoke German and they lived in Australia. Mrs Rainow’s…
Migrant Hostels in the Illawarra
Brief History of Migrant Workers Hostels and Camps in Wollongong Post World War 2 The Metropolitan Water, Sewerage & Drainage Board was amongst the first employers to offer to employ displaced persons from Baltic countries as soon as they became available in 1948. Hence the Water Board migrant camp in Coniston became known locally as…
Charlie Ameera Box
Arrived in Australia in 1890s at the age of 17 from a village in India. He could not write or read in his native language and never learned to read or write in English.
The Balts Camp
The Metropolitan Water Sewerage & Drainage Board Workers Camp (Balts Camp) 2018 and 2019 would have marked the 70th Anniversary of one of the first group of displaced persons, the Balts, to be brought to Wollongong under an agreement Australia made post World War 2 with the International Refugee Organisation. This hopefully goes some way to…
Joe Puglisi
In the early 1900s life on the Island of Lipari, in Southern Italy was very harsh for fisherman Michele Puglisi, his wife Giuseppina (Peppina) and their children Giuseppe (Joe), Maria, Bartholomew (Bob), Samone (Sam), Lucia, Venera, Salvatore and Giuseppina (Pina).
Mario Borgo
Prior to arriving in Australia in 1920, Mario Borgo lived in Thiene, in the Italian province of Vicenza.
Joseph Marceau
Joseph Marceau was born on 24 January 1806 in St Jean, L’Acadie, Quebec, Canada. He arrived in Australia on 25 February 1840. Joseph was a farmer, resided in Dapto from the 1840s until his death on 9 June 1883 where he is buried. In 1837 in Lower Canada (Quebec) a rebellion against British rule was…
George Bertram Adams
Thursday 31st July 1902. George Bertram Adams (my great grandfather) 23 years of age, finished breakfast around 5.30am. Then strapping on his miners belt, with tucker tin attached, kissed Jane, his wife of 8 months, (18 years old and pregnant with my grandmother) goodbye. He clumped down the wooden steps at the front of his…
Rina Montgomery
Rina Montgomery was born in Valli, Italy, in 1924 and emigrated to Australia with her mother and brother in 1929 where her father, Giacomo Filippi, had come some three years earlier. The family’s first home was in Railway Street Corrimal, but a few months later moved to Shellharbour Road in Port Kembla. Rina’s father worked…
John Radeski
In 1938 the Wollongong Presbyterian community celebrated the opening of the new Saint Andrew’s Church. A stained glass window was donated to the Church in dedication to William and Elizabeth James of Shellharbour with the inscription; ‘I was a stranger and you took me in’ and was followed by ‘In a grateful remembrance of William…
The Food Business Exhibition
Stories of Early Migrants who tantalised our palates The FOOD BUSINESS was an exhibition about Wollongong’s own ‘foody’ pioneers. The exhibition showcased the individuals that brought new flavours and colours to the palates of the people in the emerging city that we know and love today. Many people believe that Wollongong became a multicultural city after…
Museum Feasibility Study
Museum of Human Migration for our region Museum Feasibility Study Museum Feasibility Study The Illawarra Migration Heritage Project Inc. (MHP) and the Multicultural Communities Council of the Illawarra (MCCI) received funding from the Port Kembla Community Investment Fund to scope the feasibility and viability of a large and significant museum that will tell the story…
Map of where migrant workers hostels were located in the Illawarra
(after Walker, Places Project, 2007)