Timeline of Migrant History
The history of Migrant History in the Illawarra should not be looked at in isolation. What was happening internationally, nationally and locally impacted on decisions by Commonwealth and State Governments, even businesses, and in turn impacted the prospective migrant. Introduction of migration agreements, schemes and plans and ongoing changes to those agreements, schemes, plans and humanitarian and refugee crisis did much to determine who, when and how potential migrants would come to Australia and even to the Illawarra.
A timeline commencing from the First Nations people to events up to and including 2021 has been compiled. The information in the timeline is drawn from the information contained within the research conducted into the Illawarra Migrant History. Interspersed in the timeline are events in the Illawarra; from the names of newly arrived migrants, the formation of clubs and associations, weddings, dances, fundraising socials as well as strikes or protests or by migrants.
Local content in the timeline is mostly drawn from the local newspapers of the time. Fortunately, Hermine Rainow, a migrant herself, was a reporter for the local newspapers and it is from her columns in the newspapers that we learn much about the more personal side of migrants in the Illawarra where they became a name and not just a number. As the names of the Illawarra migrants in the timeline were located in newspapers, there were limitations as to whom were included in the timeline. Names of Illawarra migrants in the timeline were entirely dependent on those reported on and it is acknowledged there were many more and equally worthy stories from times gone past. Nevertheless, the reported events in the timeline does inform the reader of how migrants lived in the Illawarra, how they were entertained and how they were helped and helped others.
The timeline is divided into years and each year may be accessed from the page number in the table of contents.
