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On bended knee across the sea....

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This may seem an odd title for my first blog, considering this is a genealogy blog.  But let me explain. My parents were both English, were work colleagues, played sport together in the Thames Board Mills company sports club, and had dated a few times. Then Dad applied to Australia House for the post-war "Ten Pound Pom" Assisted Passage Migration scheme to Australia. He was accepted, and immigrated to Australia in 1952. In 1953, "on bended knee" (virtually, in Sydney), he proposed to Mum (in Essex, England), by letter "across the sea", and she accepted. I have known this story, my whole life, but it still amazes me.  I can only imagine Dad's nervousness and apprehension, from when he dropped his letter into the post box at Sydney's GPO, to the approximate eight to ten weeks later when he received Mum's reply.  Mum's acceptance of Dad's proposal also amazes me, recognising that she was agreeing to leave her large, loving family to go to ...
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My Dad performed at the Royal Albert Hall, London

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My Dad was too young to serve in WW2, but being British, and turning eighteen in November 1945, only months after the end of WW2, he was conscripted for National Service. He was posted to the Royal Army Pay Corps, based in London. I don't know a lot about Dad's eighteen months of national service, but I do know that he auditioned to join the Royal Army Pay Corps Swing Choir, led by Sergeant George Mitchell. His audition was successful. On 2 June 1946, the Swing Choir performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London, as part of a concert in aid of The Army Benevolent Fund. The program of the RAH concert, 2 June 1946 The Royal Army Pay Corps Journal of Summer 1946, featured the following article on page 199 - 200. "The 33rd Battalion RAPC Swing Choir, under the direction of Sgt George Mitchell, are to be featured in the Army Benevolent Fund Show, "Cavalcade of Stars in Battledress", at the Royal Albert Hall on 2nd June. Every member is from the battalion, or the attach...
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A collection of letters : 1952 - 1973

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 Christmas 1973 was my best Christmas ever! I had finished my Higher School Certificate exams, my sister had completed her School Certificate exams, Mum and Dad had saved incredibly hard and paid for four return airfares to London for us to meet our many cousins, aunts and uncles, and extended family. Up to that time, they had just been names to my sister and myself, but we were finally to meet them face to face. All that happened in our six week England trip, is enough to fill a number of blogs. But that is for another day. What I want to write about now is a collection of letters. Just to give a little background, Dad's brother and his new bride, came to Australia in 1950 as part of the Ten Pound Pom immigration scheme. Dad's brother wrote to Dad after a year or so, saying "Australia really is the land of milk and honey. You should think about coming too."  Dad applied to Australia House, was successful and arrived in Sydney in March 1952. Dad's parents had lost...
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