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Fremantle History Museum

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Drever
Drever
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Fremantle History Museum

  • May 31, 2009
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Drever from Ayr
Fremantle History Museum

Fremantle was the first settlement of the Swan River colonists in 1829. It was declared a city in 1929, and has a population of approximately 26,000. It still serves as the chief general seaport for Western Australia. Its History Museum showcases the social history and heritage of Fremantle and Western Australia. Located in the Colony's first lunatic asylum, built by convicts in the 1860's, it shares the building with the Arts Centre.

In World War II the museum building became a base for the US Navy. The war heightened Australia's sense of vulnerability and isolation. Its wide-open spaces made the country an easy target for invasion. Australia needed to be able to defend itself. Industrial production had to expand and defence spending increased. Above all Australia needed a bigger population. World War II in creating these influences changed Australia forever. I followed the story of how this happened through the displays in the museum.

The Australian's embarked on a mass immigration campaign. The aim was to increase the population from over 7 million to 20 million within the lifetime of most Australians. Half of the increase they expected to come from natural growth and the other half from immigration. This meant accepting around 70,000 migrants each year.

At first the campaign sought to attract British subjects. However Britain was unable to provide all the labour needed for heavy industry, houses building and public works. Australia then turned to Europe, favouring those from northern Europe and later southern Europe. Migrants needed to be young, fit, healthy and willing to work wherever needed. Immigration assisted schemes and sponsorship programs helped to attract 'desirable types' of people. Australia also accepted wartime refugees. Just over 19,000 displaced persons came to Western Australia - the first group from the Baltic States.

Children from orphanages in Britain also boosted the number of British migrants. The children had little choice about what happened to them and scant protection from exploitation. In some ways this was little better than the ruthless separation of Aboriginal children from their parents, which also occurred.

Conditions on-board ship varied depending on who was migrating and when. Displaced Persons conditions were poor. Often hundreds crowded into a large cabin into bunks stacked three tiers high. Separation of men from women and children occurred. Food supplies were barely enough. Men and single women worked on-board to reduce the cost of passage and to increase the number of refugees in each transport by cutting down on the number of crew needed.

In the first few years of mass migration there was little space assigned for possessions in the hold. This contrasted sharply with pre-war conditions. By chance a friend handed me an account of an outward journey of a local man to Australia just before the start of the war. It compared well with a luxury cruise nowadays. Fortunately from the 1950s assisted migrants received much more space in the ship's hold for their possessions.

Australia in many respects was not ready to receive the large numbers of people arriving in the post-war period. A Bulgarian migrant arriving in Fremantle in 1949 described it as a ghost of a place. The houses covered with corrugated iron. On arrival only those under the assisted passages schemes received temporary accommodation. The types of accommodation provided were austere being often in disused wartime camps. I believe this was when the expression winching POMS (Prisoner of her Majesty’s Service) came in existence. A throwback to when Britain sent convicts out to Australia. The ‘POMS’ had reason to feel homesick! Others unless sponsored had to compete for scarce rental accommodation and government housing.

Displaced Persons and assisted passage migrants had to sign a two-year work contract. Only the British could receive permanent residency before its completion. Speak about two classes of citizen!

The authorities paid scant regard to the qualifications of many non-British migrants, especially Displaced Persons and Italians. Most of these they assigned to labouring and domestic duties. In the early years timber mills, brick and cement works, the building industry, on road and rail construction, and farming and forestry absorbed many of the men. By the 1960 the expanding alumina, iron ore and oil industry made its demands for labour.

During the 1960s immigration controls relaxed. Small numbers of migrants from the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and South America began to arrive. Finally in 1972, the country abandoned the White Australian Policy. Selection changed to economic considerations, such as occupational skills, and social and humanitarian considerations, such as family reunion and refugee status.

Australia nowadays is multicultural. It has travelled a rocky road from bigotry to a country at ease with itself. In sports it wins cups in numbers out of proportion to its population. Winning the America’s Cup yacht race put Fremantle on the world map.

From journal In and Around Perth

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