A New Destination Beckons at the SA Maritime Museum

Media Release - 5 February 2007
images to accompany release

A major new exhibition opening at the South Australian Maritime Museum on 16 February 2007 highlights the importance of the ship journey to Australia for millions of immigrants from 1788 until the 1970s.

The first national exhibition of its kind, Destination Australia – Ports of Immigration, documents the cultural significance of ports in Australia’s immigration history, and highlights the personal stories of immigrants arriving at Australia’s ports since the 18^th century – with a particular focus on the post-WWII period. It charts the history of official sea migration, which only ended in the 1970s due to increasing competition from commercial air travel.

A significant agent of change for Australian society for almost 200 years, sea migration also presents a historical experience that is unlikely ever to be repeated.

The exhibition features personal stories and reminiscences of the long sea journey to Australia, which included stops at ‘exotic’ foreign ports, such as Port Said on the Suez Canal in Egypt, and Colombo in Sri Lanka.

Objects on show as part of Destination Australia – Ports of Immigration include: nautical telescopes and tools, personal diaries, large-scale ship models, telegrams, tickets of passage, souvenirs collected en route, ship brochures, programs, newsletters and menus.

SA Maritime Museum Director, Kevin Jones says “The exhibition shows the significance of Port Adelaide as the place where generations of immigrants landed in South Australia. It builds on two of the great strengths of our Museum: our permanent exhibition on immigrant voyages and our data base recording the many thousands of passengers that have arrived in South Australia since 1836.”

Many immigrants vividly and emotionally recall the first glimpses of their new homeland from their arrival port: the sounds and smells, the encounters with Customs and Immigration staff and their processes.

All we saw were trees and greenery and I just fell into my mother's arms crying. We were both crying because we thought we had come to the end of the earth. There was no city in sight. (Mariam Baker migrated from Egypt in 1966.)

I went back two years ago, and I stood on the actual spot where we got off the ship, and I was starting to shake because I could remember when we got off and I had hold of the children’s hands, and I was shaking, thinking where are we going, and no idea what we were going to do. (Maureen Hallam migrated from England in 1964.)

Paying tribute to those who arrived by sea, Destination Australia – Ports of Immigration reminds us of the continuing strong connection migrants feel for arrival ports such as Fremantle, Port Adelaide, Port Melbourne and Sydney Harbour.

“Destination Australia – Ports of Immigration has been developed as a national travelling exhibition in response to the huge and enduring interest in the immigrant ship journey to Australia – both from first-generation migrants and from their children and grandchildren,” says Padmini Sebastian, Manager, Immigration Museum. “The sea journey to Australia was for many their first and most lasting memory of travel. Some people have never travelled overseas since, or if they have, it is usually by plane.”

Sea-ports retain a strong connection and evoke emotional memories for immigrants for years after their journey. They are often places to which immigrants return for personal commemoration and celebration, as the first step into a new life in a distant land.

Destination Australia – Ports of Immigration is a national travelling exhibition developed by the Immigration Museum, Museum Victoria.

This exhibition is supported by Visions of Australia, an Australian Government Program supporting touring exhibitions by providing assistance for the development and touring of cultural material across Australia.

What    Destination Australia: Australian Ports of Immigration exhibition
When 14 February – 24 June 2007
Cost    Museum Admission: Adult $8.50, Child $3.50, Concession $6.50, Family $22.00

National Partners:

Media Contact: Lee Tillett, Marketing Co-ordinator
Phone: +61 8203 9868, Mobile: 0419 860 106, Email: ltillett@history.sa.gov.au

South Australian Maritime Museum
126 Lipson Street, Port Adelaide SA 5015
Phone: +61 8207 6255
www.history.sa.gov.au
[A museum of the History Trust of South Australia]
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The South Australian Maritime Museum will also be presenting a series of public programs in association with this exhibition to highlight the significance of Port Adelaide for the generations of migrants who arrived here from the 1940’s to the 1970’s. The Port holds a special bond for post-war migrants as the place they completed their journey and took their first steps to a new life in Australia.

Public Programs:

Finding My Story - Genealogy Day, 11am - 4pm Sunday 29 April 2007

A family history fair titled Finding My Story will be presented to coincide with the inaugural Port Festival, following the festival theme of story telling. Genealogy is overwhelmingly the largest historical movement in Australia and the fair will provide advice and guidance from South Australia’s major collecting institutions. The day will also see the launch of the Museum’s revamped passenger database.

Ship Reunions - Presented one Sunday a month from April - June 2007
Ship reunions will be presented over one Sunday a month through April, May & June 2007 to coincide with the Destination Australia exhibition. Passengers who came to Australia on various vessels will be invited to visit the Museum to share their memories. Objects from the specified vessels will be displayed for the day and there will be short speeches but the emphasis will be on afternoon tea and a chance to share stories and memorabilia with other passengers. The program will target Italian passengers on Sunday 22 April with a reunion for people who came on Flotta Lauro Lines. - Sunday 27 May will have a British focus with a reunion for people who came on P&O’s famous Strath ships and Sunday 24 June will be targeted for German groups.

Cruising for Kids - April 2007
The Museum will mark the school vacation period with a program to lead primary school aged children through ship board games and maritime traditions. King Neptune will re-enact a crossing-the-line ceremony in which new passengers crossing the equator for the first time were shaved and washed in sea water.

Genealogy - launch of the renewed database, Sunday 29^th April 2007
Cruise the Museum’s computers and fish up your lost relations - The Museum’s database gallery is where you will find records of the arrival of vessels and passengers to South Australia.

Genealogy is one of the great social movements of our time. Australians have a fascination for researching the lives of their ancestors and tracing their origins to Europe, Britain, Asia or America. People are deeply moved by accounts of their ancestors who risked all to make the long voyage to a new land. That is part of the central appeal of the Museum’s immigration exhibition which is a vital first port of call for family historians.

Genealogy archives, newspapers and passenger lists are drawn upon to form a comprehensive index of nineteenth century immigration from 1836 - 1859 and 1860 - 1899, and twentieth century passenger arrivals from 1915 - 1939 and 1940 - 1956. Records generally show name, age, occupation, as well as date and vessel of arrival. Details from Lloyds Register describe the vessel along with information on the particular voyage. Some vessel images are also available.

This database continues to be one of the Museum’s most enduring and most popular exhibits. For many people, the database is their first stop on a life-long quest to research their family histories. For others, it is a validation of their place in history. While the content of the data has remained a strong attraction since 1986, it was time to redevelop the data base with new and faster software and a more user-friendly design. The Museum also continues to add new content to the database with volunteers extending it from 1958 into the 1970s to capture the last ships to bring passengers to South Australia.