P&O passenger liner RMS STRATHMORE
Maker
P&O
(British, founded 1837)
Date1935-1961
Object number00003152
NamePostcard
MediumPaper
DimensionsOverall: 85 x 137 mm
ClassificationsPosters and postcards
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis detailed colour print depicts the P&O Liner RMS STRATHMORE at sea from starboard side view. The ship's white hull - a distinctive P&O characteristic - is luminous against the cloudy sky.
The P&O Line - along with the Aberdeen and Sitmar Lines - transported thousands of child migrants from the UK to Australia until the child migration schemes ended in the 1960s.HistoryFrom the 1860s, more than 100,000 children were sent from Britain to Canada, Australia and other Commonwealth countries through child migration schemes. They were sent by charitable and religious organisations, with government support, in the belief that their lives would improve, and that they would provide much-needed labour and increase the population.
Few were orphans; many came from families who were unable to care for them. The lives of these children changed dramatically and fortunes varied. Some succeeded in creating new futures. Others suffered lonely, brutal childhoods. All experienced disruption and separation from family and homeland. Child migration schemes received criticism from the outset, yet continued until the 1960s.
Until the early 1960s most child migrants to Australia travelled by sea, sailing on vessels of the Aberdeen, Orient and Sitmar Lines. Names such as STRATHNAVER, ORMONDE, ORONSAY and FAIRSKY still evoke powerful memories for many former child migrants.
RMS STRATHMORE was built at Vickers Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness, England, and was launched in April 1935. It embarked on its maiden voyage on 26 October 1935 from London bound for Bombay, India. In 1940 STRATHMORE was requisitioned by the British government for service as troop transport in World War II. In October 1948 STRATHMORE returned to commercial service and sailed on its first post-war voyage from London to Bombay and Australia. In 1961 it was converted to a single class ship accommodating 1,200 Tourist Class passengers. It completed its final voyage in October 1963, and was sold to the Greek ship owner John Latsis.SignificanceThis postcard relates to a significant period in Australia's migration history, when thousands of children and youths emigrated from the UK through various church and philanthropic schemes as labour for rural Australia - all while bolstering the population with 'good British stock'.
