Edward Moulding's diary kept during his voyage to Australia on SS ORAMA 1 March - 8 April 1912

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Edward Moulding's diary kept during his voyage to Australia on SS ORAMA 1 March - 8 April 1912

Author Edward Moulding

Date1912

Object number00039553

NameDiary

MediumPaper

Dimensions135 x 90 mm

ClassificationsBooks and journals

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Dorothy Ellis

Collections

Manuscript diaries, journals and logs

Terms

DescriptionNotebook diary written by Edward Moulding recording his voyage from England on the Orient Line, SS ORAMA as he migrated to Australia. He gives descriptions and his impressions on a variety of European and Australian Ports, including sites such as Gibraltar and Pompeii. First entry 29 February 1912, boarded the SS ORAMA at Tilbury 1 March, arrived Fremantle 3 April, arrived Adelaide 6 April, arrived Melbourne 8 April 1912, final port of call.HistoryElizabeth Walls married Edward Moulding in1904 in the town of Blackrod, Lancashire. Her sister Mary, married Edward's brother Peter. Elizabeth worked in the cotton mills as a weaver and Edward was trained as a mechanical engineer. The Moulding brothers decided to migrate to Australia after Peter's doctor recommended 'a long seajourney' as a remedy for his chronic asthma. Dorothy suggests that bigotry against Methodists in the district and unrest in the mills may have also motivated the brothers' decision to leave. Edward and Peter were unsure if life in Australia would be 'fit for a lady' and decided to send for the sisters after they had tested the waters. Once they arrived, Peter secured a job as an electrical engineer in Melbourne and Edward eventually found work in Queenstown,Tasmania. He despised the working conditions there and soon found work as a mechanical engineer in the IXL jam factory in Hobart. Several months later the brothers sent for Elizabeth, Mary, and Mary's two children. Bill (8) and Annie (12). Elizabeth settled with Edward in Hobart eventually transferring to IXL in Sydney. In 1919, at the age of 45, she gave birth to her only child, Dorothy. The Mouldings never returned to England, although Dorothy believes that this was mainly due to financial considerations.