The Celius and Halseth families aboard the FLAVIA
Date1963
Object numberANMS1453[112]
NamePhotograph
Mediumphotographic print on paper
DimensionsOverall: 210 × 304 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection
DescriptionBlack and white image of the Celius and the Halseth families from Norway posing on the railings of the FLAVIA.
A newspaper clipping attached to the back of the photograph reads ‘Two Norwegian families, tired of living under the midnight sun, arrived in Sydney yesterday in search of the warmer Australian variety. The seven new immigrants are pictured above aboard the Italian liner FLAVIA. They are, from the left: Brit Celius, 15, her father, Mr Erling Celius, 43, son Odd-Erik Celius, 10, Wiebke Halseth, 5, her father, Mr Knut Halseth, 42, Mrs Olaug Celius, and Mrs Erna Halseth.’
HistorySince the first Fleet dropped anchor in 1788, more than 10 million people have moved from across the world to start a new life in Australia, arriving in waves, encouraged by the 1850s gold rushes or to escape adverse conditions at home in the social upheavals of C19th Britain's industrial revolution, the turmoil of revolution, two world wars, the aftermath of the Vietnam war in the 1970s and more recent conflicts.
With the catchphrase 'populate or perish' ringing through the community, Australia stepped up its immigration in the years after WWII, offering assisted passage to British migrants, encouraging migration from European countries, and finally in the 1970s repealing the restrictive white Australia policy framed after federation in 1901. More than seven million new settlers have now crossed Australia's shores since 1945 and it's estimated that one in four of Australia's population was born overseas.SignificanceThis image is one of a series of photographs taken by Fairfax photographers that provides a unique window into how immigrants were viewed and immigration policy articulated in the popular press in Australia. They represent something of the personal face to Australia's massive post-war immigration push and show immigrants from many European nations, USA and China.
Fairfax Publications, Sydney Morning Herald
24 May 1956
Fairfax Publications, Sydney Morning Herald
July 1965