Image Not Available

Braniff family on board the ORCADES

Publisher Fairfax Publications, Sydney Morning Herald

Date1956

Object numberANMS1453[131]

NamePhotograph

Mediumphotographic print on paper

DimensionsOverall: 216 × 167 mm

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection

Terms

DescriptionBlack and white image of Braniff family lined up on the deck of the ORCADES. HistoryA newspaper clipping attached to the back of the photograph reads ‘Tom Braniff and Mrs Braniff aboard the ORCADES with their children (from back) Gerald (20), Marion (19), Harold (17), Sylvia (16), William (13), Janet (12), Meta (10), Ronald (9) and Catherine (7). Bruce has yet to Migrate. An Irish migrant couple and their 10 children reached Fremantle today without one important member of the family. He is Bruce, a three-year-old collie whose booking has been paid at t cost of £60. At first the family, Tom Braniff (50) and his wife and their four boys and six girls thought they would have to destroy Bruce when they migrated to Australia. But readers of an English newspaper read of the children’s distress and subscribed Bruce’s passage. Bruce will now arrive in Australia by ship on September 1. The Braniff children – aged from seven to 20 – said they could hardly wait for Bruce’s arrival. Mr Braniff said: “It’s been a great trip and the family have had a good time. Our name has been down in Belfast for the past five years to migrate to Australia and we have had a long wait.” He said he would take a job as either a hairdresser or truck driver in Melbourne.’ SignificanceThis image is one of a series produced by Fairfax newspapers that provides a unique window into how immigrants were viewed and immigration policy articulated in the popular press. The images in this selection are significant in representing the personal face to Australia's massive post-war immigration push that saw aggressive immigration programs orchestrated by the Australian Government that was promoting a 'populate or perish' philosophy.