Struthers family aboard the STRATHNAVER
Date1961
Object numberANMS1453[164]
NamePhotograph
Mediumphotographic print on paper
DimensionsOverall: 358 × 206 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection
DescriptionBlack and white image of John and Janet Struthers from Scotland, posing with their 11 children on stairs aboard the STRATHNAVER its arrival in Sydney from Scotland.HistoryA newspaper clipping attached to the back of the photograph reads ‘Struthers family (from top to bottom): Mr and Mrs Struthers, Alec (18), John (13), Agnes (14), and the twins – David and Maureen (16), Archie and Ann (12), Isobel and Robert (8), Margaret and Christine (6).
A Scots family of 13, including four sets of twins, is upset at its reception by Sydney immigration officials. The family headed by Mr John Struthers and his wife, Janet, arrived here in the liner STRATHNAVER. Immigration officials told them:
●They will be separated in hostels more than 200 miles apart.
● They will find it difficult to find employment.
“I will never advise anyone to come to this place” said Mr Struthers today. “I feel I want to go straight back after what the Immigration people told me.” “They have knocked the heart out of us.” Mr Struther said he and his wife and the three elder children are to go to Berkley Hostel 45 miles from Sydney. The eldest children are Alex, 18, and twins David and Moreen, 16, [?] younger and Archie, 12, Isabel and Robert, 8, and Christine and Margaret, 6.
Mr Struthers, a farmer and formerly a bus driver, said officials told him it would be difficult to get work as a driver. He also was told his wife would find it difficult to get work. When the family first applied in Scotland they were told there was plenty of work, said Mr Struthers. “We came out to look for a better future, but it hasn’t happened yet.’
‘Struthers family who arrived on the Strathnaver from Scotland with 4 sets of twins. Mr Struthers, Mrs Struthers, Alec (18), John (13), Agnes (14), David and Maureen (16) twins, Archie and Ann (12) twins, Isobel and Robert (8) twins, Margaret and Christine (6) twins’, ‘Fummell 21-2-61’, ‘Story K. Taylor’ and ‘Scottish migrants’ handwritten at the back of the photograph.
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.
Fairfax Publications, Sydney Morning Herald
24 May 1956
