Thinking about my large and diverse family tree, I have been pondering about the many young ancestors that left their homes on the other side of the world to come to the unknown. Would I have done the same in their circumstances? Probably I would have, but then again perhaps not.
Some of my early ancestors came as convicts, so had no choice in the matter. However, the later immigrants made a clear choice to come to Australia. I cannot imagine what they thought would be here when they arrived. As they came from Ireland, the Scottish Highlands, England and two from the Azores Islands the climate when they arrived would have been a shock.
Some of my female ancestors travelled to Australia alone or with sisters, a few of them were only 15 years old. Again I cannot imagine leaving home and travelling to the other side of the world and knowing you would never see your family again. Brave women indeed.
I wonder what they were feeling as they boarded the ships that sailed away from home. Were they excited? Were they afraid? Did they want to jump off the ship and return home? I am glad they stayed on the ships and came to Australia otherwise I would have been living in Ireland or Scotland or England or Portugal. Thank you for coming!
I, too often wonder at the courage of my ancestors. It is a wonder tinged with admiration for their courage in travelling so far knowing they would never be able to go home. Another thing I wonder about is why come to Australia when America was so much closer and more settled.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Genie Jen - I often wonder why Australia and not America - sometimes I think it was because of government immigration schemes but the journey was so long
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