Ian Anderson

Ship name / Flight number: Ormonde

Arrival date: 29/06/1950

74 years ago, 25 Little Brothers and I left Tilbury Dock in London on 29 June 1950 on the RMS Ormonde. We were on our way towards a new life in Australia. I was 16 and had lived all my life in the poorer areas of Glasgow. We had to gain our sea-legs quickly on our 12 berth cabin on E deck two metres above the water’s plimsol line. with no air con, no stabilisers and the single porthole welded shut.

Six weeks later, we docked at No. 2 Circular Quay Sydney (where the Opera House now stands) early in the morning of 14 August. Unbeknownst to me at the time, my future wife Jeanette was watching the Ormonde at berth, as she waited to disembark from her ferry which had crossed Sydney Harbour from Cremorne, taking her and all the other passengers to the city to work.

Onboard the Ormonde, we ate breakfast, gathered our few possessions, sped through Customers inspections and boarded a bus to go to the BBM Memorial Farm near the then small village of Fairfield, about 40 km south-west of Sydney Harbour. After some basic training by Farm Manager Bill Waite, most of the Little Brothers, including me, were assigned to work on various stations in NSW. I was assigned to a farm near West Lynne about 15 km south of Jindabyne. The property was owned by an elderly gentleman Jack Kidman, a distant relative of “Cattle King” Sid Kidman. At the Kidman property I mustered cattle and sheep, once I was a competent horse rider and had mastered the art of cracking the stock-whip without gaining a tiger snake wrapping itself around the whip! I spent a fair bit of time killing the rabbits that then plagued Australia, and built and mended rabbit-proof fences.

Grandfather Jack’s grandson, Jack Junior would inherit the farm. Unlike his kindly grandfather, Jack Jr. was a mean spirited, sly person, and a bully. Neighbouring station hands warned me to be on guard when he was around. They proved right – after a year I quit to get away from the grandson’s aggressive behaviour and returned to BBM in Sydney where they arranged for me to work on a mixed crop farm near Finley in the Riverina District. This was an unloved property, where I slept in my half of a corrugated iron tool shed. They “forgot” to pay me so I left after 4 months.

My next job was on the Snowy Mountains Scheme at Guthega. 10 hour shifts working underground in teams of 20 men. Good pay of $30 per week plus free food, room, transport to Cooma. It was dirty work jack hammering for 4 hours a day. I graduated to become a rock face diamond drill operator and a trainee “powder monkey”. Unfortunately both these work locations were a haven for violent drunken behaviour, with many traumatized refugees from WWII. You never asked anyone’s name or their background.

Back in Sydney I had a string of short-term, white collar jobs, plus I jack hammered the foundations for the Kent St fire station on the approach to the Harbour Bridge, now a multi-story apartment block. I ended up at WD&HO Wills, responsible for Duty Free sales to the diplomatic corp in Sydney and Canberra. I was piped on-board a few RAN ships as I brought precious cargo with me ... cigarettes ! Moving from Wills I built a career at John Fairfax newspapers for 13 years, where I became the Sales Manager for the Sun Herald newspaper, which then printed 750,000 copies every Sunday – the highest sales in Australia.

I joined the Manly Daily group owned by the Packer family, and for eight years was the Group Advertising Manager for Sydney north-side and Central Coast. After that I became a publisher myself, publishing local newspapers for various shopping centres in Sydney. My last job was at Shennen Publishers for 12 years, looking after the advertising and circulation of their bus and truck trade publications. I retired at 73.

During this time I was a frequent visitor to BBM when Eddy Steel was located in Hunter St. Unfortunately we lost contact with Eddy when he moved to Tweed Heads.

Jeanette and I met at a dance hall in Mosman. She was chaperoned by her older sister and cousins. We married when Jeanette was 20 and I was 21. Last year in April 2024 we celebrated our 70th wedding anniversary, receiving congratulations from King Charles, the Prime Minister, governors and MPs. Jeanette was a 5th generation Australian, with her people moving to country NSW from Cornwall in 1820. We had two daughters – Fiona and Louise, and have three grown-up grandchildren – Caitlin, Alexander (Sandy) and Ella. I was 56 when I discovered who my birth mother was. It turns out that my “aunt” Rachel was really my mother. Rachel wrote to me disclosing this sensitive information after Jeanette and I visited her back in Glasgow.

Jeanette and I raised our family in homes that we worked hard to renovate in Cremorne, Balgowlah Heights, Mosman and Mona Vale. When our grandchildren were young Jeanette played a big part in looking after them, ensuring that while their parents worked full time, the children received the love and attention that only a grandmother can bring.

Jeanette and I travelled widely in Egypt, Denmark, Paris, Greece, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Fiji, Western Samoa, England, Scotland and Cornwall. Back home we covered most of Australia, with the exception of the Kimberleys where our planned trip did not eventuate. Our travelling days came to an end because Jeanette’s condition of Alzheimer’s deteriorated greatly.

We had moved to Brisbane in 2019 to live next door to our elder daughter Fiona and her family, where Fiona and I shared looking after Jeanette. I did the lion’s share as Fiona still works full time. However it became too much for me to keep Jeanette safe and in 2022 we moved Jeanette to a nursing home that was exactly 400 steps from my home. She had a room overlooking Bramble Bay. I visited her every single afternoon until the day she died on 17 September 2024. I miss her greatly and know we will meet again one day.

My wife strongly encouraged me to maintain contact with BBM, and she would be pleased I have laid down a bit of my life-story today. I am eternally grateful for BBM for bringing a Glasgow lad to Sydney, where I have lived a very fortunate life.