INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT DATE: 26/10/2015 FULL NAME: ELIZABETH WATSON

D/O/B: 13/08/1945 COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: ENGLAND DEPARTURE DATE: 20/12/1952

ARRIVAL DATE: 19/1/1953 AGE AT ARRIVAL: 8
Elizabeth is a 70 year old English child migrant who generously retells her
immigration experience as a child of only 8 years of age. She takes us with
her through what was it like being a child migrant during the 1950s and
expresses with great courage the struggles she still feels today.

Interviewer: Elizabeth, thank you very much for being here. This is an
interview with Elizabeth Watson which will be speaking with me, Annabelle
Gonzalez on her experiences as a child migrant for the oral history collection
at the National History museum of Australia. Id like to thank you for
agreeing to take part in the program.

Elizabeth: No problem, I'm glad to get my story out there.

Interviewer: Lets begin with your birth, when were you born?

Elizabeth: I was born on the thirteenth of August, nineteen-forty-five in

England. In a town named Southampton.

Interviewer: What were the circumstances you faced in England?

Elizabeth: I dont remember too much about my life in England but I grew up
in orphanage as an orphan. My father died before I was born and I was told
that my mother had later abandoned me and passed away. I never was sent
any parcels or anything like others so assumed I was completely alone and
never thought of my family much, I couldnt remember anything at all about
my mother, not her face or her voice, completely blank. The nuns at the
orphanage took care of me and I was happy there to my knowledge.

Interviewer: How did you come to attention about immigrating to Australia?

Elizabeth: One day at the orphanage one of the nuns came to us asking us
whether we would like to go to a place called Australia, none of us knew
anything about Australia. The nun told us the sun shines all the time, wed
live by the sea in a white cozy cottage and ride our horses to school. We all
raised our hands high up to the ceiling. It sounded like a holiday. I thought I
was completely alone, so I didn't feel I had anything to lose.

Interviewer: How old were you when you departed? How did you journey to
Australia? How was it?

Elizabeth: I was 8 years of age when I was shipped from England on the S S
Ormonde with a group of 28 British orphan girls. We were all so excited, the
voyage itself was an adventure. I remember running up and down the ship
and of course the food. In an orphanage you would eat whatever was in front
of you, war rations and such. On the ship it was quite a different lifestyle.

Interviewer: When did you arrive and what was it like when you initially
arrived?

Elizabeth: I Arrived in the morning of January 19 1953, moments just after

arriving in Adelaide, the friends I had made on the ship, some that were
initially with from the orphanage, were separated from me. I was scared and
isolated as I entered a place I knew nothing about. I was shortly dispatched
in a white van with other girls to Goodwood Orphanage.

Interviewer: Did you encounter any cultural differences or barriers that

caused you discrimination or problems under the White Australia Policy?

Elizabeth: No, as I came from England I didnt have to deal with learning the
English language or cultural differences. I assimilated well with all the other
children as Australia was predominantly white.

Interviewer: What happened when you first got to Goodwood?

Elizabeth: I remember the first thing we did was get processed. We were
stripped of our clothes and bathed in these strong smelling chemicals to get
rid of lice which burnt our scalps. If you had long hair it was chopped off.
Luckily my hair was short. Our clothes were taken from us and we wore these
old looking baggy clothes.

Interviewer: Did you get any medical exams done as part of this processing?

Elizabeth: Yes, yes. They did a test to check to check whether you were a
virgin or not. You laid on a table with your legs in stirrups. I remember being
so embarrassed and shocked, not to mention it was painful. I was only 8
years old too.

Interviewer: How were you feeling about Australia at this point?

Elizabeth: I was feeling despair, a loss of hope which stayed with me for a
very long time as I found out this was just the beginning.

Interviewer: What was daily life at Goodwood orphanage like?

Elizabeth: Everyday was working, cleaning, washing and etcetera. It was so

regimented, we couldve been in the army. Our lives controlled by the sound
of a bell and if we refused we were severely punished. Every day in that
institution was hell, just surviving day to day.
Interviewer: Did you receive an education at Goodwood?

Elizabeth: I wouldnt call it much of an education, only up to year three. From

there it was training me in agriculture and in domestic methods.

Interviewer: What were these punishments you talked about?

Elizabeth: Talking in the dormitories or not standing up straight, basically

trivial matters would end up me being faced down on the bed, whipped until
the nun was too exhausted to continue. I was left with severe welts and
bruising. I remember once I had misplaced a tool from the shed, that night
one of the nuns stripped me naked in front of the girls in the dormitory and
proceeded to whip me till I was defeated and humiliated. I didnt eat for
days, I was in a deep depression after that.

Interviewer: Did anyone do anything about these brutal regimens of work

and discipline?

Elizabeth: No, no one was supervising what really went on in these

institutions, monitoring or inspecting. On the rare occasion there was an
inspection, we had to basically act like saints or otherwise face what were
unspeakable punishments. When children tried to report acts of violence,
abuse or sexual assault they were not believed. We were neglected,
humiliated, exploited, worked like slaves and deprived of a proper medical
healthcare or education.

Interviewer: How did you cope to survive, physically, emotionally and

psychologically?

Elizabeth: At the orphanage I made close childhood friends which helped me

a lot, I seriously dont know what I wouldve done without them. I today
however while I still am contact with 2 of them, many of them today met
their deaths prematurely, sometimes even by their own hand. Another think
that kept me going was I really enjoyed learning, while I wasnt given a good
education, I managed to be able to get my hands on some books which
taught me a lot. I really valued them and read them over and over.

Interviewer: Did you think about your family during your institutionalization?

Elizabeth: Many nights I wished for a mother, what it would be like. Someone
to love me and care for me. The nuns would never give us any affection.
Many of us in the system grew to be unsociable, unlikeable by wider society. I
was often told I was unaffectionate and cold but this was because I never
shown this love myself.
Interviewer: How did you react to the news about you mothers Death?

Elizabeth: I was confused. I thought my mother had died ages ago when I
was baby. I still remember it so clearly. The nuns called me up into the office
and told me it was urgent, she said your mother has died. I didnt know
whether to be sad and crying. All this time I thought she was dead, she was
actually alive and now was it too late to do anything. I found out my mother
tried to contact me multiple times, but the orphanage in England and
Goodwood Orphanage had prevented her from doing so. Her letters were
evaluated and examined and never given to me. They had no right to do
that.

Interviewer: What were the lifelong impacts you suffered being

institutionalized?

Elizabeth: Being institutionalized as a child shaped my life in several ways. I

didnt receive a good education and had low levels of numeracy and literacy,
this made trying to find work with good pay difficult. Making relationships
that lasted was hard, I have a lot of commitment issues and had extreme
issues when becoming a parent. Many of my memories of that time at the
orphanage have been repressed, but they have been coming back more in
recent years. Throughout the years, I think that my memories of that time
have manifested themselves as anxiety and depression which I go to
counselling for.

Interviewer: Finally looking at the whole broad question, the people who did
this to you, do you think they did this in their best intention?

Elizabeth: I think the British government and the Australian Government

have a lot to answer for, they didnt think about the consequences of their
actions. During those years the nuns were intent on breaking our spirits. I
cannot imagine why they did that when they were supposed to be preparing
us for the outside world. My memories of Goodwood are of cruelty, misery,
tears and sadistic nuns in charge of me. My almost daily beatings and
thrashings on the hands, legs and back has left traumatic scars with me for
life. The policy of assimilation did not work.

Interviewer: Thats all the questions, thank you for your time Elizabeth.

Elizabeth: Thank you for giving me to opportunity to have my voice heard, It

truly means a lot.