Tuesday 26 January 2010

"You're despicable Roo!*"

SUDDENLY YOU'RE SEEING ME...
JUST THE WAY I AM!
SUDDENLY YOU'RE HEARING ME,
SO I'M TALKING JUST AS FAST AS I CAN, TO YOU!
SUUUUDENLYYYY, EVERY PART OF ME,
NEEDS TO KNOW EVERY PART OF YOU!
Happy Australia day everyone! You can celebrate this day by popping down to the Orkney Archive for a browse through our collection of letters, articles and family trees relating to the many Orcadians who emigrated to Australia in search of gold, land or simply a new way of life.

Adverts appeared in the Orcadians and Orkney Heralds from the mid 19th century to the early 20th century offering land and jobs to healthy, hard-working young men. A little while after these initial adverts, others appeared looking for healthy, young and single women to go out. Ewww. Very few Scots had been sent as prisoners during the initial settlement of New South Wales and Van Diemen's land but 'free settlers' were attracted to convict-refusing South Australia with its cheap land and subsidised passage.

Each year we receive visits and letters from descendants of these adventuring Orcadians and they often leave family trees and information with us to complete the story.

*see here

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