This #52ancestors topic was hard to think about. I saw the word colour and thought I could write a post including all the colours mentioned in surnames in my family database. But then I read the topic more carefully and saw the word record.

My dad’s stepfather was known to my brother and I as Uncle Mike. His wife, our grandmother as Nan Hydro. Until I began researching, all I knew about Uncle Mike was that he was Polish and had come to Tasmania after WWII. He had a very strong accent which made it hard to ask questions about his life as he would often get upset and emotional, making the accent more pronounced.

So a record I found that added a lot of colour to Uncle Mike was the Incoming Passenger Card for Surface Vessels for the Immigration Department for the Commonwealth of Australia.

He arrived in Australia on the ship Strathnaver and disembarked in Hobart, Tasmania on 8 August 1948. His most recent permanent address had been Rougham Camp in England. I found this was a post-World War II site for the Polish Resettlement Corps (PRC). It was a central point for Polish soldiers and airmen who couldn’t return to Soviet-controlled Poland.  Uncle Mike must have said he wanted to migrate and two weeks after being assessed and checked medically, he was on the boat heading to Australia.

The record also noted he was born on 27 July 1915 at the town of Luszki in Poland. Talking to Uncle Mike he said this was a town on an island in the middle of the Minuta River and there were seven bridges onto the island.

On the record, Uncle Mike had said he was single, but this was later changed to married. The reason why was written up in a newspaper article before Uncle Mike married my grandmother.

He wanted to settle in Tasmania and have that as his permanent residence. He was going to be staying at H.E.C. Hobart, Tasmania. This is the Hydro Electric Commission and he would be based at Waddamana. This is where power stations were being built in central Tasmania including Bronte Park where he eventually stayed.

The cost of his travel was paid for via the Ex-servicemen’s assisted passage scheme.

There was also a personal description including height, hair and eye colour. Uncle Mike had no notable marks.

The second page of the record was a photo of Uncle Mike when he arrived in Australia.

Biography I wrote about Uncle Mike.

Mike at ANZAC Day parades