The Big Brother Movement was a youth migration program run by a non-profit organisation based in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. It aimed to bring youths from Britain to Australia to work on farms or in the

Australian outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

. With the cooperation of the Australian Immigration Department the movement was founded by

Sir Richard Linton Sir Richard Linton (10 March 1879 – 21 September 1959) was a New Zealand-born Australian politician. He was born in Palmerston North to land valuer James Linton and Ann Kibblewhite. He migrated to Australia around 1899 and became a dispatc ...

in 1924. According to the '' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', "the idea for the Big Brother Movement grew out of Linton's own experience of arriving in Sydney from New Zealand knowing that his elder brother was already there to assist him". According to a recently published book on the subject, the so-called Little Brother immigrant was "assigned to a Big Brother, resident citizen for advice, solace and companionship" within the framework of the '' patrie''. Prior to World War II around 8,000 youths immigrated to Australia under the scheme. It was revived after the war and continued in a modified form in New South Wales until 1983. Notable "Little Brothers" included Bill Burns. Notable "Big Brothers" (or officeholders in the movement) included

Archibald Gilchrist Archibald Gilchrist (1878 – 10 March 1955) was an Australian businessman and politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1914 to 1917, representing the seat of Gascoyne. Early life Gilchrist was born in Melbo ...

, Bill McCann, and

Leslie Morshead Lieutenant General Sir Leslie James Morshead, (18 September 1889 – 26 September 1959) was an Australian soldier, teacher, businessman, and farmer, whose military career spanned both world wars. During the Second World War, he led the Aust ...

References

5 ships travelled from England to Australia during the Big Brother movement including the ''Jervis Bay'' named after Perth's waters as the boat sailed into Fremantle harbour. The movement ceased when world war 2 began and resumed in 1947 2 years after the war. During this time Italians and other Europeans arrived in Australia as their country was war torn.

External links

BBM Ltd

History of immigration to Australia Interwar period History of Australia (1901–1945) 1924 establishments in Australia 1924 establishments in the United Kingdom 1983 disestablishments in Australia 1983 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Australia–United Kingdom relations Settlement schemes in Australia {{Australia-gov-stub

See also

References

External links