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Record #5452

Name :: : Mary L. M. O'BRIEN (1946 - )
Father: :
Mother: :

BMD and other details

Date of Birth: : 1 Apr 1946
Marriage (1): :
Marriage (2): :
Date of Death: :

Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland, Essex, Rochford

Abode (2) : Place of Death / Burial

Sailing Information

Date of Arrival: : May 1959
Country: : Australia
Ship: : Strathaird
Placement Family: :

Homes / Agencys

Institution (GB): :
Agency: : Fairbridge Homes

NotesA birth registration was found for Mary L M O'Brien: Mother's Maiden Surname: Baker; Date of Registration: Jan Feb Mar 1946; Registration district: Rochford; Registration county: Essex; Volume Number: 4a; Page Number: 1274.

In 1959, Mary O'Brien, 13 (along with brother, Patrick O'Brien, 15 and sister, Myrtle O'Brien, 12), arrived at Sydney, Australia, in a group of Fairbridge children from Knockholt, Kent, England, en route to Fairbridge Farm School, Molong, Australia.

In an interview with the Sunday Times Online (July 27, 2007), Mary O'Brien broke her silence telling of the sexual abuse she received at the hands of her after-school carer.

"Mary O?Brien cannot forget being driven through London?s East End, where she had lived, towards Tilbury docks, one dreary, wet and miserable April afternoon. She was 13.

That year, 1959, she left England for the Fairbridge Farm School at Molong, New South Wales, with her brother Paddy and sister Myrtle, aboard the SS Strathaird, a grand old P&O liner. When she boarded the ship, in her linen hat and gingham frock, she stepped into a sumptuous world of wealth and luxury.

'It was a child?s dream,' she said. Within six weeks the children sat in a rattling old train heading towards the Fairbridge Farm School in rural Australia. Mary recalls arriving at the station: ?We were herded into a truck and driven out to the farm. And the honeymoon was over??

Within a year at Molong, Mary was moved out of her cottage into Gloucester House, where visitors to the farm stayed. It was also the home of the aftercare officer, Mr William Phillips, and his family. Mary served as the ?domestic? and shared a bedroom with Phillips?s daughter.

'I was expected to clean up for them, serve them and their visitors. It was the most degrading part of my life. [H]e [Mr Phillips] sexually abused me. I?d then be expected to serve him breakfast next morning. I didn?t mention it because I thought it was just happening to me. I had no idea whether other children were having problems.'

Her grades at Orange High School, which Fairbridge allowed her to attend because she showed talent, slipped; her self-esteem fell; and she played truant. But within two years she was allowed to rejoin her mother, who emigrated to Australia to be reunited with her three children, and lived in a flat in an outer suburb of Sydney.

'I felt sorry for those who never had that,? Mary recalls, ?to walk out of Fairbridge and have their mums to go to. My mum was poor and she was sick. But she was my mum. And she took me away from there. And that was everything.'"

ContributorsCreated : 2009-03-06 10:59:06 / From original database

Last Updated : 2009-03-06 11:25:08 /

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Surnames starting with: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 30 Entries

Page: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 167 Entries

ID	Name	DOB	Place of birth	Arrivals & Ships	Dest.	Agency	Family links
3023	ABBOTT, Charles	1884	ENG, ESS, Messing	Apr 1900 : Dominion	CAN	National Childrens Home
3025	ABBOTT, David Henry	1891	ENG, ESS, Grays	Mar 1901 : Tunisian	CAN	Barnardos
3026	ABBOTT, Mary	1888	ENG, ESS, Maldon	Oct 1902 : Colonian	CAN	Barnardos
3063	ABEL, Albert Edward G.	1901	ENG, ESS, West Ham	Aug 1910 : Tunisian	CAN	Barnardos
3065	ABEL, Florence	1902	ENG, ESS, West Ham	Aug 1910 : Tunisian	CAN	Barnardos
3064	ABEL, Queenie Victoria	1900	ENG, ESS, West Ham	Aug 1910 : Tunisian	CAN	Barnardos
3101	ABRAMS, Ada	1894	ENG, ESS, West Ham	May 1912 : Tunisian	CAN	Unknown
3125	ACKERMAN, James David Ernest	1910	ENG, ESS, West Ham	Sep 1921 : Minnedosa	CAN	Barnardos
3136	ACKERMAN, William David	1912	ENG, ESS, West Ham	Jun 1921 : Scandinavian	CAN	Barnardos
3158	ACWORTH, George Albert	1896	ENG, ESS, West Ham	Sep 1911 : Lake Manitoba	CAN	Labourers & Domestics
4491	ADAMS, Henry F.	1880	ENG, ESS, Brighton	Mar 1893 : Labrador	CAN	Barnardos
14909	ALSOP, Reginald A	1891	ENG, ESS, Epping	Nov 1896 : Laurentian	CAN	Unknown
6876	ALTHORPE, George	1885	ENG, ESS, Colchester	Apr 1902 : Dominion	CAN	Barnardos
25136	ANDERSON, Muriel Helen	1921	ENG, ESS, West Ham	Oct 1930 : Barrabool	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
9777	ANDERSON, William	1870	ENG, ESS, Walthamstow	Jun 1883 : Polynesian	CAN	Barnardos
16737	ARNOLD, Oliver Samuel	1894	ENG, ESS, Lexden	May 1908 : Dominion	CAN	Barnardos
17014	ARNOLD, Thomas Walter	1893	ENG, ESS, Colchester	May 1908 : Dominion	CAN	Barnardos
27617	ATKINS, George Frederick	1905	ENG, ESS, Rochford	Jun 1914 : Empress of Britain	CAN	Salvation Army
27618	ATKINS, Jane Ellen	1900	ENG, ESS, Rochford	Jun 1914 : Empress of Britain	CAN	Salvation Army
27619	ATKINS, William Richard	1903	ENG, ESS, Rochford	Jun 1914 : Empress of Britain	CAN	Salvation Army
25142	BAGOT, Geoffrey	1924	ENG, ESS	Dec 1934 : Baradine	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
26946	BALAAM, Ronald John	1928	ENG, ESS, Tendring	Nov 1938 : Themistocles	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
5469	BANNISTER, Arthur James	1890	ENG, ESS, Stratford	Sep 1901 : Tunisian	CAN	Barnardos
27188	BARR, Eliza	1920	ENG, ESS, Lexden	May 1933 : Otranto	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
3431	BLATCH, Albert	1898	ENG, ESS, Leytonstone	May 1908 : Dominion	CAN	Barnardos	SarahLillian
3438	BONWICK, Alexander	1898	ENG, ESS, Barking	Mar 1907 : Dominion	CAN	Barnardos
3436	BONWICK, John William	1894	ENG, ESS, Barking	Apr 1905 : Kensington	CAN	Barnardos
3437	BONWICK, William James	1896	ENG, ESS, Barking	Apr 1905 : Kensington	CAN	Barnardos
4234	BRAND, Bessie Violet	1880	ENG, ESS, Stifford	Oct 1892 : Sardinian	CAN	Barnardos
4233	BRAND, Daisy Emma	1879	ENG, ESS, Stifford	Oct 1892 : Sardinian	CAN	Barnardos
ID	Name	DOB	Place of birth	Arrivals & Ships	Dest.	Agency	Family links

Page: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 167 Entries

Surnames starting with: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 30 Entries

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