HOME      FORUM      HELP      SEARCH      
News : The Surname Interests Table (SIT), the Database for Special Interests Groups (DBSIG) and Ancestral Anniversaries
are now "mobile friendlier" more here ...
Record #5583
Name :
: Maxine ELLISON (1947 - )
  aka : Maxine Wegner


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 1947

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
:
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland, Northumberland, Northumberland City
Abode (2) : Place of Death / Burial
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 23 Nov 1952
Country
: Australia

Ship
: New Australia

Placement Family
:
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Middlemore
NotesA birth registration was found for Maxine Ellison: Mother's Maiden Surname: Johnson; Date of Registration: Jul Aug Sep 1947; Registration district: Nthmbld C; Registration county: Yorkshire, Northumberland/Westmorland; Volume Number: 1b; Page Number: 478. Parents: John Turnbull Cowan and Emma Johnson.

In 1952, Maxine Ellison, 5 (along with brother, John C. Ellison, 6) arrived at Fremantle, Australia, in a group of 10 children en route to Fairbridge Farm School, Pinjarra, Australia.

In 2002, Maxine Ellison told their story to Margaret Price, who reported:

Maxine looks back on 50 years in WA

November 23 had special significance for Woodvale's Maxine Wegner.

It was the 50th anniversary of the day she and her brother John Ellison arrived from England as child migrants aboard the New Australia.

Aged five and seven respectively, they had come from Middlemore Children's Home in Birmingham to Fairbridge Farm School in Pinjarra.

They were in a group of 10 children travelling without parents, accompanied instead by strangers whose payment was the cost of their passage to Australia.

Their elder half-brother Brian had arrived at Fairbridge earlier.

The three siblings, who hailed from Northumberland, stayed at the farm school until age 16, before finding work, marrying and raising families.

Brian settled in Derby and John in Dalwallinu.

Although, over the years, Brian talked of an older sister Pat, information was scarce, even from their elderly mother, Emma.

When Brian and John visited her in England, she spoke only of four half brothers and sisters -- Mark, George, Gillian and Linda -- born after her older children had left for Australia.

They discovered that Brian had a different father although, to add to the confusion, John and Maxine shared his surname, Ellison.

About six years ago, fate intervened.

John struck up a conversation with a woman at wedding in Perth, sharing family information including the name of his father, John Turnbull Cowan.

It turned out that John and the woman were relatives.

She told him Peter an older half-brother in England had been searching for his Australian siblings.

Peter and his sister Pat were from John and Maxine's father's first marriage.

The Australian brother and sister also found a full brother, Tom, born just before they left for Australia and adopted out at six weeks in the local village.

'Tom came out for his 50th birthday and Christmas about four years ago and it was the best Christmas we have ever had,' Maxine said.

'Tom and John are the image of each other.'

Maxine said John and Brian had returned to England about 11 years ago to seek information about their family.

'They found our dad's grave, but they never found out anything,' she said.

'In fact Tom was only seven miles up the road and they never knew.

'Our mother never wanted to talk about it.'

Maxine hopes that by sharing her story, other children from the group of 10 who arrived in Fremantle on November 23, 1952 will make contact.

The New Australia sailed from Southampton on October 28, 1952.

To mark the 50th anniversary of their arrival, family put on a surprise party for Maxine and John, complete with Fairbridge memorabilia. There were also shipboard memories including a doll, and lead-look soldiers.

'Fairbridge was our home and we were always very grateful for that,' Maxine said.

'When I went back to England I was certainly very grateful that I had come out here to live.'" 
ContributorsCreated : 2009-03-15 20:37:16 / From original database


Last Updated : 2009-03-16 09:25:49 /

Family History ResearchersRootsChatters with family connections to Maxine ELLISON:



 
Readers Comments

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 84 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
3061 ABDALE, John George1873ENG, NBL, Newcastle Upon Tyne Mar 1891 : Norwegian CAN Barnardos  
9729 AITCHISON, Isabella1900ENG, NBL, Newcastle Upon Tyne Jul 1914 : Corinthian CAN Barnardos  
10026 AITCHISON, Margaret1903ENG, NBL, Newcastle Upon Tyne Jul 1914 : Corinthian CAN Barnardos  
21339 ALESIA, Frances Elizabeth1897ENG, NBL, Newcastle upon Tyne Jun 1913 : Corinthian CAN Barnardos  
10160 ALEXANDER, Ernest Augustus1892ENG, NBL, Gosforth Jul 1900 : Tunisian CAN Barnardos  
10161 ALEXANDER, Thomas Anderson1888ENG, NBL, Gosforth Jul 1902 : New England CAN Barnardos  
10489 ATKINSON, Eliza King1910ENG, NBL, Tynemouth Oct 1920 : Scandinavian CAN Barnardos  
17133 AUCKLAND, Alexander1882ENG, NBL, Belford Apr 1894 : Labrador CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
5196 AUTON, Margaret1922ENG, NBL, Newcastle Sep 1935 : Duchess of Atholl CAN Fairbridge Homes  
5213 AUTON, Ronald 1929ENG, NBL, Newcastle Sep 1935 : Duchess of Atholl CAN Fairbridge Homes  
5681 BEATON, George Alexander1897ENG, NBL, Newcastle upon Tyne Apr 1911 : Hesperian CAN Quarriers  
26950 BELL, Alice1930ENG, NBL, Newcastle T. Nov 1938 : Themistocles AUS Fairbridge Homes  
26247 BELL, Doreen1924ENG, NBL, Newcastle upon Tyne Jan 1937 : Oronsay AUS Fairbridge Homes  
26248 BELL, Harriet1923ENG, NBL, Newcastle upon Tyne Jan 1937 : Oronsay AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27388 BELL, John George ENG, NBL, Newcastle upon Tyne Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27389 BELL, Joyce1938ENG, NBL, Newcastle upon Tyne Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27306 BELL, Mary Rose1932ENG, NBL, Newcastle upon Tyne Jul 1939 : Orama AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27390 BELL, Rosalind Barbara1937ENG, NBL, Newcastle upon Tyne Jan 1949 : Ormonde AUS Fairbridge Homes  
26949 BELL, Sidney1926ENG, NBL, Newcastle T. Nov 1938 : Themistocles AUS Fairbridge Homes  
3571 BLACKETT, John1912ENG, NBL, Newcastle Upon Tyne May 1929 : Montroyal CAN British Immigration and Colonisation Association  
11884 BULLER, Dinah1867ENG, NBL, Ulverston May 1884 : Sarnia CAN Unknown  
10580 BYWATER, Gladys1908ENG, NBL, Tynemouth Sep 1922 : Minnedosa CAN Barnardos  
10627 CALLAWAY, George1915ENG, NBL, Tynemouth Apr 1929 : Duchess of York CAN Barnardos  
4461 CARR, Sidney1908ENG, NBL, Newcastle Upon Tyne Aug 1928 : Cedric CAN Harvesting Scheme  
26324 CHAPMAN, Joseph1923ENG, NBL Aug 1932 : Oronsay AUS Fairbridge Homes  
16132 COCHRANE, Michael1876ENG, NBL, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Mar 1892 : Carthaginian CAN Barnardos  
12093 COLTMAN, Herbert Newton1917ENG, NBL, Newcastle T. May 1928 : Ballarat AUS Fairbridge Homes  
5147 COWEY, Patrick1914ENG, NBL, Newcastle Oct 1928 : Montcalm CAN Catholic Emigration Association  
16396 CRAIG, James1908ENG, NBL, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Sep 1921 : Minnedosa CAN Barnardos  
16395 CRAIG, Robert Sheppard Bradley1911ENG, NBL, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Sep 1921 : Minnedosa CAN Barnardos  
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
Page: [1] 2 3 84 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