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Record #5551
Name :
: Frederick RICKARD (1924 - )
  aka : Fred JENKINS
  aka : Frederick Farnhill


Father
:
Mother
: Winnifred RICKARD
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 24 Jun 1924   Notes : Source: Fairbridge Kids

Marriage (1)
:   Spouse/Notes : Joan
Marriage (2)
:   Spouse/Notes : Eileen

Date of Death
:
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland, London, Hackney

Sep qtr 1924, 1b 630, mmn RICKARD, as Frederick F RICKARD (FreeBMD)
Abode (2) : Place of Death / Burial
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: Nov 1935
Country
: Australia

Ship
: Balranald

Placement Family
:
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
: Barnardos

Agency
: Fairbridge Homes
NotesIn 1935, Frederick F. Rickard, 11, arrived at Fremantle, Australia, in a group of 25 children from the Child Emigration Society, The Strand, London, England, en route to Fairbridge Farm School, Pinjarra, Australia.

In an article written around 1993, Fred Rickard told his story to "That's Life" magazine:

"Mum died when I was 11 and, soon after, two stern women in suits came to our house. 'We've come to take the boy,' one of them said, pointing at me. 'You can't support three children on your own.'

Dad tried to stop them. 'You can't do this!' he cried, but the women just ignored him. They stuck a name tag on my coat and bundled me onto a train like a piece of luggage.

I was taken to the Barnardo's Children's Home in Stepney, East London.

It was a grim-looking building and my only welcome was an ice-cold bath in a tin tub. 'You're a dirty little boy,' the matron said as she scrubbed me with carbolic soap.

Afterwards, I was taken to an office where a man fired questions at me.

'Name!' he barked.

'F-F-Fred Jenkins,' I stuttered and the man consulted a piece of paper.

'That's not right,' he said.

'It says here your name's Fred Rickard.'

'But my father is William Jenkins,' I protested.

'He's not your father,' said the man. 'Your real mother couldn't keep you and the Jenkins family adopted you as a baby.'

It was the biggest shock of my life, but I never had any time to absorb it. From the minute I arrived at Barnardo's, I had to work like a slave. If i didn't I was ordered to strip naked and stand in the freezing-cold dormitory.

After six weeks, the master called me into his office.

'Would you like to go to Australia?' he enquired.

I had no idea where Australia was but anywhere was better than this place.

'Yes,' I said.

I ended up on a farm in a home for British orphans in Fremantle, WA.

Time passed. I took a job on the railways, married Joan and had two children, Barbara and Stephen. I never discussed my childhood. I thought it was best forgotten.

But after Joan died, I ended up marrying an English widow named Eileen. And when we visited the UK, all the old memories came flooding back. I told Eileen what had happened to me.

'Haven't you ever wanted to contact your birth mother? she asked.

'No,' I said the subject was closed.

Back home in Australia, we were watching TV when a documentary came on. It was called Children of the Lost Empire and was about kids who, like me had been taken away from their parents and sent to Australia. A woman called Margaret Humphreys had set up an agency to put the children back in touch with their real families.

'You should write to her,' Eileen said and eventually she persuaded me.

A year later Mrs Humphreys sent me some photographs. 'These are your stepsisters, Maureen and Peggy,' she told me,' and this is your stepbrother, Bill.'

'But I don't understand...'

'After you were born your mother married a Mr Dover,' said Mrs Humphreys. 'These are their children. I've got their telephone numbers if you want to call them.'

I called Peggy next day. And as soon as I said who I was she burst into tears. 'We've been trying to find you for years,' she wept. 'Mum kept all your baby photos...'

Eileen and I flew to England to meet my new family. All of my siblings were waiting at the airport. Maureen even flew in from Canada for the occasion and, today, we still keep in regular contact.

They've told me heaps about my mother and it's a comfort to me.

Even at my age, it's important to know where you come from." 
ContributorsCreated : 2009-03-13 20:57:56 / From original database

Additional Contributions from : mollipops1

Last Updated :

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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 5 136 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
5493 ACOL, John1920ENG, LND, Hampstead Nov 1932 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27143 ALEXANDER, John  Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Barnardos  
27136 ANDREWS, Edward Maurice1918ENG, CAM, Cambridge Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Barnardos  
27144 ATWILL, Jeffrey1919ENG, LND, Camberwell Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Barnardos  
27145 BARGES, Edwin1916ES_,    , San Fernandos Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Barnardos  
4732 BARRACLOUGH, George Edward1920ENG, YKS, Scarborough Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Barnardos  
27122 BEAUDOIRE, Charles Alexander1917ENG, MDX, Islington Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Barnardos  
26863 BEAVEN, Joan1924ENG, WIL, Salisbury Nov 1932 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
26862 BEAVEN, Margaret Annie May1922ENG, WIL, Salisbury Nov 1932 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27100 BENNETT, Joyce Clara1919ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27147 BENNETT, Reginald  Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Barnardos  
27228 BENSON, Eugene1925ENG,     Nov 1935 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27101 BISHOP, Albert William Leslie1920ENG, BDF, Luton Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27212 BOURNE, Marjorie1923ENG, LIN, Caistor Nov 1935 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27102 BOWLES, Gordon Roy1919ENG, LND, Chelsea Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
12230 BROOKS, Williams1922ENG,     Nov 1932 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27146 BROOMFIELD, Harold J1917ENG,     Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Barnardos  
26864 BROWN, Eric John1923ENG,     Nov 1932 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
26865 BURCH, Mary Joyce1924ENG, LND, Greenwich Nov 1932 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
12231 BURCHELL, Reginald Thomas1920ENG, WAR, Kings Norton Nov 1932 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
12232 BURCHELL, Ronald1922ENG, WAR, Birmingham Nov 1932 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
12233 BURNS, Matthew1921ENG,     Nov 1932 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes kcoventry  
27134 CARR, George Richard1920ENG,     Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Barnardos  
12234 CARTER, Roy1925ENG, SOM, Bath Nov 1932 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27149 CARTWRIGHT, Edward J  Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Barnardos  
27103 CLAYSON, Percy Norman Robert1919ENG,     Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27229 CLEARY, Norman Stephen1925ENG, YKS, Doncaster Nov 1935 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27148 COLE, Albert Reginald1914ENG,     Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Barnardos  
26866 COLEMAN, Dorothy Jean1925ENG, OXF, Banbury Nov 1932 : Balranald AUS Fairbridge Homes  
27135 COLEMAN, Frank Edward1920ENG, SSX, Hastings Jul 1930 : Balranald AUS Barnardos  
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
Page: [1] 2 3 4 5 136 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