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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 72 Entries

ID	Name	DOB	Place of birth	Arrivals & Ships	Dest.	Agency	Family links
12326	ANSTRUTHER, James	1930	ENG,	Aug 1938 : Strathaird	AUS	Christian Brothers
12293	APPOLONIN, William	1931	ENG,	Aug 1938 : Strathaird	AUS	Christian Brothers
27309	BLACKWELL, Keith Michael	1932	ENG,	Jun 1939 : Strathaird	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
27310	BLACKWELL, Maurice	1927	ENG,	Jun 1939 : Strathaird	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
27311	BRIDGES, Betty Marion Russell	1927	ENG,	Jun 1939 : Strathaird	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
27312	BRIDGES, Charles Alwyn Russell	1929	ENG,	Jun 1939 : Strathaird	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
12312	BURT, Frederick William	1930	ENG,	Aug 1938 : Strathaird	AUS	Christian Brothers
25308	CLEMENTS, Ernest William	1927	ENG, LND, Woolwich	Aug 1938 : Strathaird	AUS	Christian Brothers
27313	COLLING, June	1932	ENG,	Jun 1939 : Strathaird	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
27314	COLLING, Margaret	1929	ENG, DUR, Houghton le Spring	Jun 1939 : Strathaird	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
12314	CONNORS, John	1928	ENG,	Aug 1938 : Strathaird	AUS	Christian Brothers
25309	COSTICK, Patrick James	1927	ENG, SOM, Williton, Luxborough	Aug 1938 : Strathaird	AUS	Christian Brothers
27315	DIXON, Sheila Margaret	1926	ENG, DUR, Chester-le-Street	Jun 1939 : Strathaird	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
12294	DOWNING, Kenneth D	1925	ENG,	Aug 1938 : Strathaird	AUS	Christian Brothers
5510	ELLIMAN, Christopher	1948	ENG, YKS, Cleveland	Dec 1959 : Strathaird	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
5509	ELLIMAN, Michael	1951	ENG, YKS, Cleveland	Dec 1959 : Strathaird	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
27317	FOLEY, Patrick James	1928	ENG, HAM, Farnham, Aldershot	Jun 1939 : Strathaird	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
27316	FOLEY, Victor	1925	IRL, ANT, Belfast	Jun 1939 : Strathaird	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
12315	FRENCH, John J	1929	ENG,	Aug 1938 : Strathaird	AUS	Christian Brothers
9261	GRIGSON, Peter	1927	ENG, LND, Pancras	Aug 1938 : Strathaird	AUS	Christian Brothers
12295	HANDLEY, Richard	1929	ENG,	Aug 1938 : Strathaird	AUS	Christian Brothers
9257	HANNIGAN, Michael	1929	ENG,	Aug 1938 : Strathaird	AUS	Christian Brothers
12303	HAYDON, Raymond Thomas	1926	ENG,	Aug 1938 : Strathaird	AUS	Christian Brothers
12320	HEATON, Anthony	1927	ENG,	Aug 1938 : Strathaird	AUS	Christian Brothers
27332	HENDERSON, Margaret Rattray	1929		Jun 1939 : Strathaird	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
27318	HENNIGHAN, Richard	1929	ENG,	Jun 1939 : Strathaird	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
12296	HIGHCOCK, Ivor	1930	ENG,	Aug 1938 : Strathaird	AUS	Christian Brothers
5415	HILL, David	1946	ENG,	May 1959 : Strathaird	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
5417	HILL, Dudley	1944	ENG,	May 1959 : Strathaird	AUS	Fairbridge Homes
12316	HILL, John Henry	1929	ENG,	Aug 1938 : Strathaird	AUS	Christian Brothers
ID	Name	DOB	Place of birth	Arrivals & Ships	Dest.	Agency	Family links

Page: [1] 2 3 72 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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