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Record #5550
Name :
: Norman HALE (1922 - )


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 23 Sep 1922   Notes : Source: Fairbridge Kids; WWII record

Marriage (1)
: 1944   Spouse/Notes : Margaret Evelyn EARL (Perth district, reg 698)
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
:
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland, Northumberland, Newcastle upon Tyne

Sep qtr 1922, 10b 245, mmn HALE (FreeBMD)
Abode (2) : Place of Death / BurialAustralia
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: May 1932
Country
: Australia

Ship
: Jervis Bay

Placement Family
:
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Fairbridge Homes
NotesIn 1932, Norman Hale, 9, arrived at Fremantle, Australia, in a group of 40 children from the Child Emigration Society, The Strand, London, England, bound for Fairbridge Farm School, Pinjarra, Australia.

His wife Margaret EARL had arrived in the same ship, aged 8.

Norman served in WWII (NAA RecordSearch):
HALE NORMAN : Service Number - WX29472 : Date of birth - 23 Sep 1922 : Place of birth - EPSOM ENGLAND : Place of enlistment - PERTH WA : Next of Kin - HALE MARGARET

In 1993, an article was written about Norman's search and recovery of his English roots:

"Search yields a bounty of love by Jeremy Wilshire

He had to wait more than half a century but Norman Hale's private and painful family search has ended in tears of happiness.

When nine of his closest relatives arrived in Perth from England this week, the overdue reunion closed the chapter on a heart-wrenching tale which began in 1932.

That was the year in which Mr Hale arrived in Australia as a lonely nine-year-old after being sent to a boys' home in Durham when his mother fell on hard times in the tough coal-mining town of northern England.

He grew up at Pinjarra's Fairbridge Farm, where he met his childhood sweetheart, married, and had five children and 13 grandchildren, during which time his English heritage remained a mystery.

'I first started looking for my family when I was a 20-year-old in the army in 1942,' Mr Hale, 75, said.

'But I had heard absolutely nothing until about two years ago when a friend put me on to Margaret Humphries from the Child Migrant Trust.'

The search led first to cousin Jane Brown, who was very close to Mr Hale's mother and nursed her before her death in 1980.

Mrs Brown said: 'Just before my aunt died she told me she had a son called Norman who had been sent to Australia, and later, when we were clearing out her things, we found some old photos of Norman which I kept.

'I'm sure fate just kept hanging in there and wanted us to get together.'

Letters, Christmas cards and phone calls followed over the next two years before the English connection -- made up of all nine family members -- flew to Perth for a true family Christmas.

'This was such a big occasion that we felt the whole family should come along,' Mrs Brown said. 'And it really was quiet a meeting -- there were 27 people waiting for us at the airport.

'It was just awe-inspiring to think we had a whole new family just waiting there for us on the other side of the world and it has been fantastic to finally catch up after all these years.'

As for Mr Hale's feelings on his family and the new-found joy it offers: 'I'm going to puncture the plane ... they're not allowed to go home,' he said." 
ContributorsCreated : 2009-03-13 20:31:46 / 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  5 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
18788 HALE, Alfred1887ENG,     Sep 1899 : Arawa CAN Barnardos  
4687 HALE, Harold1908ENG,    , Coseley, Wolverhampton May 1920 : Minnedosa CAN Middlemore annabananaphone  
22870 HALE, John1892ENG,     May 1903 : Kensington CAN Fegan Homes for Boys  
5550 HALE, Norman1922ENG, NBL, Newcastle upon Tyne May 1932 : Jervis Bay AUS Fairbridge Homes  
16921 HALE, William1897ENG, LDN, London Apr 1904 : Southwark CAN Barnardos