The Big Brother Movement was a youth migration program run by a non-profit organisation based in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. It aimed to bring youths from Britain to Australia to work on farms or in the

Australian outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

. With the cooperation of the

Australian Immigration Department The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) was a department of the Government of Australia that was responsible for immigration, citizenship and border control (including visa issuance). It has now been subsumed into the Depa ...

the movement was founded by Sir Richard Linton in 1924. According to the ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', "the idea for the Big Brother Movement grew out of Linton's own experience of arriving in Sydney from New Zealand knowing that his elder brother was already there to assist him". According to a recently published book on the subject, the so-called Little Brother immigrant was "assigned to a Big Brother, resident citizen for advice, solace and companionship" within the framework of the '' patrie''. Prior to World War II around 8,000 youths immigrated to Australia under the scheme. It was revived after the war and continued in a modified form in New South Wales until 1983. Notable "Little Brothers" included Bill Burns. Notable "Big Brothers" (or officeholders in the movement) included

Archibald Gilchrist Archibald Gilchrist (1878 – 10 March 1955) was an Australian businessman and politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1914 to 1917, representing the seat of Gascoyne. Early life Gilchrist was born in Melbo ...

Bill McCann Lieutenant Colonel William Francis James McCann, (19 April 1892 – 14 December 1957) was an Australian soldier of World War I, a barrister, and a prominent figure in the military and ex-service community of South Australia during the ...

, and

Leslie Morshead Lieutenant General Sir Leslie James Morshead, (18 September 1889 – 26 September 1959) was an Australian soldier, teacher, businessman, and farmer, whose military career spanned both world wars. During the Second World War, he led the Austra ...

References

5 ships travelled from England to Australia during the Big Brother movement including the ''Jervis Bay'' named after Perth's waters as the boat sailed into Fremantle harbour. The movement ceased when world war 2 began and resumed in 1947 2 years after the war. During this time Italians and other Europeans arrived in Australia as their country was war torn.

External links

BBM Ltd

History of immigration to Australia Interwar period History of Australia (1901–1945) 1924 establishments in Australia 1924 establishments in the United Kingdom 1983 disestablishments in Australia 1983 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Australia–United Kingdom relations Settlement schemes in Australia {{Australia-gov-stub

See also

References

External links