After the break caused by World War 1, the Dreadnought Scheme resumed in 1921 and reached full swing by the start of 1922. By the end of 1924, the number of these new arrivals had just passed the pre-war total, with 1803 more working age lads being brought to Australia from UK. This ultimately proved to be the halfway mark of the whole Dreadnought Scheme.
During 1924,
a new player began promoting the need for more of these lads to be brought to
Australia. Richard Linton, a recently retired businessman, was keen to see a
scheme based on his own experience. When he arrived in Sydney from his native
New Zealand many years before, he was helped to settle by his older brother who
had arrived in previous years. While Linton was in England for the British
Empire Exhibition, a group of his colleagues met in Sydney on 15 April 1925,
and began what was later called the Big Brother Movement. This movement
would provide mentors (Big Brothers) for the lads it brought from UK (Little
Brothers).
The first one
of these Little Brothers reached Sydney on 31 October, on the SS Sophocles
as one of 44 Dreadnought Boys. Another group arrived on the SS Jervis Bay
on 14 December 1925, after over a hundred of that contingent had been landed in
Perth and Melbourne.
So, what was
the problem?
The way
Richard Linton chose get his scheme under way in UK, resulted in widespread
confusion among prospective Boys and their parents, Immigration officers here
and in the UK, amongst others. It had the potential to derail the Dreadnought
Scheme, angering the Dreadnought Trustees. The Prime Minister’s file Dreadnought
Scheme and Land Settlement 1921-29 provides some behind-the-scenes insights.
As the first
large group of Little Brothers was being farewelled, with great publicity, in
London, the Australian High Commissioner there received a disturbing Cablegram,
on 2 November 1925. “…little brothers sailing…under Dreadnought Scheme.
Trustees do not approve such arrangements, parents and lads should be so
advised.” Having learnt unofficially about what was happening, the
Dreadnought Trustees had re-acted. The
London HC staff had been assured by Richard Linton “… that Dreadnought
Trustees had accepted his Scheme”, and that the PM’s office “were
advised on 31 July and 2 October, that Dreadnought Boys were included in the
Big Brother List”. Meanwhile, Mr Linton was aboard ship on his way back to
Australia.
Following a
meeting here in Australia with the Dreadnought Trustees, Deputy Director Hurley
of the Commonwealth Immigration Office tersely messaged London on 15 December
1925, “Misunderstanding with Dreadnought Trustees adjusted who now agree all
future Dreadnought Lads may be enrolled as Little Brothers.” Some
adjustment! This was the polar opposite of the Trustees’ previous position. One
suspects that it had been a robust meeting, with the Trustees being reminded
that the Commonwealth Government had the final say over who and how migrants
came to Australia. Ironically, the High Commission in London had already stopped
further inclusion of Dreadnought Boys in the BBM arrangements.
Meanwhile,
the High Commissioner Sir Joseph Cook had sent a long cablegram to the Prime
Minister, about the “difficulty” with the Movement. In true bureaucratic
style, Cook asserted that “the whole cause of the trouble is absence of
reply to my cablegram of 3rd November…” (That particular cable did not actually
pose questions requiring a specific response!) He went on to express his
frustration with Richard Linton, the lack of clear arrangements between the BBM
and his office, and bemoaned the (unauthorised) £548, already spent on the movement by
his office.
During the
following years, operating separately, both the BBM and the Dreadnought Scheme
were kept busy bringing working age lads to Australia. But it is little wonder
that the Dreadnought Trustees took a dim view of Richard Linton and the BBM. It
was unfortunate that, for some years, relations were strained between two
effective organisations, who were major contributors to Australia’s immigration
story.
And what of
the Boys who came on the SS Jervis Bay?
From
newspapers of the day, it is quite clear that the group arriving in Sydney,
comprised 28 Wembley Exhibition Scholarship winners and 56 Dreadnought Boys. Of the latter, according to Dreadnought
records, 37 Boys went to Scheyville for farm training, 11 went to Cowra, 5 to
Glen Innes and 3 went to Grafton for their training. The Big Brother Movement
was said to be “co-operating “, and on completion of training each boy
was linked to their mentor. So now they were all “Little Brothers.”
References
Alan Gill, Likely
Lads and Lasses – Youth Migration to Australia 1911-1983. (Sydney NSW: BBM
Ltd, 2005).
Dreadnought
Scheme and Land Settlement 1921-29. (Prime Ministers Department file held in the National
Archives of Australia).
Sydney Morning Herald, Wed 9 December 1925, p11. Boy Migrants.(http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16260096)
Sun, Mon 14 December 1925, p10. Little Brothers – Welcome to new home.(http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223923661)
