DescriptionThis interview consists of two audio recordings and transcripts. Peggy Pearson was interviewed on 07 August 1995 at her home at Wetherill park by Jo Morris. Interview SummaryPeggy Pearson and her family applied to immigrate to Sydney, Australia and left Scotland on the 28 March, 1961 and arrived on 05 May, 1961.
The family arrived at the hostel in Cabramatta by means of an old double decker utility army bus, made during the war. When they arrived in Cabramatta they thought they were dumped in the bush. Alec Street, Cabramatta had only five houses at the time. It was very difficult adjusting to her new life in Australia and Peggy recalls crying for weeks and weeks. She said, “if she could walk on water, I would of walked all the way back home. I hated it.”
Soon Peggy adjusted to her life at the hostel. Her Husband got a job with the Water board earning Seventeen Pounds. Eight Pounds was for tariffs for staying at the hostel so Peggy felt she had to help out and found a job working at Busby Spinning Mills.
Peggy grew to like living at the hostel. It was clean, there was plenty of food although not everyone liked it. She enjoyed meeting people from other cultures, social activities, like dancing and bands. She recalls Johnny O’Keefe also performed at one of their social gatherings.
Peggy applied for work at the hostel as a Dining Room Attendant in which she served and cleaned tables. The biggest challenge was the language barrier and to overcome that, there was a lot of pointing to food. English words were taught to immigrants by say what type of food was served to them.
When migration eased, the hostel closed and Peggy was very sad to finish work there. So much so, that she would visit the gates regularly in hope that the hostel will reopen. She got her wish, the hostel open and closed a few times throughout the years. The most significant reopening was the influx of Vietnamese refugees in the early 1980s. She recalls how nice and appreciative the Vietnamese were and that they never complained.
