Bill Tipler arrived in Australia from the UK as a £10 Pom aboard the P&O Otranto in 1956, accompanied by his mother, May, father William, and sisters Elizabeth and Jennifer. Before making the journey, he completed an apprenticeship in pattern making and served briefly in the British Army.

In this first video of what will become a multi-part series, Bill reflects on his early life in Stratford-upon-Avon, and recounts the voyage to Australia which at the time could not pass through the Suez Canal during a time of conflict in the area. He goes on to share his memories of the Smithfield Hostel, where his family was initially settled by Australian immigration officials, and his first impressions of a vastly different climate and environment in Australia.

Subsequent videos in the H&GHS Bill Tipler Collection will explore Bill’s later years in Grange and Henley Beach, his return to the UK nine years later to marry his sweetheart, June, the birth of their daughter, Samantha, their return to Australia as a family in 1970 and the birth of their second daughter, Marnie, at the Henley & Grange Community Hospital. Bill’s later experiences in Henley Beach included boat building, leading the Church of England Boy’s Society, participating in the local APEX Club, and crafting wooden toys.