| |
G4EBT > SYDNEY 18.12.05 17:12l 127 Lines 5042 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 2E1655G4EBT
Read: GUEST
Subj: Re: Ancestry by birthplace
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<DB0MRW<DB0FOR<DB0SIF<DB0EA<DB0RES<DK0WUE<7M3TJZ<KP4IG<
CE8FGC<ZS0MEE<GB7FCR
Sent: 051218/1126Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:18091 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:2E1655G4
From: G4EBT@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : SYDNEY@WW
Barry, VK2AAB wrote:-
> Hello David, 27% having both parents born in Australia does not mean
> 73% are first generation. Take my wife for instance, her father was
> born in London and came to Australia when he was four years old. My
> wife's mothers parents were both born in Australia. So my wife would
> not consider herself to be one of the 73%.
Thanks for reading my bull Barry, and taking the trouble to reply.
Yes, a fair point. I guess that in any event, the figures don't give the
full picture. It's what you perceive yourself to be - not what a "bean
counter" enumerator for the census says you are.
They tell me I'm British and I hold a British passport. Some even call
us European. I don't consider myself to be either of these things - I'm
English, and as such, belong to the largest minority ethnic group in the
UK.
I've explained before that one of my daughters-in-law was Egyptian by
birth (her father worked for the Suez Canal Company), and spent her early
years in Beirut, Lebanon.
She's the youngest of four sisters, and the family fled from Beirut to
escape hostilities, settling in Paris when she was a small child. She
holds a French passport, and considers herself French (or rather as most
Parisians do - "Parisian").
Her old sisters consider themselves Lebanese, and indeed, one - an author,
has published a book entitled "Beyrouth au coeur" - "Beirut in the Heart",
meaning that's where her heart is.
Her eldest sister moved to Switzerland many years ago and has
Swiss nationality, as do her four children who were born there.
Of my three Anglo-French grandchildren - the eldest, aged 7, was born in
Paris, spent her first three years there, speaking no English. She holds
only a French passport, so is French with an English father.
They moved to London when she was three, and she now speaks English with
no trace of a French accent, but still speaks fluent French with a haughty
Parisian accent. She's just as happy in Paris as she is in London.
Her twin sisters aged 4, are also perfectly bi-lingual, but were born
in London, hold British passports, so are English with a French mother.
My other daughter-in-law is half Hindi, her father being from Calcutta,
her mother from Yorkshire. If I asked her what her ethnic classification
is, I think she'd say "Yorkshire Lass".
For census purposes, all of them would be termed "Dual Heritage",
the UK "politically correct" term for those of mixed parentage.
> My mothers father was born in London and her mother was born on the
> Marquis of Queensbury 3 weeks out of Sydney in Australian waters, hmmm
> gets complicated doesn't it.
It surely does!
> The situation on my side of the family, great great grandfather born in
> Bath, great great grandmother born in London, from there on all born in
> Australia. So are my sons 2nd, 3rd or 4th generation Aussies? However
> my grandson's mother was born in the UK, so what does that make him ?
You'd need to ask the AU Gov't - I'm nonplussed!
The AU population census is testimony to the huge rate of population
growth in Australia mostly through migration, this last century.
It shows:
1901 3.77 mill
1921 5.45 mill
1961 10.50 mill
1981 14.57 mill
2001 18.77 mill
The AU census "Population Cock" on 18 December 2005 at 20:55:22
(Canberra time), states that the resident population of Australia
is now estimated to be 20,440,414.
That's based on the estimated resident population at 31 March 2005,
and assumes growth since then of:
One birth every 2 minutes and 00 seconds,
One death every 3 minutes and 56 seconds,
A net gain of one international migrant every 4 minutes and 05 seconds
leading to an overall total population increase of one person every 2
minutes and 02 seconds.
Carry on like that and you'll soon be bursting at the seams!
We have friends - a young married couple, who emigrated to Brisbane five
years ago, and now have Australian citizenship. They have two girls, both
born in Australia.
For the last year they've been back in England as the mother of one of our
friends is quite poorly. However, as our friend is 8 months pregnant and
wants her third child to be born in Australia, they're all going back
there straight after Christmas.
Her four-year old daughter never stops talking, and with a local Yorkshire
accent, which she'd acquired while she's been back here this last year.
I asked her mother how she'd cope back in Oz, and she said "oh, we can all
talk like the locals back home" ("home" being Brisbane). They gave a demo
to prove it.
Al part of the rich tapestry of life, and the effortless ease with which
we can travel the world these days. Whilst we may consider long-haul
flights to be a hassle, it's nothing like the hassles and dangers endured
by those early settlers on their long and hazardous sea voyages.
73 - David, G4EBT @ GB7FCR
QTH: Cottingham, East Yorkshire.
Message timed: 10:32 on 2005-Dec-18
Message sent using WinPack-Telnet V6.70
(Registered).
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
