Michael Clarke and his family came out from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, UK, in 1958 as part of the Assisted Migration
Scheme. The family lived at the Nunawading Migrant Hostel for 18 months until they had the money to put a deposit on
a house. Michael had two younger brothers and two younger sisters. He was approximately 15 years old when the photograph was
taken.
The Nissen huts in the background were divided
into four units each. Michael's family were given two units, as they were such a large family.
After
the Second World War, immigration changed the face of Victoria. In a drive to increase national security and Post-War
economic development, nearly 3 million immigrants arrived in Australia between 1945 and 1970, of whom almost a third disembarked
in Melbourne. They came from countries as diverse as Italy, Greece and Latvia, although almost every second immigrant
still came from the UK
