By the Numbers
Big Brother Movement – By the Numbers
Between 1925 and 1982 approximately 12,500 Little Brothers came to Australia, initially by ship and later, from the ’60s onwards, increasingly by air. Some records, particularly those for the Little Brothers who disembarked in Victoria, have been lost but of those we do have records for we have some interesting statistics.
The first 90 Little Brothers arrived in 1925, most aboard the Jervis Bay in November of that year. The last Little Brother to arrive by ship disembarked in Sydney in June 1971. The last 9 Little Brothers to arrive through the Big Brother Movement landed at Sydney airport on 27th August 1982.
We know of some 5120 lads who arrived by sea on 65 different ships over the years. This compares with the 3896 who are known to have come by air. There were 345 sailings, with typically 15-20 Lads aboard. The Orion made the most voyages – 19, and brought the most lads – some 412 took passage on her.
During 1956 182 Little Brothers arrived in Sydney aboard 9 ships, including 2 journeys by the Fairsea. The Orcades made one voyage that year bringing 19 Little Brothers to start a new life in Australia. One was Brian Inman, whose story you can Read Here.