Fantasy Ago

Molly Drinnan

Description

The aspirations of most young women in the 1950s stretched no further than acquiring a husband, house and children. Some of us though were questioning this - "surely there has to be more to life than this?" Impulsive, naive, with a vivid imagination fuelled by books and films, I set out for New Zealand in 1954, aged 19. However,A Fantasy Agonot only recounts the adventures enjoyed during my time there, it is also a social document reflecting pre-pill attitudes of the era which to some degree were still observed and led to marriage becoming inevitable.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Nueva Zelanda
• New Zealand
• Memoir
• Nouvelle-Zélande

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 25 septembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781800467705
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

A FANTASY AGO

Copyright © 2011 Molly Drinnan
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.
Matador
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ISBN 978 1800467 705
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd
For Jenny and Shirley and in memory of Grace and Terry (deceased).
Some of the other names have been changed.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, New Zealand, for sending me information and maps to prod my memory regarding place names, etc.
Contents
November 1953
December 1953
Friday December 25 1953
February 1954
March 1954
April 1954
May 1954
Wednesday 2 June 1954
Saturday 5 June 1954
Saturday 12 June 1954
Monday 21 June 1954
Friday 25 June, 1954
Sunday 27 June, 1954
Monday 12 July, 1954
Tuesday 13 July 1954
Thursday 15 July 1954
Tuesday 20 July 1954
Thursday 22 July 1954
Friday 23 July 1954
Sunday 25 July 1954
Friday 30 July 1954
Saturday 31 July, 1954
Sunday 1 August, 1954
Tuesday 3 August, 1954
Friday 6 August 1954
Saturday 7 August, 1954
Friday 13 August 1954
Saturday 14 August 1954
Monday 16 August 1954
Thursday 19 August 1954
Friday 20 August 1954
Sunday 22 August 1954
Monday 23 August 1954
Friday 27 August 1954
Saturday 28 August 1954
Sunday 29 August, 1954
Saturday 11 September 1954
Monday 13 September 1954
Wednesday 15 September 1954
Saturday 18 September 1954
Sunday 19 September 1954
Wednesday 22 September 1954
Wednesday 29 September 1954
Wednesday 6 October 1954
Sunday 10 October 1954
Friday 15 October 1954
Saturday 16 October 1954
Monday 18 October, 1954
Saturday 23 October 1954
Sunday 24 October 1954
Monday 25 October 1954
Friday 29 October 1954
Saturday 30 October 1954
Sunday 31 October 1954
Saturday 13 November 1954
Sunday 14 November 1954
Monday 29 November 1954
Monday 6 December 1954
Wednesday 8 December 1954
Saturday 25 December 1954
Sunday 26 December 1954
Monday 27 December, 1954 – Monday 3 January, 1955
Tuesday 4 January, 1955
Wednesday 5 January 1955
Friday 7 January 1955
Saturday 15 January 1955
Tuesday 18 January 1955
Saturday 22 January 1955
Sunday 23 January 1955
Monday 24 January 1955
Monday 31 January 1955
Saturday 5 February 1955
Sunday 6 February 1955
Monday 7 February 1955
Tuesday 8 February 1955
Wednesday 9 February 1955
Thursday 10 February 1955
Friday 11 February 1955
Friday 18 February 1955
Monday 21 February 1955
Wednesday 23 February 1955
Sunday 27 February 1955
Friday 4 March 1955
Monday 7 March 1955
Wednesday 9 March 1955
Saturday 12 March 1955
Wednesday 16 March 1955
Monday 28 March 1955
Tuesday 5 April 1955
Thursday 7 April 1955
Good Friday, 8 April 1955
Easter Saturday 9 April 1955
Easter Sunday, 10 April 1955
Easter Monday 11 April 1955
Thursday 14 April 1955
Saturday 7 May 1955
Sunday 8 May 1955
Monday 9 May 1955
Monday 16 May 1955
Wednesday 18 May 1955
Saturday 21 May 1955
Monday 6 June 1955
Saturday 11 June 1955
Wednesday 15 June 1955
Saturday 25 June 1955
Monday 27 June 1955
Tuesday 5 July 1955
Monday 11 July 1955
Tuesday 12 July 1955
Wednesday 13 July 1955
Sunday 17 July 1955
Wednesday 20 July 1955
Saturday 23 July 1955
Sunday 31 July 1955
Tuesday 2 August 1955
Friday 5 – Sunday 7 August 1955
Tuesday 9 August 1955
Monday 22 August 1955
Monday 5 September 1955
Monday 12 September 1955
Friday 23 September 1955
Thursday 6 October 1955
Saturday 8 October 1955
Saturday 15 October 1955
Saturday 22 October 1955
Sunday 23 October 1955
Monday 24 October 1955
Tuesday 25 October 1955
Thursday 27 October 1955
Friday 28 October 1955
Saturday 29 October 1955
Wednesday 2 November 1955
Sunday 6 November 1955
Friday 25 November 1955
Saturday 26 November 1955
Sunday 25 December 1955
Monday 26 December 1955
Tuesday 27 December 1955
Wednesday 28 December 1955
Thursday 29 December 1955
Friday 30 December 1955
Saturday 31 December 1955
Sunday 1 January 1956
Monday 2 January 1956
Tuesday 3 January 1956
Wednesday 4 January 1956
Thursday 5 January 1956
Friday 6 January 1956
Saturday 7 January 1956
Sunday 8 January 1956
Monday 9 January 1956
Tuesday 10 January 1956
Wednesday 11 January 1956
Thursday 12 January 1956
Friday 13 January 1956
Saturday 14 January 2006
Monday 30 January 1956
Friday 3 February 1956
Sunday 19 February 1956
Thursday 8 March 1956
Thursday 29 March 1956
Good Friday 30 March 1956
Easter Saturday 31 March 1956
Easter Sunday 1 April 1956
Easter Monday 2 April 1956
Thursday 12 April 1956
Wednesday 18 April 1956
Friday 20 April 1956
Saturday 5 May 1956
Friday 18 May 1956
Saturday 19 May 1956
Thursday 24 May 1956
Monday 28 May 1956
Saturday 2 June 1956
Friday 15 June 1956
Friday 22 June 1956
Saturday 23 June 1956
Sunday 24 June 1956
Tuesday 26 June 1956
Wednesday 27 June 1956
Saturday 30 June 1956
Wednesday 4 July 1956
Thursday 12 July 1956
Saturday 14 July 1956
Sunday 15 July 1956
Monday 16 July 1956
Thursday 19 July 1956
Friday 20 July 1956
Sunday 22 July 1956
Thursday 26 July 1956
Wednesday 1 August 1956
Thursday 2 August 1956
Friday 3 August 1956
Friday 10 August 1956
Monday 13 August 1956
Sunday 19 August 1956
Wednesday 29 August 1956
Friday 31 August 1956
Saturday 1 September 1956
Saturday 8 September 1956
Friday 14 September 1956
Friday 21 September 1956
Wednesday 26 September 1956
Friday 28 September 1956
Saturday 29 September 1956
Friday 5 October 1956
Monday 8 October 1956
Wednesday 10 October 1956
Saturday 20 October 1956
Friday 26 October 1956
Saturday 27 October 1956
Monday 12 November 1956
Friday 16 November 1956
Friday 23 November 1956
Wednesday 28 November 1956
Thursday 29 November 1956
November 1953
“Hey Grace, what about this,” I say, “ free passage to New Zealand.”
It’s lunchtime in the offices of the BBC’s Audience Research Department at 55 Portland Place, London W.l. Although it is now three months since we returned from the Austrian Tyrol, we’re still feeling restless and unable to countenance the thought of once again saving up 15s.0d a week for nine months just to spend a fortnight abroad. Hence our current preoccupation with scanning newspaper advertisements for jobs overseas.
Perhaps, I think, as we mull over the New Zealand idea, I’m destined to go to the Antipodes. Fired with enthusiasm by reading Jean Plaidy’s Beyond the Blue Mountains when I was 14, I got as far as putting one week’s pocket money (2s.6d) in a jar which I labelled ‘Australia’.
New Zealand would certainly provide the stepping stone we need and there’d be nothing to stop us from going onto Australia and then perhaps to Canada and America before heading back to Europe and England. We look at each other excitedly: the opportunities for a lifetime of fun and adventure suddenly seem endless and we write off for further details.
The contents of the envelope from the Migration Branch of the N.Z. Government Offices in Pall Mall are sobering. The enclosed form headed up Imm.41 tells us that:
Successful applicants are required to enter into an agreement with the New Zealand Government to remain for a continuous period of two years in the employment to which they are allocated. If an applicant fails to comply with the conditions, he will be required to repay to the New Zealand Government the full amount of the steamship fare(s) paid on his behalf… The purpose of the immigration scheme is permanent settlement in New Zealand.
Two years! That’s a long time, but I’m only 18, Grace 22. Then again, we don’t like the “…employment to which they are allocated” bit. Although we have lowly jobs at the BBC, we love the excitement of working here and grimace at the thought of being stuck in some boring government department for that length of time. What’s more, minimum requirements for shorthand/typists are 100 wpm and 50 wpm respectively. This means the daunting prospect of sitting exams. Naturally, we have to attend an interview, have a full medical and produce employment references. Also, because I’m under 21, I need Mum and Dad’s written consent. But am I going to let any of this daunt my resolve to break away from stiflingly suburban Potters Bar and see the world? No. This is a chance of a lifetime and Grace agrees.
At 8 Elmscroft Gardens battle begins. I plead. I weep. I slam doors.
“All right then”, I challenge, “if you won’t let me go to New Zealand, perhaps you’ll let me get a bedsitter in London like Grace’s friend, Oonagh. London’s not 12,000 miles away.”
This particular idea has been mooted before and rejected on the grounds that I’m too young. Dad tries to reason with me:
“Look at it this way dear – you’ve got a nice home, a good job and security. Why do you want to throw all that away?”
Now the very mention of the word security is enough to banish any doubts or fears that I may have. Surely, I’ve been asking myself for years, there has to be more to life than hanging wet sheets in the kitchen on a rainy Monday, of turning the bedroo