I am trying to trace my fathers movements when he came to Australia from England in July 1923, aged 18. He was on a passenger list titled "civilian farm learners." From what I remember him saying, he was met at the ship in Sydney, taken to the railway station, put on a train bound for Nyngan where he was met and taken by horse and cart to the farm where he began work. My query is - does anyone know ANYTHING about the "civilian farm learners" scheme? The only "clue" as to where he may have worked is a photo, on the back of which is written "me at Scotts". Presumably the farmers name was Scott. I believe that the Commonwealth Govt encouraged farmers to "sponsor" one of these farm learners and promise employment for a certain time. If this is so, would there be a "register" or some form of record as to who the sponsors were and the names of those they took on? The name of the town Gulargabone is familiar to my brother - he listened more intently than I did to Dads stories - but we don’t know when he might have been in that area. As he was just 18 he wouldn’t have been on the electoral roll - any ideas where to start? Sue. --------------------------------- Yahoo! Digital How To- Get the best out of your PC!

Hi Sue, Not sure, but this sounds a little bit to me like what we had in Victoria as the "Big Brother Movement", and the ones who came out were "Little Brothers". It is the right time, and he was the right age, although my impression is that the "Little Brothers" were relatively younger. 1926 rings a bell for here, so you may be talking of a precursor. I don't know where to find the records for them, but a search of the net and library catalogues under those terms might find something that would confirm or eliminate this as a possibility Linda