AUGUST is Family History Month, and our group has been looking at the great diversity of places our ancestors and families have come from to settle in Australia, and the journeys they made to get here.

We have prepared a display at Tea Gardens Library – put a dot on the map there for the origins of your family.

Garry Worth will also be giving a talk there on Saturday morning, 17 August at 10 am, exploring past grandiose schemes for Tea Gardens and northern Port Stephens.

Bookings are necessary through the library.

Following the Second World War many immigrants arrived in Australia, coming from a variety of countries with differing languages and backgrounds.

Many of them were housed at the Mayfield Migrant Hostel where they were helped to find work and get settled here. In January 1950 there were 30 men housed there, largely from central European countries.

In those early years they attended lessons in English, were entertained with concerts, and were given lectures on surfing and “correct behaviour on beaches” – this last one after a migrant undressed completely after his swim at Newcastle Beach.

Some of these men were taken to our bushland where they were shown how to obtain timber from our local area.

My Father Jack Ringland and his friend Max Ninness had a timber mill at Bundabah at this time, and became involved with the workers from the Hostel.

Mr Middleton, Jan Winegardner’s father, was given the job of helping the men prepare the timber for sale.

He had it trucked to Mayfield then shipped out of Newcastle Harbour.

These men were not familiar with our bush and were afraid, having heard of snakes and other strange and dangerous creatures.

One of the men approached my father and reported that they could not sleep at night because as they lay in their quarters they looked up and saw a snake high in the ceiling.

My father, who would not normally hurt any creature, could see that something had to be done…

The snake was certainly impressive – a diamond python 11 foot 6 inches (3.5 metres) in length!

Not what anyone would want dropping on them in the middle of the night!

Some of these men became our family friends.

I have a photo, dated 23 June 1951 of two Russian migrants when they visited us.

One of them, Anatoli, spent many months in a T.B.hospital and kept in touch with us for many years after that.

I wonder if their families have been told these strange stories from the past.

By Anne JOHNSON, Tea Gardens Family Research and Local History.