Ten pound Pom 100 years and counting
People
Sixty-six years ago, Benny Kierns, his wife Sheila, and their two young children boarded a ship and left Scotland for Australia. The trip on The Strathmore took about four weeks and they landed in Adelaide where they had friends.
“That year it rained hard in Scotland and with two children in nappies that needed washing and drying, Sheila just said ‘let’s go’,” Benny recalled.
One month after making the decision, they were gone. They left from England on St Patrick’s Day 1959.
On August 30, Benny celebrated his 100th birthday and on Saturday September 6, he will be the focus of attention at his birthday party at Sfera’s on The Park at Modbury.
“It will never happen again,” said Benny. “It’s no use waiting until you’re dead to have a big wake.”
About 125 family and friends will be on hand, his daughters Sheilagh and Catherine having tracked down friends and neighbours from the 1960s, ’70s and more. Benny is a very popular man.
He sits in a chair in the lounge at his daughter’s house in Burnside when we meet but gets up immediately to greet me. He is small but with a firm handshake. His accent is still heavily Scottish and his clarity of mind and manner are impressive.
He lives independently in Modbury and does his own cooking, shopping and laundry. A sociable man, he has long been an active member of the Irish Club in Adelaide and of the wider pipe band community. Most Fridays he drives the 15km from his home to the Irish Club in Carrington St in the city.
He also drives to Mass every Sunday at St John XXIII Church in Hope Valley where he has been a parishioner for many years. Although born in Scotland, his parents were Irish, and his faith has been a major part of his life.
There is an undercurrent of humour when Benny and his daughter Sheilagh talk about whether he’ll be around still for the centenary bash but he is clearly not about to miss his big day.
He has a cracking story but it is, too, a recounting of much of Adelaide’s more recent history.
Benny, Sheila and their children arrived at Port Adelaide in 1959 under the Ten Pound Pom Scheme. It was April and, in contrast to their former home in Larkhall, near Glasgow, it was sunny.
The family stayed with their friends for a short time but then moved to Gepps Cross Hostel. There they lived in ‘half’ a Nissen hut.
“It was an emergency housing centre,” said Benny who was very pleased not to be put up in an immigration hostel. They had to share communal laundry and bathroom facilities with other residents, but memories of Gepps Cross are good ones. They lived there for almost four years while Benny built a house himself with cash payments only in nearby Northfield.
In fact, he’s never had a loan nor a mortgage. Benny had heard stories of banks repossessing houses where the owners were only marginally late with interest payments and he didn’t want that.
A pragmatic man generous with his time for others, Benny found house building easy to come by.
“We had to bring in a plumber but if you helped other people, they’d help you,” he said.
There was unfinished work when they moved in, but the family foundations were set (Sheilagh and another brother completing four children).
A job as a TV technician was secured as a result of Benny’s practical outlook. He’d been a Bevin Boy back in Scotland (young men conscripted to work in coal mines between 1943 and 1948) before joining the army and the Royal Engineers in 1945.Secondments to Egypt, Palestine and Kenya followed.
The answer to the best country he’d visited though is surprising for a Scotsman.
“England,” said Benny firmly.
Kenya popped up again years later in unexpected fashion when Sheilagh took him to watch an international rugby sevens tournament in Adelaide.
“We went to the bar where the Kenyan team was and Dad started talking to them in Swahili,” said Sheilagh who had no idea of Benny’s linguistic achievement.
There have been visits to Scotland, one in the scorching summer of 1976 which lured the family back for a couple of years but they realised the better option was Australia, moving to Mount Barker where Benny built another house and later, to Modbury.
Benny’s wife Sheila died in 1997 (he is precise with the date and even time of her passing) and life has been a case of embracing the new – which Benny’s party guest list proves has been a huge success – while keeping in touch with the old.
Bagpipes have been a part of Benny’s life (playing and teaching) from when he was 24 years old, before giving them up when he hit 88. The musical lineage is assured, however, with his children and grandchildren playing either the bagpipes or drums at the renowned Edinburgh Tattoo.
The birthday celebrations, meanwhile, will not necessarily be a raucous affair, although he can still dance apparently.
The occasional glass of champagne on big occasions aside, he has never been a drinker or smoker, which he attributes to his longevity.
He is, though, a doer. “If I can do it, I will fix it,” he said.
“He is a first-class handyman,” said Sheilagh and an excellent digger of holes.
As well as self-reliance, his outlook and support are at the fore.
“He rings me at 4pm every day,” said Sheilagh.
“We don’t always speak, he might leave a message, but he always calls on the dot and that way I know he’s okay.”
Happy birthday Benny.
Jump to next article
