Barnardo boy
David Summerfield, pictured here at Old Roar House, UK, in 1947
"I was happy at Picton. I loved the sunshine and farm work. I thank Barnardo’s for sending me to Australia, away from the wet and cold of England."
David Summerfield was placed in a Barnardo’s home in Sussex after his mother died of tuberculosis during World War II.
When David was 12 he was offered the opportunity to undertake agricultural training in Canada or Australia. He chose the latter because he wanted to work in the wool industry.
David passed his medical exam, had his tonsils removed, and set sail in June 1950. He stayed at Barnardo’s Mowbray Park farm school in Picton, south of Sydney, for three years and later spent the best years of his working life at Retro sheep station in Queensland.
David age 16 at Mowbray Park Picton 1954. Lent by David Summerfield