Both sides of our family's had their origins in Europe, my parents were born in the United Kingdom as were their ancestors. My wife's father Antonio was born in Milwaukee Wisconsin in the USA and later migrated to Messina on the island of Sicily in Italy, while her mother Bessie  was born in Melbourne Australia. 

I will relate a short story about my family first.  My parents were married in November 1936 in Rugby Warwickshire England, I Maurie, was born in May 1938 followed by my brother Terry, my sister Pam and my brother Phillip who was born Western Australia. My father was employed by the London-Midland-Scottish Railway as it was known then, later to be nationalised to become British Railways. He was formerly a fireman and eventually qualified to be a driver, a position he retained until we emigrated to Australia in early 1950's. My mother worked periodically and kept the household intact during some difficult times. The period during World War 2 was very hard, with food becoming increasingly hard to get, everything being rationed by the Government and I will never forget the women queuing for their weekly rations and the bartering and haggling that went on. The picture of 3 rabbits hanging in the butchers shop, one with an extremely long tail will never leave my memory. The thought of eating Horse meat and Whale meat today, would cause quite a reaction among the population, but during the war it was all we could get. My father's job was particularly hazardous as the railways and trains were attacked and bombed relentlessly. During the years after the war life went as usual until Dad came home one night and said "How would you all like to go to Australia?". Soon after that, my father left the railways and we moved to a farm to gain experience for what lay ahead. What real experience we gained was questionable as the farming methods are totally different, the operation of machinery and the animal husbandry was really the only experience of a useful nature.

We left Tilbury docks in London on a freezing New Years day as bona fide "Ten Quid Tourists" as those under that scheme came to be known. We sailed on the SS.Otranto of the "P & O Orient Line" in 1952 and one month later arrived in Fremantle WA, to a temperature of 38 degrees Celcius which relates to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, 'What a welcome!!" And what a culture shock it was coming from a middle class home in the Midlands to a shack on a farm in the wheat belt of WA, miles from anywhere and the nearest neighbours and shops etc. My standard of education was 2 years ahead of the tiny one room school in Dowerin, so a decision was made and at the ripe old age of 13 years and 8 months, I started work as a man of the world (All 4' 8" and 6.5 stone of me). We completed our obligations there and left soon after, working on a dairy farm in East Bunbury, then on a mixed farm in Bridgetown. In 1954 we built our first house on Australian soil, it still stands today and is still occupied. In June 1958 I joined the Royal Australian Navy where I served for 15 years, during which I was lucky to travel extensively throughout the southern hemisphere, taking in Asia, South-east Asia, the South Pacific and New Zealand. In late 1958 I met my wife Vera who was also a serving member of the RAN and we married in June 1959 in Geraldton WA. We had 4 children, the eldest Peter also served in the RAN, our eldest daughter Teresa was in the Royal Australian Air-force, while Dianne's husband Steve was also in the RAAF. Linda's husband Sid is currently serving in the RAN, so we have had a military presence since we married in 1958. During this time we have been presented with 12 Grand-children and 2  Great Grand children, so far.

My wife Vera's father Antonio was born by Italian parents in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA in 1910, in 1922 at age 13 he was sent to Australia to start work and send money back to help support the family in Sicily. Later in 1931 he met and married Bessie, who was born in Melbourne Australia. He was interned here as an alien during WW2 and spent years in the goldfields area of WA. Life was very hard in those days and they lived in tents constructed with hessian (a type of course jute material), in the hot dusty goldfields countryside. He later became a fisherman and was one of the founding members of the Cray-Fishing Industry in Geraldton WA, located about 410 kilometres north of Perth WA. Tony & Bessie had 9 children, 4 girls Marie, Vera, Nancy, Betty and Toni, and 4 boys Jimmy, Frankie, Raymond and Peter. Peter died as a baby very early on. Both Jimmy and Frankie went on to be cray-fisherman for many years. Their family has close family ties with some of the more notable family's in the history of Geraldton and Fremantle, such as the Miragliotta's, the Ciccirello's, the Bombara's and many more. On Bessie's side, she also had many of her brothers that served on the State Shipping Line and coastal ships, one infamous brother 'Paddy Troy' was the founder of the Waterside Workers Union and a staunch communist. Alongside him, were his brothers Lal, (twins) Frank & Joe, Kevin, Mick and Jack who all paid their dues on the Fremantle waterfront.

A more in depth illustrated look at the Thompson, Greco and Troy families can be found on their individual pages on the 'Home' page.