G'day Toadfrog,

There were quite a lot of Germans coming to Australia in the 19th century, for the reasons I mention above. The town where John Meredith, one of our pioneer collectors, was born and raised was known as "Germantown" ... until August 1914! Many Germans, with far more loyalty to Australia than to the country their (grand)parents had fled, promptly changed their names to more "English" versions ... and, because they no longer spoke German, even at home, their old songs mostly vanished.

Another influx of Germans, and German-speaking Europeans, was after WW II - especially when labourers and tradesman were recruited for the Snowy Mts Hydro Scheme. Many of the early Hydro camps had bilingual notices: English/German! I could certainly have made good use of the German education, of which I was cheated by general Australian Anglophony, in the years I worked on Hydro schemes.

Regards,

Bob Bolton