[William Darbyshire Home Movies: Reel 13]

William (Billy) Darbyshire (1903–1979) was a film enthusiast and traveller who emigrated with his parents from England to Australia in 1911. It may have been this early trip that influenced a young Billy to travel the world later in life and film his travels as he went.

First travelling to Africa for work and to various destinations whilst in service during WWII, Billy would continue to travel after the war throughout Asia, Europe, Africa, the Pacific and North America. It was in this period, during the 1960s, that he purchased an 8mm movie camera which resulted in a collection of films that capture his travels, taking in the sites of the world from Asia to Europe and Africa to the Americas.

In this film, Billy travels to Taiping, Malaysia and Tarakan, Borneo and then journeys throughout Australia during 1961.

This film was originally made using standard 8mm film. The quality of the film can be a little challenging as it is jumpy, damaged and scratched at times.

This film has a few scenes from Billy’s travels to Taiping in Malaysia before moving on to Sydney and Melbourne. Billy includes some lovely scenes of being at sea, ships and shipping. The scenes in Sydney include the Harbour, the Bridge and some busy streets. In Melbourne we see the Moomba Parade, trams and vintage cars along St Kilda Road, the Yarra River and the Robin Boyd Sculpture at Southbank.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:06:00 on board ship
00:00:33:00 two passengers disembarking in Malaysia
00:00:43:00 views of traditional Malaysian housing
00:00:55:00 people cycling along roads in Taiping, Malaysia
00:01:09:00 women standing with local children in Taiping, all smiling at the camera
00:01:20:00 a woman walking toward embarkation area for a ship
00:02:12:00 great shot of a passenger ship speeding along through the water
00:03:45:00 (possibly) Pulau Pising Lighthouse on Banana Island in the Malacca Straits.
00:04:58:00 a glimpse of some passengers on board ship as they lean over the rail coming into Sydney Harbour.
00:05:43:00 a large liner at berth
00:06:10:00 military ship in Sydney Harbour
00:06:40:00 travelling over the Harbour Bridge by car
00:07:23:00 yachts on the Harbour
00:08:43:00 sign for ‘Wollongong’ followed by an early model Holden (EK)
00:12:13:00 Robin Boyd Sculpture at Southgate, Melbourne, followed by the Yarra River, river boats and Princes Bridge.
00:12:54:00 Circa 1960s (and earlier) cars and trams on St Kilda Road in Melbourne
00:13:13:00 Moomba Parade in Melbourne
00:13:39:00 a decorated ‘A.L.P’ (Australian Labor Party) parade float
00:13:43:00 the ‘Magga Dan Esberg’ ship at a berth.
00:16:50:00 Anzac Day Parade.