Summary

Programme for the Australian Citizenship Ceremony, Thursday, 2 October 1980 held at City Hall, Malvern, Victoria at which Jim and Mary Ward received their Certificates of Citizenship, and a list of the 60 candidates for citizenship for that day with the words of 'Advance Australia Fair', and on a separate card the words for the Oath of Allegiance and the alternative Affirmation of Allegiance.

This programme was issued to James (Jim) Ward and Mary Ward and forms part of a series of items related to their Australian citizenship.

Part of a large collection of material relating to the migration and settlement of British migrants to Australia in the 1960s under the 'Bring Out a Briton' Scheme. It documents in particular both the migration experiences of James and Mary Ward and their three children who arrived in Melbourne on the 'TSS Stratheden' from Yorkshire in December 1961; and the Burke Road East Malvern Methodist Church's sponsorship of a number of English families, including the Wards, under the Scheme. The Church's support included temporary accommodation for assisted families in a neighbouring house. The 'Bring Out a Briton' Scheme (1957-1982) was part of a Commonwealth Government initiative which offered subsidised ship fares, accommodation and support to encourage migration from the UK to Australia after World War II.

Physical Description

Two separate sheets of plain white quarto paper, one with the programme printed on one side only in black typescript, and the other, printed on both sides with a list of names in black typescript, accompanied by a single yellow card with the Oath and the Affirmation of Allgeiance printed in black ink on opposite sides.

Significance

The Ward/Barlow Families collection is of national significance in documenting British assisted migration to Australia post-World War II. The collection provides a comprehensive snapshot from the commencement to completion of a British assisted migration experience and illuminates post-war immigration policies and procedures which favoured British immigration into Australia.

The collection of almost 300 items comprises a unique body of documentation with intersections between personal, community and government narratives that explore British post-World War II assisted migration. It includes photographs, personal correspondence, documents and objects offering a rare glimpse into the role of the Australian and British governments, Methodists Church sponsorship and community engagement in assisting and welcoming British immigrants to Australia. Assisted British migration was a constant theme of Australian immigration history until the early 1980s. Government initiatives such as the 'Bring Out A Briton' scheme had an enormous impact on the composition and size of the Australian population, making the Ward/Barlow collection of broad social and political historical significance.

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