Summary

Book entitled 'Do It Yourself.1961 Annual', published by Ruskin Publishing Pty., Ltd., North Melbourne in 1961. It was obtained from one of the Reservoir Joinery outlets in Reservoir, Lalor or Keon Park by John Woods who was working on the fitout of the new family home in Cyprus Street Lalor. The book contains instructions and advice on making domestic fittings, caring for tools, and home maintenance and improvements.

Barbara and John Woods married in 1955 and were living in commission housing with extended family in Buckinghamshire, England when they decided to apply for the assisted passage scheme and migrate to Australia. They sailed on the Sitmar Line MV 'Fairsea' from Southampton in 1957 and eventually built their house in Lalor (also referred to in some items in the collection as Thomastown) in 1960. They had a variety of jobs before they opened their own drapery store in Lalor and had four children.

Physical Description

64 page, soft cover book with colour cover, predominantly orange, black and blue. Back cover has a 1961 calendar; inside pages contain black printed text and black and white images.

Significance

The Woods family collection documents through objects, documents and photographs the experiences of an English family who migrated to Australia under the 'Ten Pound Pom' assisted passage scheme. The material enables the exploration of their entire migration narrative, from the decision to emigrate, planning and departure, the ship voyage, arrival and early settlement, including employment, building a house and family life. More than one million people from Great Britain migrated to Australia under this scheme between the 1940s and 1970s.

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