Summary

Letter from Dr B. Rolt, The Surgery in Amersham, England to John and Barbara Woods, certifying that they have received their smallpox vaccinations to complete their application to migrate to Australia under the assisted passage scheme, dated 19 September,1957. It is one of many letters, information sheets and booklets received by the Woods during their successful application process during 1957 to migrate to Australia.

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 asThomastown] in 1960. They had a variety of jobs before they opened their own drapery store in Lalor and had four children.

Physical Description

Single sheet of cream paper with printed letterhead and handwritten text.

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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