Summary

Letter from the Postmaster-General's Department issued to John Woods on 5 March, 1962. It relates to John and Barbara Woods' application for a telephone service which they are informed cannot be provided due to the lack of cabling in the area and that such services probably would not be available for another two years. The Woods were residing in their recently completed house at Lot 291 Cyprus Street Lalor.

Barbara and John Woods had 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 cream sheet of paper with black printed type.

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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