Summary

Sign which hung in the front window of the Special O drapery store in Station Street Lalor, from the time it opened in July 1966. The store was established by John and Barbara Woods nine years after they migrated to Australia from England under the assisted passage scheme. John had been previously employed by Foy and Gibsons as a door-to-door salesman and he contiuned to spend much of his time on the road selling goods while Barbara managed the store.

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 Thomastown in 1960. They had a variety of jobs before they opened their own drapery store in Lalor and had three children.

Physical Description

Sign on hardboard

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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