Summary

Certificate of ownership for a sewing machine purchased by Lucy Simmons (later Hathaway) from the Singer Sewing Machine Company, Smithsford Street, Coventry shop, England, 22 June, 1940. Lucy was employed by the Company as a sales representative and demonstrator in England during the 1930s and 1940s prior to and after her marriage and before migrating to Australia with her family in 1951.

Stanley and Lucy (nee Simmons) Hathaway and their daughter Hazel survived World War II in heavily bombed Coventry, England, remaining there until 1946. They attended the Victory in Europe celebrations there on 8 May 1945. The Hathaways relocated to Buckinghamshire (where second daughter Merle was born in 1948) and Hampshire between 1946 and 1951, finally deciding to migrate to Australia. Their application took nearly two years to be confirmed under the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme, correspondence indicating that Stanley's trade qualifications were not immediately accepted for the Commonwealth Nomination Scheme. They lived and toured England in a caravan until finally departing on the New Australia, 17 November, 1951.

The Hathaways first stayed at the Bathurst Migrant Camp in New South Wales before being relocated to a housing commission estate in Ballarat, Victoria. Within six months they had purchased a block of land in Wendouree, living in a caravan while their house was built. The family became active members of the local Ballarat community, with Lucy working for the newly established McCallum House Centre for Retarded Children at Sebastopol and continued her strong interest in the Brownies and Girl Guides associations. They later relocated to Melbourne and then retired to Buninyong.

Physical Description

Cream coloured paper with black printed text and handwritten annotations.

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