Summary

Blue and white cardboard and paper booklet containing the payment records from James Saunders, membership number 1652, to the Port Phillip Stevedores Association from 1924-1927. Booklet records payments for contributions, arrears, fines, levies and funeral levies.

Part of a collection of objects, documents and photographs from the Saunders family home in Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne. Elizabeth Jane Taylor Saunders (nee Elliott) (1894-1971) and James (Jimmy) Farr Saunders (1888-1974) bought the house in 1928, financed by the State Savings Bank of Victoria. James was a stevedore, working on the Melbourne docks, notably Station Pier, and was actively involved in the Port Phillip Stevedores Association and later the Waterside Workers' Federation. Elizabeth Jane was a skilled seamstress, making clothing for her family, mending, creating soft furnishings such as cushions and blankets, and doing decorative needlework. They had five children, of whom four survived to adulthood. After Elizabeth and James passed away their daughter Elizabeth Euphemia, a dental nurse and later language teacher, became the sole occupant of the house, carefully preserving its contents as decades passed. Her niece proposed the donation of the household contents to Museum Victoria, a rare and significant record of 20th century family life in Melbourne.

Physical Description

Rectangular paper and cardboard payment record booklet. Consists of 4 pages, including cover. Internal pages are off white with a blue cardboard cover. Held together with a singular staple halfway along the spine. Front cover features handwritten grey text, with internal pages featuring a printed black table with black text, and handwritten text in both grey pencil and black and red ink. Upper right corner of front cover has section removed. Front cover displays crease lines.

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