Summary

Meat ration card from 1948, issued to Amelia and Frederick Roberts by the Commonwealth of Australia. Frederick Roberts and Amelia Lynch migrated separately to Australia between 1924 and 1925. They married in 1926, later settling in Seymour, Victoria.

Rationing of a range of goods was introduced by the Australian Government in response to the shortages caused by World War II. Meat rationing was enacted on 14 January 1944 and limited each person to 2 1/4 lbs of meat per week. It was abolished 24 June 1948.

Physical Description

Yellowed card with red print and inscriptions in blue ink. Constructed as a booklet with sewn spine down the centre, two leaves making 4 printed pages in total. Most of right hand page cut off. 47 coupons remaining on each leaf.

Significance

This collection of documents relates to the migration and settlement experiences of two English migrants, Amelia Lynch and Frederick Roberts. They migrated separately to Victoria during the 1920s, and subsequently married, worked and lived in Seymour, Victoria. Amelia left England in April 1924 aged 29, and Frederick Roberts in the December of 1924 aged 22. The couple married in 1926.
The collection includes documents brought from England, as well as items collated whilst in Australia.
Of particular interest are the set of receipts for ship fare repayment, indicating a loans system during the 1920s for unassisted British migrants. A set of broadcast listener's licences from the 1940s and 1950s are also of note for how they reflect a time when domestic communications were highly regulated.

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