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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
Liverpool City Library

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Liverpool City Library

Author

Collection

Transcript: Miss Elizabeth Killinger talks about anti-German sentiment during World War I as Author

Transcript: Miss Elizabeth Killinger talks about her father's tannery on the Georges River as Author

Transcript: Miss Marjorie Tebb recalls coupons used after WWII in her family's butchering business as Author

Transcript: Miss Marjorie Tebb remembers a family story about Aboriginal people in the 19th century in Liverpool as Author

Transcript: Miss Marjorie Tebb remembers the Chinese hawkers in Liverpool as Author

Transcript: Mr Carl Borowsky remembers horse transport in Liverpool in the 1920s as Author

Transcript: Mr Carl Borowsky talks about 'bag town' in the 1920s as Author

Transcript: Mr Charles Wilson recalls fishing in the Georges River in the early twentieth century as Author

Transcript: Mr Domenico Scuglia discusses restrictions on Italians in Australia during WWII as Author

Transcript: Mr Eddie Saunders remembers a blacksmith's workshop in Liverpool as Author

Transcript: Mr Eddie Saunders remembers his mother's bike rental shop in Liverpool as Author

Transcript: Mr Fred Scott remembers his grandfather's work as a wool classer in Liverpool as Author

Transcript: Mr George Bates on a chance 'meeting' with Henry Lawson's dog as Author

Transcript: Mr George Bates on working at Ashcroft's Butchers in Liverpool during the Great Depression as Author

Transcript: Mr George Bates remembers a carnival held to raise money for a local orphanage as Author

Transcript: Mr George Bates talks about the Ancient Order of Foresters during the Great Depression as Author

Transcript: Mr Jack Healy recalls boyhood swimming rituals in the Georges River as Author

Transcript: Mr Jack Healy recalls training horses for the army in Liverpool in 1928 as Author

Transcript: Mr Jack Healy remembers a local Aboriginal man from Williams Creek as Author

Transcript: Mr James William Beale talks about his first job in the Liverpool telephone exchange as Author

Transcript: Mr John Costa recalls his family feeding American Italian soldiers on their Liverpool farm during World War II as Author

Transcript: Mr John Costa recalls the Green Valley post office as Author

Transcript: Mr John Costa recalls the gypsies who were once common in the Liverpool area as Author

Transcript: Mr Joseph Bradshaw remembers being the proud owner of the second car in Liverpool, in 1927 as Author

Transcript: Mr Joseph Bradshaw remembers working as a child on a farm in Liverpool as Author

Transcript: Mr Norman Woodward recalls growing grapes in Chipping Norton after World War II as Author

Transcript: Mr Norman Woodward recalls working conditions as a spinner during the Depression as Author

Transcript: Mr Pat Cullen recalls driving the police to accident scenes in his car in Liverpool as Author

Transcript: Mr Pat Cullen recalls the life saving club that patrolled the Georges River in the early 1930s as Author

Transcript: Mr Pat Cullen remembers using charcoal burners in cars during World War II as Author

Transcript: Mr Peter Granville-Smith describes his work at Liverpool telephone exchange in the early 1930s as Author

Transcript: Mr Peter Granville-Smith recalls his family singing in the little Union Church Hoxton Park as Author

Transcript: Mr Peter Serovich remembers the Austral Progress Association as Author

Transcript: Mr Stanley Everett remembers Chipping Norton in the early twentieth century as Author

Transcript: Mr Stanley Everett remembers making crystal radio sets as a child in Liverpool as Author

Transcript: Mr Stanley and Mrs Amy Everett remember their wine growing neighbours in Chipping Norton as Author

Transcript: Mr Walter John Ferguson recalls the dangers of swimming in the Georges River in the late 1920s as Author

Transcript: Mr Walter John Ferguson recalls the noted Australian artist Eric Wilson as Author

Transcript: Mr William Kennedy recalls collecting the dole at Liverpool Town Hall during the Depression as Author

Transcript: Mr William Kennedy remembers timber carting around Liverpool in the early twentieth century as Author

Transcript: Mrs Amy Everett recalls moving to Chipping Norton during the Great Depression as Author

Transcript: Mrs Carmel Amalfi describes a devastating hailstorm in Liverpool in the 1930s as Author

Transcript: Mrs Carmel Amalfi describes her husband Angelo's work as a child on his father's farm in Liverpool in the 1930s as Author

Transcript: Mrs Constance Jewell remembers economising with meals during the Depression as Author

Transcript: Mrs Constance Jewell remembers social life in Hammondville during the Depression as Author

Transcript: Mrs Dorothy Colburn recalls hazards associated with the Georges River as Author

Transcript: Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick recalls Cracker Night in the early twentieth century near Bringelly as Author

Transcript: Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick recalls the Sydney Water Board cottage of her childhood as Author

Transcript: Mrs Elsie Collimore remembers Liverpool's outdoor cinema as Author

Transcript: Mrs Elsie Collimore remembers scenes from the Liverpool soldiers' riot of 1916 as Author

Transcript: Mrs Enid Borowsky recalls washing laundry in coppers and kerosene tins in the early twentieth century as Author

Transcript: Mrs Enid Borowsky talks about working conditions in Liverpool's Challenge Woollen Mills as Author

Transcript: Mrs Enid and Mr Carl Borowsky recall learning to swim in the Georges River in the 1920s as Author

Transcript: Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers 'Old Joe', an Aboriginal man and his horse and buggy taxi service as Author

Transcript: Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers hazards encountered while walking to school as Author

Transcript: Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers surviving well during the Great Depression as Author

Transcript: Mrs Florence Starr Gets Her Motorcycle License in 1925 as Author

Transcript: Mrs Florence Starr recalls making garden stakes for Chinese market gardeners in Austral as Author

Transcript: Mrs Jessie La Trobe describes delivering newspapers to military camps during WWII as Author

Transcript: Mrs Lillian Watson recalls an American Air Force plane crash during World War II as Author

Transcript: Mrs Lillian Watson remembers her arrival in Hammondville during the Depression as Author

Transcript: Mrs Linda [Lyndon] Popple talks about Horningsea Park in Liverpool as Author

Transcript: Mrs Marjorie Gough knitting for the soldiers in WWI and WWII as Author

Transcript: Mrs Marjorie Gough mourns loss of old All Saints' Church, Liverpool as Author

Transcript: Mrs May Rae recalls her father's work for Challenge Woollen Mills, Liverpool as Author

Carl Borowsky, interviewed in 1986, talks about the 'bag town' near Liverpool that provided housing for families during the Depression as Collection

George Bates recalls the day when he buried Henry Lawson's cattle dog in North Sydney c1929, interviewed 1986 as Collection

Miss Elizabeth Killinger talks about anti-German sentiment during World War I, recorded 1986 as Collection

Miss Elizabeth Killinger talks about her father's tannery on the Georges River, interviewed 1986 as Collection

Miss Marjorie Tebb recalls coupons used after WWII in her family's butchering business, interviewed 1986 as Collection

Miss Marjorie Tebb remembers a family story about Aboriginal people in the 19th century in Liverpool, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Miss Marjorie Tebb remembers the Chinese hawkers in Liverpool in the 1920s, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Carl Borowsky, interviewed in 1986, remembers horse transport in Liverpool in the 1920s as Collection

Mr Charles Wilson recalls fishing in the Georges River in the early twentieth century, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Domenico Scuglia discusses restrictions on Italians in Australia during WWII, interviewed 1986 as Collection

Mr Eddie Saunders remembers a blacksmith's workshop in Liverpool, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Eddie Saunders remembers his mother's bike rental shop in Liverpool, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Fred Scott remembers his grandfather's work as a wool classer in Liverpool, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr George Bates talks about the Ancient Order of Foresters during the Great Depression, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr George Bates, interviewed in 1986, on working at Ashcroft's Butcher's in Liverpool during the Great Depression as Collection

Mr George Bates, interviewed in 1986, remembers a carnival held to raise money for an orphanage in Liverpool as Collection

Mr Jack Healy recalls boyhood swimming rituals in the Georges River, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Jack Healy recalls training horses for the army in Liverpool in 1928, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Jack Healy remembers a local Aboriginal man from Williams Creek, interviewed 1986 as Collection

Mr James William Beale talks about his first job in the Liverpool telephone exchange in 1913, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr John Costa recalls his family feeding American Italian soldiers on their Liverpool farm during World War II, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr John Costa recalls the Green Valley post office, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr John Costa recalls the gypsies who were once common in the Liverpool area, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Joseph Bradshaw remembers in 1927 being the proud owner of the second car in Liverpool, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Joseph Bradshaw remembers working as a child on a farm in Liverpool c1910-1925, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Norman Woodward recalls growing grapes in Chipping Norton 1945-1947, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Norman Woodward recalls working conditions at the Challenge Woollen Mills during the Depression, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Pat Cullen recalls driving the police to accident scenes in his tow truck in the 1920s in Liverpool, interviewed 1986 as Collection

Mr Pat Cullen recalls the life saving club that patrolled the Georges River in the early 1930s, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Pat Cullen remembers using charcoal burners in cars during World War II, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Peter Granville-Smith describes his work at Liverpool telephone exchange in the early 1930s, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Peter Granville-Smith talks about the Hoxton Park Union Church and his family singing there c1920s, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Peter Serovich remembers the Austral Progress Association, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Stanley Everett remembers Chipping Norton in the early twentieth century, interviewed 1986 as Collection

Mr Stanley Everett remembers making crystal radio sets in the 1920s as a child in Liverpool, interviewed 1986 as Collection

Mr Stanley and Mrs Amy Everett remember their wine growing neighbours in Chipping Norton, interviewed 1986 as Collection

Mr Walter John Ferguson recalls the dangers of swimming in the Georges River in the late 1920s, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr Walter John Ferguson, interviewed in 1986, recalls Australian artist Eric Wilson who lived in Liverpool in the 1930s, and his painting 'A game of draughts' as Collection

Mr William Kennedy recalls collecting the dole at Liverpool Town Hall during the Depression, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mr William Kennedy remembers timber carting around Liverpool in the early twentieth century, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs Amy Everett recalls moving to Chipping Norton during the Great Depression, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs Carmel Amalfi describes a hailstorm on her father-in-law's Liverpool market garden in March 1947, recorded 1986 as Collection

Mrs Carmel Amalfi, interviewed in 1986, describes her husband Angelo's work as a child on his father's farm in Liverpool in the 1930s as Collection

Mrs Constance Jewell remembers economising with meals during the Depression, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs Constance Jewell remembers social life in Hammondville during the Depression, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs Dorothy Colburn, interviewed in 1986, recalls hazards associated with the Georges River in the 1930s as Collection

Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick recalls Cracker Night in the early twentieth century near Bringelly, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick recalls the Sydney Water Board cottage of her childhood in the early 20th century, interviewed 1986 as Collection

Mrs Elsie Collimore remembers Liverpool's outdoor cinema in the early 20th century, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs Elsie Collimore remembers scenes from the Liverpool soldiers' riot of 1916, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs Enid Borowsky talks in 1986 about working conditions in Liverpool's Challenge Woollen Mills c1930s as Collection

Mrs Enid Borowsky, interviewed in 1986, recalls washing laundry in coppers and kerosene tins in the early twentieth century as Collection

Mrs Enid and Mr Carl Borowsky recall learning to swim in the Georges River in the 1920s, interviewed 1986 as Collection

Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers 'Old Joe', an Aboriginal man and his horse and buggy taxi service c1914, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers hazards encountered while walking to school in the early 20th century, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers surviving well during the Great Depression, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs Florence Starr recalls getting her motorcycle license in 1925 in Liverpool, interviewed 1986 as Collection

Mrs Florence Starr recalls making garden stakes in the 1920s for Chinese market gardeners in Austral, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs Jessie La Trobe describes delivering newspapers to military camps during World War II, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs Lillian Watson recalls an American Air Force plane crash during World War II, interviewed 1986 as Collection

Mrs Lillian Watson remembers her arrival in Hammondville during the Depression, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs Marjorie Gough mourns loss of the old All Saints' Church building in Liverpool after it was demolished in 1971, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs Marjorie Gough recalls knitting for soldiers in World Wars I and II, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs May Rae recalls her father's work for Challenge Woollen Mills, Liverpool, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

Mrs Popple talks about Horningsea Park in Liverpool, interviewed in 1986 as Collection

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Transcript: Miss Elizabeth Killinger talks about anti-German sentiment during World War I

Miss Elizabeth Killinger was born in 1899 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Her family was of German extraction and she talks here about anti-German sentiment during World War I.

Transcript: Miss Elizabeth Killinger talks about her father's tannery on the Georges River

Miss Elizabeth Killinger was born in 1899 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Miss Killinger's family was of German extraction and she talks here about her father's tannery on Ritchie's Creek [now Brickmakers Creek] on Georges River, which he established in the very early twentieth century.

Transcript: Miss Marjorie Tebb recalls coupons used after WWII in her family's butchering business

Miss Marjorie Tebb was born in 1920 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here she is talking about the complex arrangements for coupons after World War II that regulated the wholesale and retail trade in meat for CR Tebb and Sons, her family's butchering business

Transcript: Miss Marjorie Tebb remembers a family story about Aboriginal people in the 19th century in Liverpool

Miss Marjorie Tebb was born in 1920 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here she remembers her great grandfather's story about Aboriginal people in the Liverpool area, presumably from the nineteenth century.

Transcript: Miss Marjorie Tebb remembers the Chinese hawkers in Liverpool

Miss Marjorie Tebb was born in 1920 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here Miss Tebb remembers one of the Chinese hawkers who sold their wares door-to-door in Liverpool in the early twentieth century.

Transcript: Mr Carl Borowsky remembers horse transport in Liverpool in the 1920s

Mr Carl Borowsky came to Liverpool as a boy in 1923. He was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he remembers Liverpool in the 1920s when it was dominated by horse transport and businesses and industries associated with horses

Transcript: Mr Carl Borowsky talks about 'bag town' in the 1920s

Mr Carl Borowsky, interviewed in 1986 for the Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960 project, came to live in Liverpool with his family in 1923. He talks about so-called 'bag town', which provided housing for families during the depression.

Transcript: Mr Charles Wilson recalls fishing in the Georges River in the early twentieth century

Mr Charles Wilson was born in 1904 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here he recalls the bountiful fish available to fishermen in the Georges River in the early twentieth century.

Transcript: Mr Domenico Scuglia discusses restrictions on Italians in Australia during WWII

Mr Domenico Scuglia was born in Italy in 1924, came to Liverpool in 1937, and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He discusses here the restrictions placed on free movement of Italians in Australia during World War II, due to Italy's membership of the Axis Powers.

Transcript: Mr Eddie Saunders remembers a blacksmith's workshop in Liverpool

Mr Eddie Saunders was born in 1903 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He remembers the unexplained disappearance of a building wall in Liverpool on a site that once housed a blacksmith's workshop.

Transcript: Mr Eddie Saunders remembers his mother's bike rental shop in Liverpool

Mr Eddie Saunders was born in 1903 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here he remembers his mother's bike rental shop in Liverpool, long before motorcars became commonplace.

Transcript: Mr Fred Scott remembers his grandfather's work as a wool classer in Liverpool

Mr Fred Scott was born in 1914 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He remembers his grandfather's work as a wool classer in the early twentieth century when semi-rural Liverpool had close links with the wool industry.

Transcript: Mr George Bates on a chance 'meeting' with Henry Lawson's dog

Mr George Bates, born in 1912, interviewed in 1986 for the Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960 project, talks about a chance 'meeting' with Henry Lawson's dog in North Sydney during his childhood.

Transcript: Mr George Bates on working at Ashcroft's Butchers in Liverpool during the Great Depression

Mr George Bates was born in 1912 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' oral history project. He remembers finding work at Ashcroft's Butchers in Liverpool during the Great Depression.

Transcript: Mr George Bates remembers a carnival held to raise money for a local orphanage

Mr George Bates was born in 1912 and spent most of his adult life in Liverpool. He was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900–1960' project. Here he remembers a carnival held to raise money for a local orphanage.

Transcript: Mr George Bates talks about the Ancient Order of Foresters during the Great Depression

Mr George Bates was born in 1912 was interviewed in 1986 for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960 ' project. Here he talks about a friendly society called the Ancient Order of Foresters, which was active in the Liverpool area during the Great Depression.

Transcript: Mr Jack Healy recalls boyhood swimming rituals in the Georges River

Mr Jack Healy was born in 1908. He was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He recalls the boyhood rituals of learning to swim in the Georges River

Transcript: Mr Jack Healy recalls training horses for the army in Liverpool in 1928

Mr Jack Healy was born in 1908. He was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He recalls joining the remount unit [responsible for training horses for the Australian army] at Liverpool in 1928

Transcript: Mr Jack Healy remembers a local Aboriginal man from Williams Creek

Mr Jack Healy was born in 1908. He was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here he remembers from his childhood the man he believed to be the last survivor of a local Aboriginal tribe

Transcript: Mr James William Beale talks about his first job in the Liverpool telephone exchange

Mr James William Beale was born in 1900 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960 ' project. He talks here about his first job, in the Liverpool telephone exchange.

Transcript: Mr John Costa recalls his family feeding American Italian soldiers on their Liverpool farm during World War II

Mr John Costa was born in 1928 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he recalls his family feeding Italian American soldiers on their farm during World War II.

Transcript: Mr John Costa recalls the Green Valley post office

Mr John Costa was born in 1928 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he recalls the Green Valley post office.

Transcript: Mr John Costa recalls the gypsies who were once common in the Liverpool area

Mr John Costa was born in 1928 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he remembers gypsies who were once common in the Liverpool area.

Transcript: Mr Joseph Bradshaw remembers being the proud owner of the second car in Liverpool, in 1927

Mr Joseph Bradshaw was born in 1905 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he remembers being the proud owner of the second car in Liverpool, in 1927.

Transcript: Mr Joseph Bradshaw remembers working as a child on a farm in Liverpool

Mr Joseph Bradshaw was born in 1905 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. He remembers here the work of a child on general mixed farms in the area.

Transcript: Mr Norman Woodward recalls growing grapes in Chipping Norton after World War II

Mr Norman Woodward was born in 1918 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He recalls here the hazards of grape growing in Chipping Norton in the immediate post-war years.

Transcript: Mr Norman Woodward recalls working conditions as a spinner during the Depression

Mr Norman Woodward was born in 1918 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He went to work at the Challenge Woollen Mills in Liverpool during the Depression in 1932.

Transcript: Mr Pat Cullen recalls driving the police to accident scenes in his car in Liverpool

Mr Pat Cullen was born in 1912 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he describes his early days in the motor industry, which included driving the police to accident scenes.

Transcript: Mr Pat Cullen recalls the life saving club that patrolled the Georges River in the early 1930s

Mr Pat Cullen was born in 1912 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. He recalls the life saving club that patrolled the Georges River for a period in the early '30s.

Transcript: Mr Pat Cullen remembers using charcoal burners in cars during World War II

Mr Pat Cullen was born in 1912 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he remembers the charcoal burners that were used to replace petrol in cars during World War II.

Transcript: Mr Peter Granville-Smith describes his work at Liverpool telephone exchange in the early 1930s

Mr Peter Granville-Smith was born in 1910 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He describes his work as a telephonist at the Liverpool telephone exchange in the early 1930s

Transcript: Mr Peter Granville-Smith recalls his family singing in the little Union Church Hoxton Park

Mr Peter Granville-Smith was born in 1910 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He came to live in Hoxton Park with his family in 1914 because his clergyman father was ill.

Transcript: Mr Peter Serovich remembers the Austral Progress Association

Mr Peter Serovich was born in Yugoslavia in 1908, came to Australia in 1925, and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here he remembers the necessity for a Progress Association for the young and undeveloped suburb of Austral.

Transcript: Mr Stanley Everett remembers Chipping Norton in the early twentieth century

Mr Stanley Everett, born in 1909 was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he remembers the pleasures of living in Chipping Norton in the early twentieth century.

Transcript: Mr Stanley Everett remembers making crystal radio sets as a child in Liverpool

Mr Stanley Everett, born in 1909, was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. He remembers his childhood hobby of making crystal radio sets.

Transcript: Mr Stanley and Mrs Amy Everett remember their wine growing neighbours in Chipping Norton

Mr Stanley Everett and Mrs Amy Everett, interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project, remember wine growers in their neighbourhood in Chipping Norton in the early twentieth century.

Transcript: Mr Walter John Ferguson recalls the dangers of swimming in the Georges River in the late 1920s

Mr Walter John Ferguson, born in 1912, was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he talks about the dangers of swimming in the Georges River and the establishment of a life-saving club in the late 1920s and early 1930s

Transcript: Mr Walter John Ferguson recalls the noted Australian artist Eric Wilson

Mr Walter John Ferguson, born in 1912, interviewed in 1986 for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project, recalls the noted Australian artist Eric Wilson.

Transcript: Mr William Kennedy recalls collecting the dole at Liverpool Town Hall during the Depression

Mr William Kennedy was born in 1910 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He remembers crowds of men gathering to collect the dole at Liverpool Town Hall during the Great Depression

Transcript: Mr William Kennedy remembers timber carting around Liverpool in the early twentieth century

Mr William Kennedy was born in 1910 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He recalls the difference between drays and jinkers, both horse-drawn vehicles, which were used to cart timber in the Liverpool area in the early twentieth century.

Transcript: Mrs Amy Everett recalls moving to Chipping Norton during the Great Depression

Mrs Amy Everett, interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project, remembers her mother's reaction to moving to Chipping Norton from Artarmon in Sydney's northern suburbs, during the Great Depression.

Transcript: Mrs Carmel Amalfi describes a devastating hailstorm in Liverpool in the 1930s

Mrs Carmel Amalfi, interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool' oral history project, describes a hail storm on the family farm in Liverpool in the 1930s

Transcript: Mrs Carmel Amalfi describes her husband Angelo's work as a child on his father's farm in Liverpool in the 1930s

Mrs Carmel Amalfi, interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project, describes her husband Angelo's work as a child on his father's farm in Liverpool in the 1930s.

Transcript: Mrs Constance Jewell remembers economising with meals during the Depression

Mrs Constance Jewell was born in 1896 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' She moved with her husband to Hammondville, a housing settlement for families in difficulty during the depression. She recalls economising with meals during that time.

Transcript: Mrs Constance Jewell remembers social life in Hammondville during the Depression

Mrs Constance Jewell was born in 1896 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' She moved with her husband to Hammondville, a housing settlement for families in difficulty, in the Depression. She remembers a rich social life in the community there.

Transcript: Mrs Dorothy Colburn recalls hazards associated with the Georges River

Mrs Dorothy Colburn, interviewed in 1986 for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project, recalls hazards associated with the Georges River

Transcript: Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick recalls Cracker Night in the early twentieth century near Bringelly

Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick was born in 1899. She was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she recalls Cracker Night (Empire Day was celebrated with fireworks, which are now outlawed in New South Wales) in the very early twentieth century at her family's remote home near Bringelly

Transcript: Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick recalls the Sydney Water Board cottage of her childhood

Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick was born in 1899. She was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she recalls the circumstances of her birth and the remote Sydney Water Board cottage of her childhood.

Transcript: Mrs Elsie Collimore remembers Liverpool's outdoor cinema

Mrs Elsie Collimore was born in 1906 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she remembers Liverpool's outdoor cinema.

Transcript: Mrs Elsie Collimore remembers scenes from the Liverpool soldiers' riot of 1916

Mrs Elsie Collimore was born in 1906 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she remembers scenes from Liverpool during World War I, including the now famous soldiers' riot of 1916.

Transcript: Mrs Enid Borowsky recalls washing laundry in coppers and kerosene tins in the early twentieth century

Mrs Enid Borowsky was interviewed, with her husband Carl Borowsky, in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960 ' project. They recall washing the household linen and clothing in coppers and kerosene tins in the early twentieth century.

Transcript: Mrs Enid Borowsky talks about working conditions in Liverpool's Challenge Woollen Mills

Mrs Enid Borowsky was interviewed, with her husband Carl Borowsky, in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960 ' project. Here they talk about working conditions in the Challenge Woollen Mills, a major employer in the Liverpool area

Transcript: Mrs Enid and Mr Carl Borowsky recall learning to swim in the Georges River in the 1920s

Mrs Enid Borowsky was interviewed, with her husband Carl Borowsky, in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. They recall learning to swim in Powells Creek and the Georges River in the 1920s, and the effect of drought on water quality

Transcript: Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers 'Old Joe', an Aboriginal man and his horse and buggy taxi service

Mrs Evelyn Chapple was born in 1896 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she remembers 'Old Joe', an Aboriginal man who ran a taxi service in his horse and buggy.

Transcript: Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers hazards encountered while walking to school

Mrs Evelyn Chapple was born in 1896 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she remembers hazards encountered while walking to school.

Transcript: Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers surviving well during the Great Depression

Mrs Evelyn Chapple, who was born in 1896, was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. She remembers surviving well during the Great Depression of the 1930s because of income from real estate and her husband's employment at the Challenge Woollen Mills in Liverpool.

Transcript: Mrs Florence Starr Gets Her Motorcycle License in 1925

Mrs Florence Starr came to live in Australia in 1925 when she was first married at the age of seventeen. In this excerpt from her interview for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project, recorded by Liverpool City Library in 1986, she recalls her motorbike riding prowess.

Transcript: Mrs Florence Starr recalls making garden stakes for Chinese market gardeners in Austral

Mrs Florence Starr was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' She came to live in the suburb of Austral in 1925 when she was first married, at the age of seventeen. She recalls making garden stakes for Chinese market gardeners in the area.

Transcript: Mrs Jessie La Trobe describes delivering newspapers to military camps during WWII

Mrs Jessie La Trobe, who was born in 1910, was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Her family owned a news agency in Liverpool and here she describes delivering newspapers to local military camps during the World War II.

Transcript: Mrs Lillian Watson recalls an American Air Force plane crash during World War II

Mrs Lillian Dulcie Watson was born in 1904 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Mrs Watson was witness to the crash of an American Air Force plane, due to engine failure over Hammondville, during World War II.

Transcript: Mrs Lillian Watson remembers her arrival in Hammondville during the Depression

Mrs Lillian Dulcie Watson was born in 1904 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Mrs Watson remembers her arrival in Hammondville, a settlement developed near Liverpool during the depression for families in need.

Transcript: Mrs Linda [Lyndon] Popple talks about Horningsea Park in Liverpool

Mrs Linda [Lyndon] Popple was born in 1901 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' She moved to Liverpool in 1914 from the alpine town of Cooma in New South Wales. She talks here about a grand historical residence in Liverpool: Horningsea Park.

Transcript: Mrs Marjorie Gough knitting for the soldiers in WWI and WWII

Mrs Marjorie Gough was born in 1908 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here she talks here about her contribution to the war effort in both world wars

Transcript: Mrs Marjorie Gough mourns loss of old All Saints' Church, Liverpool

Mrs Marjorie Gough was born in 1908 and came to Liverpool in 1927 when she married. In her interview in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960,' project she mourned the loss of Liverpool's old All Saints' Church because of its strong connection with the milestones of her family's life

Transcript: Mrs May Rae recalls her father's work for Challenge Woollen Mills, Liverpool

Mrs May Rae was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' She recalls her family's immigration to Liverpool in New South Wales was due to her father's skilled work in woollen mills.

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Mr Carl Borowsky, interviewed in 1986 for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' project, came to live in Liverpool with his family in 1923. He talks about so-called 'bag town', which provided housing for families during the depression.

Transcript

INTERVIEWER: Where was 'bag town'?

CARL: Well it took in, now what they call Calabro Street and up as far as Webster Road, and there was only one street in it, not like there's two now, there's William Street and Thelma Street, there only used to be Thelma Street in it. And that was all sold in the depression. Forty pound a block, no deposit, two bob [two shillings] a week, and that's how people moved out of Liverpool and how it got its name 'bag town'.

Anybody that built a shack they had to cover with bags and threw tar on, hot tar on it and sand or anything like that. But a lot of people moved out from Liverpool to there, [there's a] a lot of kids today that were reared there, good area. They lived in better than tents, had a good roof over their head, the sides admittedly were only bags of tar on it or white wash.

INTERVIEWER: Had they been floored?

CARL: Oh yes, they'd have a bit of a rough floor on it I suppose. I don't know what their kitchens were like, mightn't have had anything in it. When you've got no option to do anything, you've got to do it, don't you?

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with Mr Carl Borowsky and the Borowsky family from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

George Bates recalls the day when he buried Henry Lawson's cattle dog in North Sydney c1929, interviewed 1986

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Mr George Bates, born in 1912, interviewed in 1986 for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' project recalls the day during his childhood when he buried Henry Lawson's cattle dog, in North Sydney c1929.
Transcript

GEORGE: I was unfortunately taken to an orphanage at Baulkham Hills and after a given time, as I'd just gone six or seven years old, after spending three years in the orphanage there I was taken back to the grandparents in North Sydney, and educated by the Marist Brothers in North Sydney.

Whilst at North Sydney I used to get attached to a particularly old lady in West St, North Sydney, as she'd see me going to school in Ridge St, North Sydney, and she said 'Would you mind George when you're coming after school, bury the old dog', and I said 'No, I don't mind at all.'

So after school I came to her house in West St and she said 'Just under the tree there' and she had an apple for me, and she said 'When you bury that dog George, you'll have the great distinction when you grow into manhood, you have just buried Henry Lawson's cattle dog'.

It was a great privilege to think that, and I've thought of it ever since. I was a school boy as I call myself, buried Henry Lawson's cattle dog.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with George Bates, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Miss Elizabeth Killinger talks about anti-German sentiment during World War I, recorded 1986

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Miss Elizabeth Killinger was born in 1899 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Her family was of German extraction and she talks here about anti-German sentiment during World War I.

Transcript

INTERVIEWER: Was there any anti-German sentiment felt against your family?
ELIZABETH: Not terribly much but my eldest brother, at Liverpool primary school, Mr Paradise was the headmaster there at the time and he used to call him [her brother] 'Kaiser Bill'. He says 'Kaiser Bill, come here, do this and do that!' And of course Bill was terribly upset and he came home and he told Mum. He said 'I don't like it', he said 'he calls me Kaiser Bill in front of all the, and makes fun of me'. And so Mother said 'We'll soon put a stop to that' and she went up and saw him.
INTERVIEWER: And did it stop then?
ELIZABETH: It stopped then. She said, 'child can't help his parents' nationality,' and she said 'actually I know he's well-behaved at school'. It wasn't that he was a bad lad or anything, but it stopped.
INTERVIEWER: Were your parents naturalised or not?
ELIZABETH: Yes, well my mother didn't have to be because she was English born, but Father was naturalised. I don't remember when but he must have been naturalised quite early because he wouldn't let us speak German; absolutely forbad[e] us to speak German. He wouldn't teach us German.
INTERVIEWER: Even when you were young children?
ELIZABETH: Even when we were young children we weren't allowed. He said, 'You are not to speak German!' 'Because,' he said, 'you're English, in an English land. I want you to speak good English,' and he said, 'So many of my friends, people that I know, they speak the German,' (or whatever) and he said, 'they can't speak English properly,' and he said, 'They're neither one thing or another.'

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Miss Elizabeth Killinger for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 - 1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Miss Elizabeth Killinger talks about her father's tannery on the Georges River, interviewed 1986

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Miss Elizabeth Killinger was born in 1899 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Miss Killinger's family was of German extraction and she talks here about her father's tannery on Ritchie's Creek [now Brickmakers Creek] on Georges River, which he established in the very early twentieth century.
Transcript

INTERVIEWER: And what did your father do in Liverpool?

ELIZABETH: He was a tanner.

INTERVIEWER: Whereabouts was your father's tannery, can you tell me a bit about that?

ELIZABETH: Yes, it was it was on the Ritchie's Creek I think they called it. If you came out from Liverpool, if you walked along Moore Street and then across Flowerdale Road, the road ended. Then we had our own private Ã¢â‚¬â€œ we called it a track but it was really a road Ã¢â‚¬â€œ and our house was just inside, oh not inside, about halfway between the road, Flowerdale Road and the creek, and then the tannery was a bit up from the creek. He had to pick a good spot where the water was suitable and there was a big water hole there and the creek came down through from round Hoxton Park way and down. And it never went dry at all. We had a couple of very heavy droughts and there was always water, he always had water, 'cause there was no city water around us at that time. He saw the land, it was sold by auction and he bought fifteen acres.

INTERVIEWER: So whereabouts did he learn his trade?

ELIZABETH: He learnt his trade in Germany, with his uncle in Wartenberg.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Miss Elizabeth Killinger for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Miss Marjorie Tebb recalls coupons used after WWII in her family's butchering business, interviewed 1986

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Miss Marjorie Tebb was born in 1920 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here she is talking about the complex arrangements for coupons after World War II that regulated the wholesale and retail trade in meat for CR Tebb and Sons, her family's butchering business.
Transcript

MARJORIE: We went to the abattoirs every morning for a while and then we started to only go three times a week: Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays. In the meat hall we had a rubber stamp and if you said 'Right, I want that, how much is that?' they'd tell you so much a pound, or a kilo, as it is now, and then you'd put that rubber stamp on. And then when they delivered it you knew that it was what you'd got at the abattoirs because it had your stamp. At the time there was coupons [for] meat, and you had to have coupons to buy it. Many a coupon I counted; each beast was so many coupons or each lamb or mutton so many coupons per animal, pigs were so many coupons. And when you sold it you had to cut the coupons out of their [customers] books; and those coupons had to be counted and put in an envelope and sealed. You had five hundred in each envelope, an ordinary manilla envelope. You'd put them in and you'd put your stamp on the back of it - we've got a 'CR Tebb and Sons' stamp, you'd seal it and put the CR Tebb stamp on it and write 'five hundred coupons' on it. And you had to send that in to the Metropolitan Meat and Industry Board. They'd receive the coupons form you. That would give you the authority to buy the meat at the abattoirs.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Miss Marjorie Tebb for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Miss Marjorie Tebb remembers a family story about Aboriginal people in the 19th century in Liverpool, interviewed in 1986

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Miss Marjorie Tebb was born in 1920 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here she remembers her great grandfather's story about Aboriginal people in the Liverpool area, presumably from the nineteenth century.
Transcript

INTERVIEWER: I was wondering if you could tell me the story about the Aborigines and your great grandfather, who was a Mr Shepherd?

MARJORIE: Well, all I can remember is what I've been told. These Aborigines used to come around and they'd give them food and everything. And this particular, three times he'd given him a pair of trousers to put on. His name was Jackie, they were nearly all 'Jackies' the Aborigines in those days. The fourth time he'd come around he wanted 'food, Boss'. So anyway [great grandfather said]: 'I'm not giving you any food Jackie. You've got no trousers on; I've given you three pairs. What happened to the last pair I gave you?' 'Oh well Boss' he did say, 'they did fall down and I did walk away and leave them.' Because I suppose he just, they weren't used to wearing them even though we tried to educate them into wearing clothes, it was just no good.

INTERVIEWER: As a child, can you recall any Aborigines in the area?

MARJORIE: No, not in the area.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Miss Marjorie Tebb for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Miss Marjorie Tebb remembers the Chinese hawkers in Liverpool in the 1920s, interviewed in 1986

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Miss Marjorie Tebb was born in 1920 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here Miss Tebb remembers one of the Chinese hawkers who sold their wares door-to-door in Liverpool in the early twentieth century.
Transcript

INTERVIEWER: Do you recall any Chinese in the area?

MARJORIE: Oh yes, yes. The Chinese used to come around with a vegetable cart; used to come around twice a week. They had a big vegetable garden out the back of Prestons out there, and he used to come. He had the scales on this spring cart and the horse. And he'd come in: 'Anytink today ladee?' he'd say, 'Anytink today ladee?' He'd always give me a piece of fruit or something.

INTERVIEWER: Can you recall his name?

MARJORIE: Oh we always used to call him 'Charlie', and he always had the pigtail and it was done up under his hat because he'd go back to China to die. And they couldn't go back if they didn't have the pigtail.

INTERVIEWER: What sort of hat did he wear?

MARJORIE: A little round cap.

INTERVIEWER: He didn't wear a bamboo one?

MARJORIE: No.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Miss Marjorie Tebb for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr Carl Borowsky, interviewed in 1986, remembers horse transport in Liverpool in the 1920s

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Mr Carl Borowsky came to Liverpool as a boy in 1923. He was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' project. Here he remembers Liverpool in the 1920s when it was dominated by horse transport and businesses and industries associated with horses.

Transcript

CARL: Going back Liverpool was a horse and cart place, if you saw a car you looked. There was a fella at Liverpool station named Barini, he had a horse and sulky with a hood over the top, and before that he had a hansom cab, one you sat inside, like you used to see around Central Station then, horse all done up and used to open the doors and you got inside. Well then there was Jimmy Driscoll, Oz Cowan, there's another old identity in town. They had a livery stable in Terminus Street: about forty stables in it. You could leave your horse and sulky in there if you were going to Sydney.

INTERVIEWER: And they looked after your horse?

CARL: They'd charge you about a shilling to leave your horse in the stable; you used to bring your own feed and feed it. But if you bought a feed off them you wasn't certain they were getting it! Three main blacksmiths in the town; one was Charlie Fehlberg on the corner of, well, it's still Macquarie Street, and Pirie Street, on the highway there. And the other one was McVickers over in Terminus Street, and the other was Hanna's up at the corner of Hoxton Park Road. Wood cutters had private horses and drays. it was a pretty big industry the old firewood in those days.

INTERVIEWER: If you brought your horse and sulky into town, would you leave it on the street or where?

CARL: Well, some had hitch racks, you could tie them up there. There was a water trough in front of the Mainsbridge Hotel and yoU'd give the horse a drink, and there was another up near where Williamson's is now, used to be just along the road from Pearce's butcher shop; and there was another one down at the station. And then later on they moved that one from the main street and took it around the corner into Moore Street there. There was a blacksmith's started up later in life there. You'd tie your horse up in the street, outside the pub I think there was a rail with four or five rings in it. You could tie your horse up to the ring. Braithwaite's had a saddlery shop along the lane way entrance to the pub, had to go around the back. Braithwaite was on the corner and a bit lower down was Mr Wilson; they were the saddle makers. I had the last hand-made saddle made by Mr Wilson.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with Mr Carl Borowsky and the Borowsky family from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr Charles Wilson recalls fishing in the Georges River in the early twentieth century, interviewed in 1986

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Description

Mr Charles Wilson was born in 1904 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here he recalls the bountiful fish available to fishermen in the Georges River in the early twentieth century.
Transcript

CHARLES: I had a canoe and you couldn't sink it, it was a beautiful big twelve-foot canoe. And there was a locker in each end with a big Mintie tin, sealed, carry[ing] our stuff in. If it turned over then it wouldn't sink, you couldn't sink it, by the way it was built. But then I'd put a net across the river, and then I had a fifty-two hook line across the river. I used to catch stingrays and everything in that river. And you'd hear the tails going 'wish, wish', and a cow bell on the other end of it, and then the fishing line would fish. Any amount of perch, bream, bream was plentiful, flathead, flathead right here to the weir. I put a net across here at the weir one Saturday afternoon, come up the street here up to the hotel with the caretaker from the vineyard. I said I'm going back when the tide's in. Went back on a Sunday morning, pulled the net in. There was quite a number of flathead, but there was only the heads there, the eels ate the lot. But then if I worked around, come up with the net on a bit of a beach there, I caught quite a lot of fish there, quite a lot.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Charles Wilson for the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mr Domenico Scuglia discusses restrictions on Italians in Australia during WWII, interviewed 1986

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Mr Domenico Scuglia was born in Italy in 1924, came to Liverpool in 1937, and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He discusses here the restrictions placed on free movement of Italians in Australia during World War II, due to Italy's membership of the Axis Powers.
Transcript

DOMENICO: During the war you couldn't go out of Liverpool, a certain distance. If you planned to go anywhere on business you had to get a permit, to let you go. Provided that you didn't get into trouble, and we carried on like that, we had no problems

INTERVIEWER: That was because you are Italian?

DOMENICO: Yes, that was for the war years.

INTERVIEWER: Did your family resent that at all?

DOMENICO: No, you're there and that's it; you had to do it. My father used to never go out or cause trouble or anything and everybody could see that. We had no problem.

INTERVIEWER: You didn't get any harassment from the local people during the war?

DOMENICO: No, no, not here because as I said we knew nearly everybody; small town. Tell you what, they did intern some naturalised [Italians]; it all depended on political involvement. But the majority wasn't naturalised. We applied for it, and they refused our naturalisation during the war years. After the war we applied again and got it through. Actually, we weren't interned but [we were] in the area, in the town itself. If you wanted to go anywhere you asked for a permit and they gave you a permit. You behave yourself and you can get it again.

INTERVIEWER: Who did you have to go to?

DOMENICO: The police.

INTERVIEWER: The Liverpool police?

DOMENICO: Yes.

INTERVIEWER: And what were they like?

DOMENICO: They were alright. As I said we used to know everybody, we used to know the sergeant in charge because his kids and us go to school together, friendly, you know.

INTERVIEWER: Did you ever have to request to go out further than the seven miles [limit]?

DOMENICO: If you had to go on business they would give you [a permit]; but if not, if it was just for pleasure, 'no'. They'd say 'What do you want it for, what are you going to do over there?' and if you say 'visit a friend' well, 'no'. If I had to look for something to do with the farm, then 'yes'. That was fair enough, I think. They used to call us 'aliens', enemies, see? Not the Greeks, not the Russians because they were Allies; but we had nothing to do with the war, they started the war over the other side [of the world]. If you had crook neighbours, and they kept reporting you every day, you had a headache, I tell you.

INTERVIEWER: And what were your neighbours like?

DOMENICO: Very good. Once in a while they used to go there [the police station] every week, they told us long afterwards; always told them [the police] '8 o'clock [Scuglia family] turn the lights out and they're in bed.'

INTERVIEWER: So they would report on you once a week?

DOMENICO: They [the police] were checking up, to see our movements, thought we might be spies or something. We had none of that, we got on all right. [1]

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Domenico Scuglia, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mr Eddie Saunders remembers a blacksmith's workshop in Liverpool, interviewed in 1986

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Mr Eddie Saunders was born in 1903 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He remembers the unexplained disappearance of a building wall in Liverpool on a site that once housed a blacksmith's workshop.
Transcript

EDDIE: In the Liverpool paper there was a bit of an article about when they built the ANZ Bank, or when they put additions onto it, there was a brick wall they built and it disappeared. They couldn't understand why it disappeared, and I know where it disappeared into.

INTERVIEWER: Where did it go?

EDDIE: There was an old well there. On the back side of the blacksmith's shop [where the bank building now was] was a tyreing fire where they used to heat the tyres to put on the wheels [of carts], you know, they'd rebuild the wheels, or put new spokes in, or all sorts of things, and fix the wheel up.

And when they heated the tyres up they had to cool them down, and they had a well there. A big lump of a well too. And they used to put a bucket on a rope, throw the bucket down in the water, drag it out and go around the tyre and cool it down so it wouldn't burn the [wooden] wheel. That's where the wall disappeared [into the well]. The bank couldn't understand it. I could've told them but I wasn't going up to the bank to tell them that.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Eddie Saunders, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mr Eddie Saunders remembers his mother's bike rental shop in Liverpool, interviewed in 1986

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Mr Eddie Saunders was born in 1903 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here he remembers his mother's bike rental shop in Liverpool, long before motorcars became commonplace.
Transcript

EDDIE: She lived in the house next door to the blacksmith. It was a big lump of a brick place. She had a shop. She used to let out cycles, you know, bikes. People used to come to Liverpool, commercial travellers, in the train, and they used to come down to my mother's shop and hire a bicycle to go out to Hoxton Park and all those surrounding areas.

INTERVIEWER: And they would be salesmen?

EDDIE: Probably. I don't know what they were to tell you the truth, they could be anything.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

Mr Fred Scott remembers his grandfather's work as a wool classer in Liverpool, interviewed in 1986

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Mr Fred Scott was born in 1914 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He remembers his grandfather's work as a wool classer in the early twentieth century when semi-rural Liverpool had close links with the wool industry.
Transcript

INTERVIEWER: What did your grandfather do in Liverpool?

FRED: He was a wool classer.

INTERVIEWER: Did he get work in the Liverpool region?

FRED: Yes, six months he worked at the wool wash in Liverpool, and for six months he went around the western districts [of New South Wales] to Bourke.

INTERVIEWER: Can you give me any information about the wool wash?

FRED: I only know what my grandfather told us - I'd seen it for many years. They used to float wool down by barge to Botany Bay, which was a long time ago.

INTERVIEWER: How would they get the barges up here?

FRED: Come up by river. To the weir, where the weir was. Then load it - drive it along - the wool wash was down on the Georges River and they used to take the stuff down to the boats. Henry Haig's was the company that used to have the wool wash in those days. But my grandfather used to go out to the stations called Linello[?], Dunlop and Louth out near Bourke. They belonged to Gilchrist, Watt. Ernest Watt was the director and manager. When my grandfather retired he'd never missed a year for fifty years.

INTERVIEWER: Whereabouts would the wool come from, for the wool wash?

FRED: Came from all around the country in those days. It was top classed stuff, you know, it was washed and sent away [abroad], because they didn't send greasy wool away.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Fred Scott, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mr George Bates talks about the Ancient Order of Foresters during the Great Depression, interviewed in 1986

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Mr George Bates was born in 1912. He was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960 ' project. Here he talks about a friendly society called the Ancient Order of Foresters, which was active in the Liverpool area during the Great Depression.

Transcript:

GEORGE: In those Depression days I joined that very good Ancient Order of Foresters. Now that used to take the place of what Medicare does today. They done it for the goodness of people and everything like that. And I joined that Ancient Order of Foresters, raised to the honour of, right up to the general of it, the headmaster of it. And one thing I got a great distinction from that of getting the Ancient Order of Foresters and that was renowned in the Depression days round Liverpool. You joined the Foresters, a subscription to it, and if you had doctors, sickness or anything like that it covered like Medicare does today, and that was renowned the Ancient Order of Foresters. Even recently I had reason to be working for the St Vincent de Paul here in Hillview, paying their accounts, being the treasurer, and a lady noticed that I was paying an account and she said 'you are Mr Bates'? I says 'yes'. She said 'my godfather, good luck to you. I can remember you helping my mother in the Ancient Order of Foresters forty years ago, helping with that family and it gives me great distinction to say hello to you, you helped them and you're doing that to this day. Great credit to you'. And it gave me a great privilege for her to say that to me.

INTERVIEWER: How many people belonged to the Foresters in Liverpool?

GEORGE: Approximately, well say, for instance, if you joined up all the area around Liverpool, it'd be up to approximately fifty families.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with George Bates, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr George Bates, interviewed in 1986, on working at Ashcroft's Butcher's in Liverpool during the Great Depression

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Mr George Bates was born in 1912 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' oral history project. He remembers finding work at Ashcroft's Butcher's in Liverpool during the Great Depression.

Transcript

GEORGE: Depression came and I decided to hit the track and I hit the track, in other words the swag, on account of the Depression coming on very hard, and I landed in Liverpool right at the railway station with my swag and everything and I camped there for quite a while under the trees there. Then I used to go down to the Old Men's Home, go down and have a meal and one thing and another and then, whilst I looked around, and I got the fortune of getting a job at Ashcroft's Butchers in those early days and just sweeping and doing the papers and then giving a hand with the sausages and I eventually got the great distinction of working there for twenty years. So I've seen Liverpool grow like one thing. In those early days Ashcroft's was a tremendous big butchery there, and they had approximately, of a morning, about twenty butchers minding their big butchery in Liverpool, and they'd supply all the hotels and that in Sydney and one thing or another, institutions and that. And they'd start at four o' clock in the morning the butchers would.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with George Bates, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr George Bates, interviewed in 1986, remembers a carnival held to raise money for an orphanage in Liverpool

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Mr George Bates was born in 1912 and spent most of his adult life in Liverpool. He was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960 ' project. Here he remembers a carnival held to raise money for a local orphanage.
Transcript

GEORGE Another thing that brings back memories of the orphanage those particular days, we had a very good knowledgeable person who was George Laurantis [?] who had the theatre in Liverpool. And in his goodness he'd always have the orphans of a Saturday afternoon upstairs to look at the pictures and one thing and another. But another scene came up, where he was arranging a big day at the Liverpool Bowling Club and he was raising for the orphanage in Liverpool, and he got, he was very good at organising things George was in those days, George Laurantis got even the top jockeys from Sydney to come up and attend this big carnival for the orphans of Liverpool. Top jockeys came, like Sellwood, and so and so. And he got it all organised at the Liverpool Bowling Club; and it looked like rain. And he was in a dither over it. But anyhow, they got through the carnival for the orphanage in those days and raised six hundred pounds. It was a fantastic set up. And George Laurantis took the money up to the Sister Superior at the orphanage and he says 'Oh Mother!' She says 'What is it Mr Laurantis'? He said 'How lucky we were!' She said 'How do you mean lucky Mr Laurantis?' He said 'If it had been rain we wouldn't have had our carnival at all'. But you had no rain,' said the Mother. 'I know that, I know that, but I got real dithered about it'. She said 'You should have seen me, you shouldn't have got dithered because there'd have been no rain today'. He said 'Why's that Mother'? 'Well' she said, ' I went down to our saint in the grounds', a big statue there in the grounds, of St Theresa, and she said a prayer in front of St Theresa and she said 'Lord, send no rain here for Liverpool today because they're running the big carnival in Liverpool' she says. She was so confident; and she said 'I'd have given you the confidence immediately if you'd only made contact with me.' [1]

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with George Bates, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr Jack Healy recalls boyhood swimming rituals in the Georges River, interviewed in 1986

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Mr Jack Healy was born in 1908. He was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He recalls the boyhood rituals of learning to swim in the Georges River.
Transcript

JACK: We used to play football mostly, in the wintertime. And then other days we had off in the weekend, we spent an awful lot of time up the river. Everybody went up the river. In the summer time, of course, we'd swim.

INTERVIEWER: How far up would you go?

JACK: Oh, as far as Campbelltown sometimes.

INTERVIEWER: And how would you get there?

JACK: Either walk or swim. You wouldn't swim all the way but obviously there were deep holes and shallow places, you'd swim across the holes. Just for something to do. You'd start to learn to swim in the 'duck pond' at Casula. Everybody I think learned in the duck pond at Casula. It was a little hole about as big as this. Then when you could swim a bit you graduated. And when you could swim from 'the bend' down there where they are building that park beside the new bridge. When you could swim from there to the weir, well you were ok. Everything was set. You were safe then.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Jack Healy from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr Jack Healy recalls training horses for the army in Liverpool in 1928, interviewed in 1986

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Mr Jack Healy was born in 1908. He was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He recalls joining the remount unit [responsible for training horses for the Australian army] at Liverpool in 1928.
Transcript

INTERVIEWER: When did you join the army?

JACK: 1928.

INTERVIEWER: And what made you decide to join the army?

JACK: Well, I was out of work and a couple of chaps that I knew, as a matter of fact I knew the Commanding Officer too. Then a vacancy came up, chap left, I went down to present myself and went for the medicals and got the job.

INTERVIEWER: Did you view it as a job?

JACK: Oh sure. Money. Yes, money. I think everybody did that.

INTERVIEWER: Was it hard work?

JACK: Oh, yes and no; young horses, handling young horses, driving, riding, all that sort of thing, yes.

INTERVIEWER: You were in the remounts were you?

JACK: That's right. Handling horses, breaking horses, training them for army manoeuvers, military purposes as it may be, staff horses, and ordinary artillery horses.

INTERVIEWER: Whereabouts did they get the horses from?

JACK: Hired them in the country, they were called Murray Walers. And they also bought them for the Indian army. Their horses came from here too. They were a kind of what you'd call a buggy horse really, bigger than a pony, about 16-hand type of thing.

INTERVIEWER: How did they get the horses to Liverpool?

JACK: Train. There used to be a train line went out from here to Holsworthy in those days, used to be the German camp.

INTERVIEWER: Did you know much about horses before you started?

JACK: Well, we always had horses when I was a kid. They were Tuxedo breed, American. We had the fastest horse on Hoxton Park Road.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Jack Healy from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr Jack Healy remembers a local Aboriginal man from Williams Creek, interviewed 1986

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Mr Jack Healy was born in 1908. He was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here he remembers from his childhood the man he believed to be the last survivor of a local Aboriginal tribe.
Transcript

JACK: There used to be an Aboriginal [man], and I used to see him, he used to be around by the Brewers' Hotel, that was The Golden Fleece in those days, and his name as I remember it was Billy Goliga. And I understand, if I can remember rightly and I'm sure this is right, that he was the last of the Aboriginal tribe that lived over the river. There used to be a reserve over the river for Aborigines on Williams Creek and I'll tell you the buildings are still there, not from them, but from the migrants. When the migrants first came they either had them at Cabramatta or they had them in the Migrant Centre over there and that Migrant Centre is built on Aboriginal land. I don't know if the Aborigines know that or they would be after it, wouldn't they? Not that I think it would do them much good, but it is their right, it is their land.

INTERVIEWER: Whereabouts did this Aboriginal [man] live?

JACK: He lived over somewhere on the land over at the back of William's Creek, yes, over the river, yes. Billy Goliga was his name.

INTERVIEWER: Did he keep to himself or did he mix with everyone else?

JACK: Oh no, he used to come over I used to see him sometimes, I might talk to him when I was going to school, when I was a kid I'd to see him around outside the Golden Fleece Hotel, sometimes with a couple of sherbets too many. Yes, he was a tall fella.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Jack Healy from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr James William Beale talks about his first job in the Liverpool telephone exchange in 1913, interviewed in 1986

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Mr James William Beale was born in 1900 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900Ã¢â‚¬â€œ1960 ' project. He talks here about his first job, in the Liverpool telephone exchange.
Transcript

INTERVIEWER: How old were you when you left school?

WILLIAM: Thirteen, and I went for a first job as a telegraph boy, delivering telegrams and letters, one thing and another. From there I graduated to be able to take on the telephone exchange, which had only a hundred subscribers at that time.

INTERVIEWER: Is this in Liverpool?

WILLIAM: In Liverpool. Number 1 was doctor; 22 was Fire Brigade and 21 was Liverpool Hospital [which was] the Old Men's Home at the time. And that's about the chief ones. They were the numbers you had to remember quickly so you couldÃ¢â‚¬Â¦oh, the Police were number 18 I think.'

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

...

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Mr John Costa was born in 1928 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he recalls his mother feeding American soldiers on their Italian family farm during World War II.
Transcript

JOHN: My parents were from Italy, from Sicily. My father came out and three years after my mother came out. My people, they came to Chipping Norton, we had a vineyard there and a market garden and I can remember then across the river from our place there was Warwick Farm Racecourse, where quite a few American sailors were in there at the time and they used to come across the river. The river at that time you could walk across it at low tide, it wasnÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t very deep, and they used to come around and up to the house, ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‹Å“cause a lot of Americans were Italians too, and they used to come over there and have feeds of spaghetti and stuff, Mum used to feed them. I can never forget their faces (we had a couple of cows) they used to like milk shakes, egg flips, and all that sort of thing. They really made us at home - we used to go across with them and they used to give us a few supplies, to keep us going because we had a family, IÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢m from a family of ten, and they were all born around the Liverpool area, all except my sister [who] was born in Pamarea in Italy.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr John Costa, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mr John Costa recalls the Green Valley post office, interviewed in 1986

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Mr John Costa was born in 1928 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he recalls the Green Valley post office.

Transcript

JOHN: This property then belonged to a chap by the name of Mr Owens, he had a post office up here in Green Valley, oh well the post office was a house and a little room. I can never forget that because his post office, his shelves were made out of tomato boxes. Tomato boxes in those days were about thirty inches (76 cm) long and there was a dividing section in the centre. I'll never forget it. He had them all up against the wall, painted white and he had these pigeon holes to put all the mail in. The room was only about eight or ten-foot (2.4-3 metre) square and the floor was only dirt. We used to go there and pick our mail up and we finished up buying this property off Mr Owens and he left the post office.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr John Costa, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mr John Costa recalls the gypsies who were once common in the Liverpool area, interviewed in 1986

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Mr John Costa was born in 1928 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he remembers gypsies who were once common in the Liverpool area.

Transcript

JOHN: We used to grow vegetables like potatoes, beans, beetroot, and why I remember beetroot and potatoes is because we had them up the far end of the farm, right up the back end of the farm, and down Milperra Bridge there was a big vacant block of ground there, where those shops are at Milperra now, that was all vacant blocks of ground. And on that paddock there used to be not dozens but hundreds of gypsies used to stop there, they were everywhere, they'd camp there for about two, three months. And how I remember the beetroot and potatoes because they used to go down the end of our farm and bandicoot them and dig them up and just leave the vines sitting there, they used to take sacks and sacks of them.

INTERVIEWER: What did they live in?

JOHN: Gypsies? Tents. They had great big cars. I'll never forget the size of the cars, they were huge cars. They'd come around and tell your fortune. Just up the road there, there was a sawmill and they went to the people next door to the sawmill and told them to bring their family out and 'we'll tell you your fortune'. And they came out to the front and they told them their fortune alright; when they went around to feed the chooks in the afternoon there wasn't any left! They were all gone! I'll never forget those gypsies. They'd go away for about twelve months, come back here the following year.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr John Costa, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mr Joseph Bradshaw remembers in 1927 being the proud owner of the second car in Liverpool, interviewed in 1986

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Mr Joseph Bradshaw was born in 1905 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960 ' project. Here he remembers being the proud owner of the second car in Liverpool, in 1927.
Transcript

JOSEPH: I had the second car in Liverpool. Did you know that? A little baby Austin in 1927. The old Father Walsh, he used to be the Managing Superintendent of the Liverpool Hospital, he had the first car and I had the second. A little seven-horse baby Austin. I bought it in Sydney, in Paddington, off a fella by the name of Billy Cannaulty [?]. They were a hundred and twenty pounds imported from England you know. It was an Eight Hour [Day] weekend. My first daughter at the time was five, I think she was, Phyllis. I saw this advertisement in the paper: 'Baby Austin - a car for ninety nine pounds'. And I said 'By Jesus'. I thought to myself - I had a horse and sulky at the time - I said 'By Jesus, a car, it would do seventy miles to the gallon'. I got hold of a fella I knew pretty well, Charlie Rynan [?]. He had an egg place. He used to deliver the eggs. Anyhow, I got him to come to Sydney and have a look at it with me. He drove me down and we had a look at this car for ninety nine pounds and I bought it. He said 'How are we gonna get home?' and I said 'I'll drive it', and you mightn't believe it, I drove out into Centennial Park in Sydney with Billy Cannaulty and myself and Charlie Rynan. Had a bit of a drive and I said 'Righto!' and I drove it home. Drove it home, followed him all the way to Liverpool here when I lived down in Mill Road. There was no traffic, and blue metal roads. There was none of this macadamised roads, Liverpool was a blue metal road, only one, no lane ways or anything like that, no footpaths; a bit of asphalt here and there. I drove it to Canberra that weekend, and all around, right to Canberra, across to Yass, up over the Blue Mountains, home. Twenty five shillings for petrol, that's all it cost me. Camped out. Canberra was only just beginning to be built at that time. You could rent a room, it was, with a fireplace in it and two beds. You had to have your own linen. Two and six [pence].

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Joseph Bradshaw, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mr Joseph Bradshaw remembers working as a child on a farm in Liverpool c1910-1925, interviewed in 1986

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Mr Joseph Bradshaw was born in 1905 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960 ' project. He remembers here the work of a child on general mixed farms in the area.
Transcript

JOSEPH: There was myself and Chris, we ran the dairy. I was only a kid at the time and there were two families. One was the Allcock family, they had a dairy out farther than us. In combination of the two families we ran a milk run in Liverpool, you know, with the horse and cart. And I used to have to go when I became eight or ten - Chris my sister was about eight years older than me - and between us we delivered milk in the morning and I think at that time we had around thirty cows, which was a lot of stock.

INTERVIEWER: So what time would you have to get up to milk the cows?

JOSEPH: 5 o'clock!

INTERVIEWER: Milk them and then deliver the milk?

JOSEPH: Yes, deliver the milk, then go home and go to school.

INTERVIEWER: And what about when you came home?

JOSEPH: Same, in the afternoon, but most of the afternoon milk was fed to the pigs - we had pigs as well.

In 1917, it was Good Friday. I'd been away, I was twelve years old at that time. We used to do a lot of rabbiting in those days, it was real bush country, and I come home and my dad had a heart attack and died. From then on I was the man of the house. We had cattle to look after, horses, and we had a lot of poultry as well; a few pigs. It was a general mixed farm, which was the general thing in those days because that was people's way of life, living, other than in the city, and I might add at this stage Liverpool only had a population in these days of something like twelve thousand.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Joseph Bradshaw, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mr Norman Woodward recalls growing grapes in Chipping Norton 1945-1947, interviewed in 1986

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Mr Norman Woodward was born in 1918 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He recalls here the hazards of grape growing in Chipping Norton in the immediate post-war years.
Transcript

NORMAN: If you got a late frost it would burn the buds or the shoots out of your grape vines, so you had an alarm that went off at thirty three degrees [Fahrenheit]. And we got up, and you had your oil drums set all round the farm, with scrap rubber in from the rubber factories. And if it dropped to thirty two [degrees], well you lit a blow lamp, and went round and started the fires. You just kept walking all night, and kept the fires going, and put up smoke and a little bit of heat to keep the frost off. Otherwise you could be wiped out with a heavy frost.

INTERVIEWER: Would the other farmers do this?

NORMAN: No, we were the only ones that were doing it.

INTERVIEWER: Did the smoke affect their crops?

NORMAN: It saved some of their crops, anyone that was in the drift either side, we saved some of their crops. And I've seen, when the sun started to rise of a morning, you couldn't see the sun for the smoke pall we had up, which would be illegal now. They wouldn't allow you to do it now. We also had a dryer in the wet weather, to dry our grapes. It was an old parachute dryer we bought from the disposal stores and rigged it up on a tunnel, and we could pick in the pouring rain and put the basket of grapes in the tunnel. And the dryer was run by kerosene with a big fan on it, and you lit it up and it drove hot air through the tunnel and dried the grapes out and we could market them. We were the only ones on Chipping Norton marketing grapes in the wet weather.

INTERVIEWER: When would this have been?

NORMAN: '45, '46, '47.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Norman Woodward, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mr Norman Woodward recalls working conditions at the Challenge Woollen Mills during the Depression, interviewed in 1986

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Mr Norman Woodward was born in 1918 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He went to work at the Challenge Woollen Mills in Liverpool during the Depression in 1932.
Transcript

INTERVIEWER: What were the conditions like working there?

NORMAN: Atrocious. There was no locker rooms, there was no showers, no lunch rooms, and the only place you hung your coat, you banged a nail into the wall at the end of your machine and you'd hang your hat and coat there. No place to wash when you finished work; and lunch time, well you just sat down at the end of the machine and ate your lunch because there was no dining rooms. There was unions then but the Textile Workers' Union was known in those days as the weakest union in Australia. It had to be weak then because there was no work and you did what the boss told you. If you didn't you're kicked out and there was two hundred waiting at the gate to get your job. So you just had to take it.

INTERVIEWER: And what did you do there?

NORMAN: I was a spinner, worked on machines spinning yarn, woollen yarn.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Norman Woodward, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mr Pat Cullen recalls driving the police to accident scenes in his tow truck in the 1920s in Liverpool, interviewed 1986

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Mr Pat Cullen was born in 1912 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he describes his early days in the motor industry, which included driving the police to accident scenes.

Transcript

PAT: Left school when I was fourteen and started working for a fellow named Billy Norman in the main street of Liverpool, which was down near the post office there was a garage was at that particular time. How I got the job as a mechanic, my dad bought a new Buick motorcar to bribe this fellow to give me a job.

INTERVIEWER: From Norman?

PAT: From Norman's. ThatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s how I started in the motor game. I was fourteen then, that was in 1927, when the first Model A Fords came out.

INTERVIEWER: There wouldn't have been too many cars in Liverpool then?

PAT: No, very few. In fact, the police didn't have a car. And while I was only fourteen or fifteen, I learned to drive an old tow wagon, very well, and when there was any accidents, which was unusual, that there were accidents, I used to drive the police in the tow truck to the accident. Two or three years after that I went for my license. They were quite amazed, to think that I'd been driving around with the police, with no license.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Pat Cullen from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr Pat Cullen recalls the life saving club that patrolled the Georges River in the early 1930s, interviewed in 1986

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Mr Pat Cullen was born in 1912 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. He recalls the life saving club that patrolled the Georges River for a period in the early '30s.

Transcript

INTERVIEWER: Where did you learn to swim?

PAT: In Liverpool down the river. Those days a few people were getting drowned but we did form [a] Life Saving Club and we patrolled from here to Casula, maybe ten or fifteen chaps. And we did go for life saving awards, we got the Bronze Medallion and a few of us got the Bronze Award of Merit, which is the highest award still in Australia. Most interesting. To get the Award of Merit you had to swim six hundred yards fully clothed. And in those days presumably you're walking along the bank in your shirt and you'd have a waistcoat on and a tie on and stuff and all you were allowed to do was kick your boots off, then you'd have to swim across the river backwards and forwards and dive for a brick ten feet under water. And that's what you did for the Award of Merit in those days.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Pat Cullen from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr Pat Cullen remembers using charcoal burners in cars during World War II, interviewed in 1986

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Mr Pat Cullen was born in 1912 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he remembers the charcoal burners that were used to replace petrol in cars during World War II.

Transcript

PAT: In the war years, we did our work here, we sold charcoal burners, they were a big thing in those days.

INTERVIEWER: Can you tell us about those? Were they instead of petrol?

PAT: Yes, petrol got rationed to a very great extent and we had charcoal burners that we fitted onto the backs of cars. We bought the charcoal from Bringelly Council. There they used to burn the charcoal and bring it in. All the cars ran very well on this charcoal over a period of years.

INTERVIEWER: How did it work?

PAT: You started the engine up by a blower, made the gas in the charcoal burn by a blower. If you had a little drop of petrol you could start the engine and get the fire going. The air going through the charcoal made it get red hot, and this red hot gas, red hot coke, gas came off it. It would burn quite ok. TheyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re quite good. In fact, I kept one under my house for years thinking I might come back to it one day but I got rid of it eventually. I supplied all the charcoal burners for all the market gardeners out at Leppington.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Pat Cullen from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr Peter Granville-Smith describes his work at Liverpool telephone exchange in the early 1930s, interviewed in 1986

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Peter Granville-Smith was born in 1910 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He describes his work as a telephonist at the Liverpool telephone exchange in the early 1930s.
Transcript

PETER: It was a sleeping exchange. We had a bed, a folding bed, which was put down beside the switchboard, and [on night shift] I'd answer the calls from the bed. There were so very few calls at nighttime. I don't know whether you've seen a switchboard but there's a shutter for the jack of each number. You must remember that it's magneto, that's all hand operated. When you made a call from your own home you had to turn the handle of your telephone set and that dropped a shutter just above the jack. Well then the job was to put a plug Ã¢â‚¬â€œ there were two rows of plugs, one for ringing and one for speaking. You pick up the plug from the speaking section, put it into the jack of that number. And then it had two rows of keys, one row is for speaking, the other for ringing. You press the speaking one backwards and say 'number please', and then you pick up the corresponding plug and put it into the jack of the number that was requested. And then there's a ringing key, and you pull the ringing key towards you and that sent the ring out to the subscriber.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Peter Granville-Smith from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr Peter Granville-Smith talks about the Hoxton Park Union Church and his family singing there c1920s, interviewed in 1986

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Peter Granville-Smith was born in 1910 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He came to live in Hoxton Park with his family in 1914 because his clergyman father was ill.
Transcript

PETER: Father had lost his voice, and he couldn't conduct services, but I understand he did conduct one on one occasion in the little Union Church at Hoxton Park, which he conducted it in a whisper. They tell me it was done so clearly [because] his diction and enunciation were perfect. But, he would attend the services in this little Union Church. There were four denominations came out there, they were: Church of England, Methodist, Presbyterian and Salvation Army. If there were five Sundays in a month the Church of England got that fifth Sunday as well. The little church was very small but when Granville-Smiths were in attendance on any service they filled the church not only with their figures but with their voices, because we were all pretty good musicians. The singing was absolutely outstanding, under the careful guidance of our sister Lois. She played the piano, and of course mother played the piano as well. And when we were all singing you'd know that the family was there, they were all in there.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Peter Granville-Smith from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr Peter Serovich remembers the Austral Progress Association, interviewed in 1986

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Mr Peter Serovich was born in Yugoslavia in 1908, came to Australia in 1925, and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here he remembers the necessity for a Progress Association for the young and undeveloped suburb of Austral.
Transcript

INTERVIEWER: You said you joined the Progress Association. What progress did they make?

PETER: Well, they were trying to build the roads up, and get things done, like a school. In those days there was only two little rooms, when we first came here there were two little rooms. They brought another room from La Perouse, so there were three old rooms. Gradually the Parents and Citizens [Association] tried, from the Department of Education, to improve it, and then they built the big room. Gradually they worked it out, and lately they've spent a lot of money on Austral school.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Peter Serovich for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr Stanley Everett remembers Chipping Norton in the early twentieth century, interviewed 1986

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Mr Stanley Everett, born in 1909 was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he remembers the pleasures of living in Chipping Norton in the early twentieth century.
Transcript

STANLEY: In the spring all the fruit would be in blossom and it was absolutely beautiful. The green growth of grapes which were only leaves at that stage, you could go up in a plane and look down on these patches of blossom, just like you can the tulips in Holland. You can look down on six acres of tulips or you can look down on six acres of peach trees in blossom or plums or whatever. It was a very pretty place and you know there was no pollution. The river was nice and clean in those days and you could do a fair amount of fishing. We used to get crabs, and general varieties of fish that were in the river at that stage, you wouldn't get much after you'd had a flood. But when the flood had subsided and gone down again the fish would come back. Somehow there was always a place where you could get a feed; you could get a feed of fish, you could go and shoot a rabbit. You were in this little village all on its own, there was no commerce or anything, no shops or whatever. But you know you could go for a walk right round the whole works. You knew everybody that was there.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Stanley and Mrs Amy Everett, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mr Stanley Everett remembers making crystal radio sets in the 1920s as a child in Liverpool, interviewed 1986

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Mr Stanley Everett, born in 1909, was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. He remembers his childhood hobby of making crystal radio sets.
Transcript

STANLEY: When the Warwick Farm Hotel was in existence, the licensee's son and myself and another school friend called Bob Clyde, we were interested even then in making radios. I probably built the first radio set that was ever built in Liverpool, with the help of my two friends. And there was a great barn all around the perimeter of the back yard of the pub, and we had our laboratory, or whatever you like to call it, up where the horses used to have the haystack but there were no horses there then of course. And we had it all lit up with electric light from acid cells and things.

We used to go along the railway line of an afternoon and weekends and pick up all the lead-type battery cells that the signal people had thrown out as being useless. Well, we could still get a bit of use out of them, you see. We had this old place lit up with torch globes and batteries that the signal blokes used to throw away on the railway line, and we used to go and pick 'em up. Then we started making crystal sets there. I think Bob Clyde might've made the first one. Anyway, we went into production making these things.

INTERVIEWER: How old were you then?

STANLEY: I suppose I would have been about twelve or thirteen.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Stanley and Mrs Amy Everett, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mr Stanley and Mrs Amy Everett remember their wine growing neighbours in Chipping Norton, interviewed 1986

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Mr Stanley Everett and Mrs Amy Everett, interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project, remember wine growers in their neighbourhood in Chipping Norton in the early twentieth century.
Transcript

INTERVIEWER: Did you have much to do with your neighbours at Chipping Norton?

STANLEY: Well, they were all in and out of one another's houses like relations, you know. Didn't make much difference did it?

AMY: Yes, I think everybody knew everybody there.

STANLEY: You know you could wander down to Alec Findley's of a night and imbibe some of the local product, and have a yarn.

AMY: Haerses had a place sort of at the back of where Don lived, they used to make wine, on Riverside Road.

STANLEY: They used to make their own wine too. Ron Pearson's father used to make his own wine, that was Ern Pearson. Alec Findley, that was Reg Findley's father, he used to make his own wine, he used to have a beautiful wine down there. And you could buy a quart for two bob [two shillings], a bit different to what you pay for it today. You'd go down there and you'd try all the various varieties and so forth, and say 'Righto, I'll have a quart of that one and a quart of that one', then you'd go home, [you got the wine] for four shillings you see. But it was a very friendly place.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Stanley and Mrs Amy Everett, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr Walter John Ferguson recalls the dangers of swimming in the Georges River in the late 1920s, interviewed in 1986

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Mr Walter John Ferguson, born in 1912, was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here he talks about the dangers of swimming in the Georges River and the establishment of a life-saving club in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Transcript

WALTER: It used to be a regular swimming hole right from Liverpool to Casula and every year there was always someone getting drowned in Liverpool but this particular time someone was nearly drowned down the river and he was the one that started it, with the help of Terry Fitzpatrick. He started a life saving club, oh he had about thirty members altogether. We used to turn around and patrol the river as much as we could, and then again at Casula. Over the few years that it lasted there was quite a few well and truly saved. There was one chap, about two hundred yards up from the old weir, maybe three hundred, there was a very good little beach there, and you'd swim across to the other side of the river, that was nearly the best place of the lot. Well he took a running jump off the bank one day, took it too deep and broke his neck, that was the end of a chap named Georgie Campbell. But it ran for about three or four years altogether. It just fizzled out.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Walter John Ferguson, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr Walter John Ferguson, interviewed in 1986, recalls Australian artist Eric Wilson who lived in Liverpool in the 1930s, and his ...

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Mr Walter John Ferguson, born in 1912, interviewed in 1986 for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' project, recalls the noted Australian artist Eric Wilson, who lived in Liverpool, and his painting A Game of Draughts

Transcript:
WALTER: In the main street there used to be a chap by the name of Wilson, he was a saddler, and he had one son, I think his name was Eric. He was a pretty good artist. He painted one very good one, and it hung for years in the School of Arts, of Old Bill Ashe and John Grace. They were, I'm not sure, it was that long ago now, whether it was a game of draughts or a game of chess they were playing, and Eric painted this. I know it was shifted, I don't know where it went, and I didn't find out until round about 1956 or 58, could've been a bit later again.

I was working at a place and got to know a young fella in there. He was one of the young Ashe's, Bill's son. I said to him one day, I said 'Was Bill Ashe who used to live in Liverpool your father?' He said 'Yes' I said 'You used to live over near the Clinch's Pond?' He said 'Yes, at the orchard, we had an orchard there'. He said to me, he says 'Did you ever see a painting of Dad's father, my grandfather?' 'Yes', I said, 'It used to hang in the School of Arts'. He said 'That's right',' but, he said 'It don't hang there anymore.' I said '1 knew it went'. He said 'Do you know where it is?' He said 'It's in the National Art Gallery in Canberra'.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with Mr Walter John Ferguson and Mr George Bates, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mr William Kennedy recalls collecting the dole at Liverpool Town Hall during the Depression, interviewed in 1986

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Mr William Kennedy was born in 1910 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He remembers crowds of men gathering to collect the dole at Liverpool Town Hall during the Great Depression.
Transcript

WILLIAM: The point of issue for the dole was the old police station. It was taken over then by the Department of Labour and Industry, they administered it. Then there was that many coming on to the dole that they had to move then to Liverpool Town Hall. And the crowds kept increasing. More and more were coming on the dole. You were issued with a dole ticket, not money. You had to wait until your name was called and you'd walk up through the crowd of people, get your dole ticket which was worth five shillings, later it increased to seven [shillings] and sixpence. Then you could only get the items that were listed on that ticket: bread, meat and so forth. Then on the other side of the ticket was a list of alternate items if the others weren't available. Men would be sitting around the Town Hall in the hundreds and they'd be addressed at different times by agitators. There were always these people coming along. And the names of some of the leading Communists that came along at that time were [Tom] Payne, [Jack] Sylvester, and Bella Weiner, she was a woman, a Jewess. Men were more receptive to listening because of their position, they listened very attentively to these fellows and a lot of them thought that was where their hopes lay.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr William Kennedy, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mr William Kennedy remembers timber carting around Liverpool in the early twentieth century, interviewed in 1986

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Mr William Kennedy was born in 1910 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' He recalls the difference between drays and jinkers, both horse-drawn vehicles, which were used to cart timber in the Liverpool area in the early twentieth century.
Transcript

WILLIAM: A dray is a two-wheeled vehicle pulled by one horse. It doesn't have springs on it like a cart or a car, no springs, [it] just sat on the axle. Dreadful things to ride on, no give in them. They carted wood, that was mainly firewood. Jinkers were four-wheeled vehicles and there was a big long pole, it could be extended, telescopic pole, connecting the two front wheels with the two back wheels, and that'd be extended depending on the length of the timber they were carrying, and pulled by a team of six horses and sometimes eight, depending on the size of the load. And that would move into the bush with the big tall trees that they cut out for the paling logs or timber to be sawn up into building material. It was quite interesting to see them loading it compared with today where there are cranes to lift things on and lift things off. Those days it was done by, the big log would be lying on the ground and then they'd put chains around it and they'd have two horses on the other side of the jinker and they'd put two planks down and the horses would be led up and they'd pull the logs up these rails onto the jinker. It's quite interesting, it's hard to explain but you would have to see it to believe it. Sometimes they'd have about seven logs. Well the Department of Labour and Industry with all their rules and regulations and safety precautions now, that wouldn't be on then. Yet there was very little accidents in the bush those days. They were skilled men, much more skilled than men today. It was remarkable what they could do. They were experienced bushmen, real bushmen in the strict sense of the word.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr William Kennedy, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mrs Amy Everett recalls moving to Chipping Norton during the Great Depression, interviewed in 1986

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Mrs Amy Everett, interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project, remembers her mother's reaction to moving to Chipping Norton from Artarmon in Sydney's northern suburbs, during the Great Depression.

Transcript

AMY: We lived in Artarmon; my father was a builder, was a carpenter actually. Work was impossible to get so they decided to try and get a farm. He had been a farmer earlier on and they had to ballot actually for this place at Chipping Norton, but they did get it, for a thousand pounds. They had to put their names into the Department of Closer Settlement and they were picked out of a hat.

INTERVIEWER: And what did you father have on his land?

AMY: Poultry.

INTERVIEWER: Was it successful?

AMY: They didn't make money, but they survived. My mother had lived in Artarmon for a long long time and she didn't greatly appreciate living in Liverpool. Chipping Norton was a lovely place to live but it was very isolated. There was no social life as such. She'd had a very wide circle of friends and been interested in church and Red Cross and all that sort of thing that a woman normally does in suburban life and it just wasn't her, especially in Chipping Norton. She didn't greatly like it. I think she got to like it afterwards but not at first especially. We'd had a very nice home in Artarmon, a very nice home, and we'd had to sell that and go. There was no work. You had this terrible feeling of failure, that you had to sell your home that you'd worked so hard for, and go out and start again, at that age, neither of them of course was young.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Stanley and Mrs Amy Everett, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mrs Carmel Amalfi describes a hailstorm on her father-in-law's Liverpool market garden in March 1947, recorded 1986

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Mrs Carmel Amalfi, interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool' oral history project, describes a hailstorm on the family farm in Liverpool in the 1930s.
Transcript

CARMEL: In 1947, it was early March '47, we got a real real bad one. Your father-in-law had, what was it, about 10 acres (approximately 4 hectares) of land that was all under cultivation and we had beans, we had tomatoes, we had lettuce and when the hailstorm came, it looked as if you let a few thousand chickens through it and made a mess of them 'cause on the tomato vines there was only left the stake that was holding them up. The lettuce, they were good for nothing. The beans, there was nothing left but the stalks. So poor Poppy, he went down to have a look to see what happened and the hearts of the lettuce, there was nothing there. Poor Poppy was walking back and forwards saying 'What am I going to do? I've got a big family!'

INTERVIEWER: What did the family do?

CARMEL: Just more or less had to start from scratch again.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with Mrs Carmel Amalfi from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

...

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Mrs Carmel Amalfi, interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool' oral history project, describes her husband Angelo's work as a child on his father's farm in Liverpool in the 1930s.
Transcript

CARMEL: He was on the farm helping his dad, the same with the rest of the family. Helping, working on the land and those days there, by the time he grew, he was about ten years of age, his father had a big family. They had a horse and plough, and he was behind the horse and plough when he was about eleven. And he used to help his dad and when it came to selling the vegetables. His dad used to send him to the city, after the vegetables, send it by carrier, and then he'd stay in the city overnight with an old friend of theirs, and the next morning he'd go to the markets and sell it, and then come home, come home by train. He was only about eleven. They'd get a stall or a stand at the markets and he'd help and sell the vegetables. And then he'd come home, he'd come home the next day, either with the carrier or come home by train. And as the rest of the family grew up of course they did their share too.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with Mrs Carmel Amalfi from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mrs Constance Jewell remembers economising with meals during the Depression, interviewed in 1986

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Mrs Constance Jewell was born in 1896 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' She moved with her husband to Hammondville, a housing settlement for families in difficulty during the depression. She recalls economising with meals during that time.
Transcript

CONSTANCE: In the dole days you had to be so careful because you had to stretch things. Three penneth of neck o' mutton and three penneth of soup vegetables and a handful of barley made a good dinner. The woman next door she put her dirt tin out one day and it was full of tins! I said 'What are you doing with all the tins?' She said 'Eat, of course!' I said 'They're twice as dear as what two dinners are the way I cook.' Sometimes you'd put a dumpling in it, sometimes you'd buy a neck of mutton and chop it all up and make a stew and then lift the bones out of it and that type of thing. Or you'd buy bacon bones and make pea soup. We used to make a cake, we couldn't afford eggs or anything like that, but I had one that I didn't have to put eggs in it. It was dripping mixed with sugar and you'd beat that up. And if you had eggs you were lucky. You put that in and a handful of fruit or whatever you had and some flour and a pinch of baking soda to darken it.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Jewell from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mrs Constance Jewell remembers social life in Hammondville during the Depression, interviewed in 1986

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Mrs Constance Jewell was born in 1896 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' She moved with her husband to Hammondville, a housing settlement for families in difficulty, in the Depression. She remembers a rich social life in the community there.
Transcript

CONSTANCE: We had a great time there. We had a Younger Set, and a gymnasium class. Mrs Jones, Mrs Laura Jones of Stewart Avenue, Hammondville, she ran the Younger Set for us. And we had a ball here and they all went to the ball. I can't remember who they [debutantes] were presented to now, I really can't. In those days the hall was up where the shops are now. Mrs Brasnet gave us that hall for recreation and we ran dances up there, some for the Liverpool Hospital, some for the ambulance [service], and some for the Harmony Club; the Harmony Club consisted of a lot of men that used to like to come and sit and have talks and games and one thing and another. The ladies had the Black Cat Club and we all used to belong to that. The younger ones had a Younger Set and they had quite a lot of games and one thing and another, you know, to occupy their minds.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Jewell from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mrs Dorothy Colburn, interviewed in 1986, recalls hazards associated with the Georges River in the 1930s

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Mrs Dorothy Colburn, interviewed in 1986 for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' project, recalls hazards associated with the George's River.

Transcript

DOROTHY: We use to have to stand on the river bank and coo-ee to the relations that lived on the other side for them to bring the boat over to us. But when they started to build the first Milperra Bridge, I walked across a plank that wide [showing how wide] that the workmen used to use and I wasn't game to look down, just hung onto the back of Dad's shirt. That was just after a young chap was taken by a shark by the side of the river.

INTERVIEWER: When would that have been, do you recall?

DOROTHY I can't tell you exactly the year, somewhere around '29. He dived off the other side of the river, and he was mauled dreadfully; and the same day, my cousin's friend, used to ride the horses to school with her, her arms were chopped off, one just above the elbow and the other one just below the elbow and they thought it was the same shark. She had been in swimming at Kentucky, what they called Kentucky. It's just past where the aerodrome is now, where the golf links is. She'd been lying up on the bank in the sand, and her mother woke her up - she'd gone to sleep - woke her up, and said 'Come on, we're going home' and she said 'Well I can't get in the car like this' 'cause she had all sand on her, and she went down and stood in water no higher than her knees and swished her arms and he grabbed both arms. They reckon he come up out of the water. And he took both her arms. She's married and got a family, living up Newcastle way, somewhere there. She was marvellous, didn't seem to stop her, she still rode the horses, and she wouldn't let anyone help her.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with Dorothy Colburn, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick recalls Cracker Night in the early twentieth century near Bringelly, interviewed in 1986

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Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick was born in 1899. She was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she recalls Cracker Night (now outlawed) in the very early twentieth century at her family's remote home near Bringelly.
Transcript

EDITH: We always had a bonfire and the bigger boys used to sometimes play up, they'd light our fire before it was time. But we used to have good fun. Different families around used to come, bring their crackers and we'd have a real good Cracker Night. There was nothing rough about it in those days, the boys, there was no throwing crackers at children like they do today. No. It was just good fun. There was none of that vandalism that there is today.

INTERVIEWER: Can you remember some of the names of the people who came?

EDITH: Oh yes, the Brown family, Anderson and the Gillows. They were all our neighbours. But of course they're all gone now. There's none of them, I don't think there is any of them out there now. Because that's a long time ago.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick from 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick recalls the Sydney Water Board cottage of her childhood in the early 20th century, interviewed 1986

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Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick was born in 1899. She was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she recalls the circumstances of her birth and the remote Sydney Water Board cottage of her childhood.
Transcript

INTERVIEWER: Mrs Fitzpatrick where were you born?

EDITH: On the water race [channel] towards Bringelly, seven miles out of Liverpool, out past the Crossroads Hotel. I can remember it was a dreadful road, that's one thing I can remember about it, it was a shocking road out there because there were so many wood drays, they used to cart wood into Liverpool, into the saw mills that were down near the railway station, where the car park is down there now, that was all big wooden mills, saw mills, and the road was in a shocking state. But still, we lived there and we enjoyed our life I suppose. I was born at home. My father was a caretaker for the [Sydney] Water Board, we lived in the Water Board house right at the bridge. That's where I was born, in that house. The bridge crosses the water canal, the Sydney water supply. It was a six-room cottage and it was very comfortable because it was a government house, it was the Water Board cottage, and we had a very comfortable home. My father was a great man. He believed in comfort and he had everything very nice. We were very sorry to leave it but of course when he became sixty-five, we had to go. We had our garden and he grew vegetables and fruits and had our own cows and our own horse and sulky to drive to Liverpool. It was a good life but still it was a long way of town out just the same.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Edith Fitzpatrick from 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mrs Elsie Collimore remembers Liverpool's outdoor cinema in the early 20th century, interviewed in 1986

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Mrs Elsie Collimore was born in 1906 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she remembers Liverpool's outdoor cinema.
Transcript

ELSIE: I went to the open air pictures at Liverpool. There was no top on it and if it rained you got very wet. And there were old hard seats and the weeds used to grow up about this high in between the seats and you always took a cushion or a rug with you because your legs got very cold. It was open air and there was just a small section for reserved seats, they had a roof over them, they were lucky. And they had one man, Mr Fred Locke, used to play the music and if you were going past you knew what kind of movie it was by the sound of the music he was playing. If it was sad you knew it was Mary Pickford or something. Well my brother and I used to clean my uncle's boots and we'd get threepence each for cleaning to go to the pictures and threepence for a bag of peanuts. That was a big deal.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Elsie Collimore from 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mrs Elsie Collimore remembers scenes from the Liverpool soldiers' riot of 1916, interviewed in 1986

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Mrs Elsie Collimore was born in 1906 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she remembers scenes from Liverpool during World War I, including the now famous soldiers' riot of 1916.
Transcript

ELSIE: It was always a military town here and there was always soldiers.

INTERVIEWER: Do you remember anything about World War I?

ELSIE: Yes. I remember going down to get the Evening News . I think I was about seven or eight. And it had big black letters across the paper: 'England at War', and I remember running home, we lived in Northumberland Street, to tell my mother because I heard a man read it out. And that was the beginning of it all. There were soldiers, their camp was across where STC [Standard Telephones and Cables is [was]. It was all tents. There was no other camp around. I think there was a camp at Casula because I remember there was a riot. We were going to school one day, and when the kids heard the train, and the trains always used to blow 'Cock a Doodle Doo' when the troops were going away. And of course we heard all this noise and everyone ran to the station and when we got over there, there were soldiers hanging onto the train and they were in the engine, oh great old to-do. So we didn't know what was happening; it was a riot. The soldiers from the two camps had met and took control of the place. Shops were all closed and there was military police everywhere and anyone that had robbed them [the soldiers] or cheated them, they got even. They broke the windows of the shops and filled all the kit bags with pickles and whatever was in the windows. Then when we got down the street all the shops were closed and the military police were walking up and down and they only allowed about five people at a time in the shops.

INTERVIEWER: What was the general feeling like during the war?

ELSIE: Oh well of course there was no wireless or anything to hear, you had to all Ã¢â‚¬â€œ there'd be a crowd down outside the paper shop of an evening waiting for the paper to come in because that was the only way you had any news. There was no wireless or TV to tell you anything.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Elsie Collimore from 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mrs Enid Borowsky talks in 1986 about working conditions in Liverpool's Challenge Woollen Mills c1930s

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Mrs Enid Borowsky was interviewed, with her husband Carl Borowsky, in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“1960 ' project. Here they talk about working conditions in the Challenge Woollen Mills, a major employer in the Liverpool area.

Transcript

INTERVIEWER: What was it like working in the Woollen Mills, what were the conditions like?

ENID: Oh good, quite good.

INTERVIEWER: And how about the wages?

ENID: Oh well, you were on piece work.

INTERVIEWER: What's that?

ENID: Oh well, you'd be making blankets or flannel, and it all depends on how many you did a day you'd get so much for it. The more you'd done the more money you got.

CARL: Any piece rate's an incentive to slavery, that's what I reckon.

INTERVIEWR: Was it competitive?

ENID: Oh yes. Yes, sometimes you'd have run out of the wool. They used to bring it around to you, the boys, and if you ran out and there wasn't enough, some of them would rush in to grab it, to get it.

INTERVIEWER: What section were you in?

ENID: In the weaving and the looms.

INTERVIEWER: What sort of work were women doing in the Woollen Mills, were they in particular sections or not?

ENID: Yes, there was weaving, were mainly women on the winders and from there they'd go to the warehouse, where they used to roll the blankets and all that sort of thing. I was up there at one stage when they put me on to, a chap there made a machine that they rolled the blankets. You see them in cellophane when they come out? And they made this machine that folded them and put them in cellophane and I had that job, I had to do that, but I was on and off there for years.

INTERVIEWER: When would you have started there approximately?

ENID: I might have started when I was about thirteen or fourteen.

INTERVIEWER: Did you want to work there, at that age?

ENID: Oh, I wasn't worried about it, it didn't matter to me.

CARL: As I said a while ago, you had no choice, you went where your parents told you to go, that was it. It's not like today: 'If I don't like it I'm going home.' There was none of that, your parents put you to work and that's where you stayed.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mr Carl Borowsky and the Borowsky family in 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mrs Enid Borowsky, interviewed in 1986, recalls washing laundry in coppers and kerosene tins in the early twentieth century

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Mrs Enid Borowsky was interviewed, with her husband Carl Borowsky, in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960 ' project. They recall washing the household linen and clothing in coppers and kerosene tins in the early twentieth century.

Transcript

INTERVIEWER: How did you do your washing Mrs Borowsky?

ENID: Well, we had a copper, the fuel with the copper, and then after that I got a gas copper.

INTERVIEWER: How big would the copper have been and what did it look like?

ENID: Well, it only had a bowl very much like the bowls you get in the washing machines today, and you used to use a stick to keep probing the clothes all the time while they're boiling, and you'd have to take them out and put them in cold water, and then just rinse them in cold water and then put them in the blue water, and rinse in the blue water and then wring them all out by hand; and then you hang them out on the line.

INTERVIEWER: And so you'd put wood under the copper is that idea?

ENID: Yes, that's right, wood under the copper and she'd boil away there, and I would say your clothes would be beautiful, they really were.

INTERVIEWER: What is blueing the clothes?

ENID: We used to put sticks of blue, in the cold water; what wanted blueing we used to put in that.

CARL: It makes your clothes white.

INTERVIEWER: Your mother's washing: how did she do that and where?

ENID: They used kerosene tins and they had a half a dozen bricks with a couple of bars across them, and they used to boil it. They never had a copper. That was the way they washed, in kerosene tins. And their washing was every bit as white as it is coming out of the washing machine today.

INTERVIEWER: What sort of wood would you put under the copper?

CARL: Apple cases, fruit cases, threepence each; smash them up and boil your washing with them.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with Mr Carl Borowsky and the Borowsky family from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mrs Enid and Mr Carl Borowsky recall learning to swim in the Georges River in the 1920s, interviewed 1986

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Mrs Enid Borowsky was interviewed, with her husband Carl Borowsky, in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960 ' project. They recall learning to swim in Powells Creek and the Georges River in the 1920s, and the effect of drought on water quality.

Transcript

CARL: I learned to swim out in Powell's Creek at Hoxton Park. You hear all these people living around the valley squealing 'it took us years to get a swimming pool'. I said 'what are you talking about?' We all learnt to swim, I said 'what didn't learn to swim down there under the bridge and dive off the old wooden bridge, all of us had a big swimming pool in the creek out there behind Powell's Park.'

ENID: When we were all kiddies, Joe, he used to take us all up the river, we used to go to Casula, just near where the golf course used to be, under the viaduct there and he taught all us young ones to swim. He'd kid us to get on his back and go out in the middle and then he'd dump us. He was a devil.

CARL: And then when we got a dry season and a drought season was on, Dr Pirie, you'd see it written up in the local rag, that Dr Pirie advises the mothers to keep the kids out of the river until such time as it rained and cleaned it out again. Because the weir stopped the flow of water so it became stagnant.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with Mr Carl Borowsky and the Borowsky family from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers 'Old Joe', an Aboriginal man and his horse and buggy taxi service c1914, interviewed in 1986

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Mrs Evelyn Chapple was born in 1896 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she remembers 'Old Joe', an Aboriginal man who ran a taxi service in his horse and buggy.
Transcript

INTERVIEWER: You don't remember any Aborigines in the area do you?

EVELYN: Yes, we had a couple of them, a couple of Aborigines. Wed had a fella called 'Old Joe'. He used to drive a horse and buggy from the station if anyone wanted to go anywhere.

INTERVIEWER: Like a taxi driver?

EVELYN: Yes, with a horse and buggy. But he was piebald, his face was black and white. And his son was black and white.

INTERVIEWER: When was that, when you were a little child?

EVELYN: No, when I was about twelve or fourteen, wasn't real young. Joe Gommis [?], he used to have all his face and his body was black and white.

INTERVIEWER: Where did he live, can you remember?

EVELYN: He lived down near the Church of England in one of the old houses. We used to call him 'Old Joe'. A great big Aborigine, big face and big body. He used to drive this horse and buggy and the horse was a draught horse, he'd 'plop, plop, plop' and long the lane. I don't suppose very many people would be able to remember him.

INTERVIEWER: What did other people think of him? Was he accepted by the community?

EVELYN: Accepted by everybody, everybody liked him, he was a nice fellow. He always had a kind word for everybody.

INTERVIEWER: Can you remember any other Aborigines?

EVELYN: No, I can't.

INTERVIEWER: I believe there were some that used to be down by the river, used to live down there.

EVELYN: Yes, there probably would have been.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Evelyn Chapple in 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers hazards encountered while walking to school in the early 20th century, interviewed in 1986

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Mrs Evelyn Chapple was born in 1896 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. Here she remembers hazards encountered while walking to school.
Transcript

EVELYN: We had to go to school every day, it was a long walk for us, but we used to go across a paddock where there were a lot of bullocks that belonged to the slaughter yard. I'd have to run across the paddock, call the dog first, the dog belonging to our place, and it would come and chase the cattle away whilst we ran across. The biggest trouble though was the sheep. There were rams and they go for you. I used to - because I was very strong - I used to get them by the horns and hold them, push them backwards to the other side of the fence, and my brother would jump over the fence. And then he'd catch hold of the horns of the sheep and I'd jump over then. It was a funny old life.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Evelyn Chapple in 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mrs Evelyn Chapple remembers surviving well during the Great Depression, interviewed in 1986

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Mrs Evelyn Chapple, who was born in 1896, was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960' project. She remembers surviving well during the Great Depression of the 1930s because of income from real estate and her husband's employment at the Challenge Woollen Mills in Liverpool.
Transcript

EVELYN: I was married in 1917, it's a long way back.

INTERVIEWER: So you had a family when the Depression came?

EVELYN: Yes, we had family and we obtained houses around and were letting property. Don't I know it. They [tenants] went out and left us owing money. One family owed us two years' money. My husband was soft, he'd say 'poor devils, you can't be hard on them, we've got money coming in and we've got a living and they've got nothing' and he'd let them go.

INTERVIEWER: Your husband's job wasn't affected at all?

EVELYN: They [other employees] went on three days a week, but my husband never ever went on any short time because he was making blankets and flannel for the military.

INTERVIEWER: So you wouldn't have noticed too much of a difference financially?

EVELYN: No, not at all. We had the same income coming all the time. The only thing is my husband wouldn't get any overtime once the Depression was on.

INTERVIEWER: What about the general feeling in Liverpool?

EVELYN: Well I never ever noticed it, because it didn't affect me at all.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Evelyn Chapple in 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mrs Florence Starr recalls getting her motorcycle license in 1925 in Liverpool, interviewed 1986

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Mrs Florence Starr, interviewed in 1986 for 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900-1960' project, came to live in Austral in 1925 when she was first married at the age of seventeen. She recalls her motorbike riding prowess.

Transcript

FLORENCE: Well I did ride a motor bike before I should have rode a motorbike, when I was thirteen. And I had the first license for a motorbike of any female in Australia. When we could afford the outfit, the Harley Davidson outfit [motorbike with sidecar], I went in to Liverpool [police station] and he said to me 'You've ridden a bike - before the last few weeks' (when I had the permit to learn to ride).

INTERVIEWER: Did you have to do a test to get your license to drive the motorbike?

FLORENCE: Yes, I had a very severe test. As a matter of fact, he made me do the figure of eight three times without stalling the motor or tipping. It's very hard to ride an outfit and do a figure of eight with an outfit, because the sidecar keeps lifting off the ground. They had one chap in there who could ride an outfit, he had an outfit himself and he could ride it, one of the policemen. So I did the figure of eight three times and didn't stall the motor, although the sidecar wheel didn't touch the ground, all the time it was up off the ground. And then I said to him 'You ride a motor bike, don't you? You've been riding for years.' He said 'Yes'. I said 'Now you get on and do the figure of eight three times without stalling the motor,' and he couldn't do it, he couldn't do it. So I could ride a motorbike better than he could, yeah.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Detail from interview with Mrs Florence Hilda Starr, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mrs Florence Starr recalls making garden stakes in the 1920s for Chinese market gardeners in Austral, interviewed in 1986

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Mrs Florence Starr was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' She came to live in the suburb of Austral in 1925 when she was first married, at the age of seventeen. She recalls making garden stakes for Chinese market gardeners in the area.

Transcript

INTERVIEWER: What did you and your husband do when you first came to Austral?

FLORENCE: Well, we used to cut 'chow sticks' and sell bundles of chow sticks, they used to call them. They are about three foot long and there was a Chinese [market] garden in Liverpool, on Hoxton Park Road, it was just below Pearce Street, there was a Chinese garden, and they used to buy the chow sticks from us and we used to get three shillings a bundle and it used to take all day to cut a bundle of chow sticks, they were so big and then we had to take them in there. And that substituted [subsidised?] a bit for the small amount we got from the government, you know, the dole. As I say I had three children in two years and eleven months, I had three, and it was hard for me, but I still had to go and cut chow sticks.

INTERVIEWER: Who would look after the children?

FLORENCE: I would, I'd have them in a home made billy cart.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Florence Hilda Starr, from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mrs Jessie La Trobe describes delivering newspapers to military camps during World War II, interviewed in 1986

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Mrs Jessie La Trobe, who was born in 1910, was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Her family owned a newsagency in Liverpool and here she describes delivering newspapers to local military camps during World War II.

Transcript

JESSIE: We had all the camps to do and down there, where all the houses are now on the left hand side, near Warwick Farm Station, before you cross the bridge, that was a big army camp. It was the British navy that really had it and they called it the 'Golden Hind' and they treated it like a ship. When they went in the gate they went 'onboard', when they came out they came 'ashore'. Then we had the Americans in the centre of Warwick Farm racecourse so we had all that to do, and all the extra people who were about. We had nothing to do with Moorebank and Ingleburn as far as papers went but there were a lot about, a lot of people in the street. I still have my pass to go aboard the Golden Hind. They gave me a pass because we used to have to take papers in to the boys, the paperboys. I used to have to pick the papers up at the railway station, Warwick Farm railway, and take them and deliver them into the camps to the boys in different parts of the camps because they were big camps, and take them down, and then the boys would ride their bikes back here and check their money in.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Jessie La Trobe in 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mrs Lillian Watson recalls an American Air Force plane crash during World War II, interviewed 1986

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Mrs Lillian Dulcie Watson was born in 1904 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Mrs Watson was witness to the crash of an American Air Force plane, due to engine failure over Hammondville, during World War II.
Transcript

INTERVIEWER: Do you recall the plane crashing?

LILLIAN: Down the back here? Yes.

INTERVIEWER: Can you tell me a bit about that?

LILLIAN: Yes, I can remember that quite well. It was night time, or dusk, and an air raid warning went and of course the next thing you see all these planes and this plane came round over the house and you could sort of hear the wheels, it wasn't very far off the roof. The next thing we heard Bang! Of course all the kids were out like a shot out of a gun, they were going no matter what happened, they were going to see what happened, and of course they came home and all the tales they came home to tell us. Some gruesome tales they were, some of them. Anyhow, they came home and they had bullets, all sorts of bits and pieces they had, they brought home for souvenirs. I didn't know what to do about them. 'Well' I said, 'You're not taking them into the house, you can put them out in the shed.' A couple of days afterwards, a chap came knocking on the door. He was an American negro, and he said to me 'You got children?', a very abrupt sort of a man he was. I said 'Yes' . He said 'Have they been down the scrub (as he called it)?' And I said 'Oh yes, naturally,' I said, 'All the children have been down there.' He said 'Have they brought anything home from the wreck?'. I said 'Yes'. He said 'You know you can't have them. They belong to the American camp.' I said 'Oh well, you better come and take them'. So he came out and he had a big box and he lumbered all this stuff into the box and he said 'Thank you, you'll hear more about this.' I said 'Oh boy'. So when Don [son] came home from school, because the first thing, all the kids dive out to the shed to see all their souvenirs. And he came in and he said 'What happened to all our things'. I said 'Oh, a chap came and took them all away.' 'Oh, he had no right to do that, we found them!' But they took them just the same; but he never ever came back, we never heard any more about it.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Lillian Watson from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mrs Lillian Watson remembers her arrival in Hammondville during the Depression, interviewed in 1986

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Mrs Lillian Dulcie Watson was born in 1904 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Mrs Watson remembers her arrival in Hammondville, a settlement developed near Liverpool during the depression for families in need.
Transcript

LILLIAN: We got to Liverpool and we found out there was no bus, no transport, nobody knew where Hammondville was. So I said to my husband, 'What do we do, do we go back?' He said 'No, we've come this far, we might as well go the rest of the way.' So we decided to walk to Hammondville.

Well, we got, now, there was a factory where Leyland's factory is now, along the road. From then on it was practically a dirt track, horses and carts used to come out along the road, there was no traffic along the road, it was bush, and there was a few scattered houses. And we got along the road there and there was a dairy there. Mr Smith was the dairyman at the time, and we asked him where Hammondville was. 'Oh' he said, 'You've got a quite a long walk yet, you better keep going,' he said, 'You'll come to it.'

Well, we eventually got to Hammondville and it was just bush Ã¢â‚¬â€œ there was houses built along Walder Road where the school is now Ã¢â‚¬â€œ there was one room, was the school, and a little shop. And the office [for Hammondville Homes] was there. So we went into the office and he brought us down to look at this place here. There was a great big log right across the front of it, no fences, and I gave one look at it and I thought 'Oh boy'. Anyhow we eventually made up our minds we would come and give it a go.

We had a fuel stove, had to chop our own wood. The kids thought it was fun though, they were only little babies really, and they thought it was terrific, look out the back door and all you could see was bush. The house next door was nearly finished. Well we thought it was great for a week and of course it started to get very boring because there was no lights, only kerosene lamps, and no transport; the bus used to go to Liverpool of a morning and come back in the afternoon.

After a week I was going back to Bexley rain, hail or shine; no way was I going to stay in this place. Because it was so different, you know what I mean, there was nobody to talk to, you didn't know anybody. And then they had a chap used to come out here from St Barnabas' church [in central Sydney], a minister, an old chap, a Mr Morris and he was a lovely old chap, and he said 'Well, you've not been here very long. Give it a good three months at least'. Well, in the end I had to stay. We had no alternative 'cause we really had no money.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Lillian Watson from the 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mrs Marjorie Gough mourns loss of the old All Saints' Church building in Liverpool after it was demolished in 1971, interviewed in ...

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Mrs Marjorie Gough was born in 1908 and came to Liverpool in 1927 when she married. In her interview in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960,' project she mourned the loss of Liverpool's old All Saints' Church because of its strong connection with the milestones of her family's life.
Transcript

MARJORIE: That was one sad part, when they pulled down All Saints' Church because it was an old church and my husband, he was baptised there, and made his communion there; and all the boys, the five of them, they were all baptised there and then the three [two boys died in infancy] made their First Communion there. They were all married in All Saints' Church; and all their children were baptised in the All Saints Church and they all made their communion. But of course, I've only got one [grandchild] married; the church in the meantime had been pulled down so she was married in the new church there.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Marjorie Gough in 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mrs Marjorie Gough recalls knitting for soldiers in World Wars I and II, interviewed in 1986

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Mrs Marjorie Gough was born in 1908 and interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' Here she talks here about her contribution to the war effort in both world wars.
Transcript

MARJORIE: I knitted socks for the first war [WWI] when I was seven. I was born in England and came out. War broke out in 1914 and we came out in 1915 and our boat was the last boat that came out to Australia and then they stopped bringing people out. And we used to knit, in the last war [WWII] you'd knit in church and everywhere, in the last war. Now you wouldn't see people knitting in church but we knitted in church, socks and things for the soldiers.

INTERVIEWER: Who would get the knitted items to the soldiers? Would it be through Red Cross?

MARJORIE: Through Red Cross, yes, and we used to put a little note in and say who did them. My sister, she's still got it I think, she got a reply back from one of the chaps. But the Red Cross, they would supply the wool, and then [we'd] knit for all the soldiers, that was in the first war [WWI]. Then in the second war [WWII] [we] knew people that we'd send them to them.

INTERVIEWER: It wasn't through an organisation in the Second World War?

MARJORIE: No, just knitted them and sent them to people that we knew; little balaclavas and socks, jumpers, things like that. I used to like knitting..

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Marjorie Gough in 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)

Mrs May Rae recalls her father's work for Challenge Woollen Mills, Liverpool, interviewed in 1986

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Mrs May Rae was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' She recalls her family's immigration to Liverpool in New South Wales was due to her father's skilled work in woollen mills.
Transcript

INTERVIEWER: Mrs Rae, I was wondering if you could tell me when you first came to Liverpool?

MAY: The year I think would be about 1911, and we arrived in December. We left England on the 1st of November and I was four and a half that day - and my father was brought out here to help with all the spinning mules [complex machine for spinning wool or other fibres] in the Challenge Woollen Mills.

INTERVIEWER: And where did you live when you first came here?

MAY: Well, we got a house on Campbelltown Road, which is up above Atkinson St, now I think Kentucky [Fried] Chicken are up there now, and we were there for twelve months, and then we got a new home built at the end of Nagle Street, just where Atkinson Street joins Nagle Street, and then my father was given a house on the woollen mill property and he lived there until just before he retired.

INTERVIEWER: So your father worked at the woollen mills?

MAY: Well yes, because he came out to install it [the machinery]. See not many people knew how to work woollen mills and he'd always been in that field in England, and that's why he came out here.

My uncle, his name was Nathaniel Hutchinson, he was the one that sent for my father to come out because he was in the same work.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs May Rae in 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith.)

Mrs Popple talks about Horningsea Park in Liverpool, interviewed in 1986

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Mrs Linda [Lyndon] Popple was born in 1901 and was interviewed in 1986 for the 'Looking Back at Liverpool: An Oral History of the Liverpool Region 1900 to 1960.' She moved to Liverpool in 1914 from the alpine town of Cooma in New South Wales. She talks here about a grand historical residence in Liverpool: Horningsea Park.
Transcript

LINDA: My uncle lived here when we came here, he came from Bega, and he bought all Horningsea Park. There might be five or ten acres with it [now] but it was hundreds of acres [then] and there's big stone gates and I think it's 'HP': Horningsea Park on the stone gates as you go in. My mother's brother came there from Bega, he and auntie Annie, to live, and they bought it in 1908 I think it would be, and lived there and she never liked it. But that's old Horningsea Park built by the convicts but it's all been renovated. Some relations used to go there for school holidays, to Uncle Joe's, that was before we came here to live.

INTERVIEWER: Why didn't your aunt like living there?

LINDA: She just didn't like it. They'd been used to a big old country home but I think it had about three hundred acres of land with it then and they sold it and went to Chatswood and I think they ended up going to Bega or Cooma. They had a lot of land near Berridale, near the snow, because they had plenty of money.

INTERVIEWER: Did it have a reputation for being haunted, or not?

LINDA: Yes, it did have. And I've love to get a photo because now you can see it. They've cut a lot of the old pine trees that were dying away and you can see it stands out. It's only two and a half miles from the Cross Roads Hotel. You can't miss it, it's a huge place.

Contributed By

Liverpool City Library

(Excerpt from interview with Mrs Linda (Lyndon) Popple in 'Looking back at Liverpool : an oral history of the Liverpool region 1900-1960' conducted in 1986 by Liverpool City Council, editor and project co-ordinator Catherine Johnson ; researchers Angela Imbrosciano, Verica Miiosavijevic, Kathleen Smith)