Oral History course

Talking to Aunty Marg

Miss W. England, Oral History course , , ,

As part of the Oral History course, I interviewed my Aunty Margaret, my mother’s sister. I recorded on my iPad then edited using the Wavepad program on my PC.

We had to submit a three minute recording with a transcript – I received a score of 88% but was mentioned I should use more ellipses … when the voice trails off in the recording.

Here is the actual edited recording and the transcript.

 

Interviewee: Margaret Phillips [MP]

Interviewer: Suzanne Wyatt [SW]

Date: November 16, 2016

Place: Her lounge room in West Moonah.

As Margaret is nearly blind, I read the information and consent forms to her. The interview is solely for family history purposes.

This starts at 16 seconds in on the audio file.

SW: Marg, do you give verbal consent for me to interview and record your responses?

MP: I do.

SW: What’s your full name, your date

MP: Marg

SW: of birth and your present address?

MP: Margaret Grace Phillips or do would you want England?

SW: No, that’s OK.

MP: 7/4/28 I was born. Unit 3/17 Sawyer Avenue, West Moonah.

Three minute interview starts here  00:31

SW: So how would you best describe your father? I’ve got some photos here in front of you. One here, they’re in a running race, and

(Both speaking at the same time)

MP: that was the city

SW: there are some birds

MP: That was the City Council, they the City Council had a picnic day once a year and this was down at Long Beach, just round about where the uh roundabout is [pause] I think the roundabout down there now isn’t there?  Well that’s where it was, round about that area.

SW: So how did he go in the races? Was he a good runner?

MP: Yes, he was.

(Both speaking at the same time)

SW: and

MP: He won that if I’m not mistaken.

SW: Oh right.

MP: He got, he got some little thing.

SW: Oh it might be mentioned in the newspaper. I’ll be able to look it up.

MP: He uh always wore his watch with the chain on it, the fob watch. He always had that on where every where you wore a collar and tie.

SW: And some of these these other photos, he’s there with some birds. Is that in your back yard at

MP: Yes we had pigeon, pigeon loft and dad’d get the pigeons out and I would run up to Fitzroy Gardens and stand in a special place. I’ve let the pigeons go and dad would see who got home first, me or the pigeons. That was re about a weekly [pause] weekly um thing that he did. Yep.

SW: Oh right. And there’s another one there of. It looks like you and my mum and your dad in a rowboat.

MP: This one?

SW: Mmm.

MP: That

SW: Yeah.

MP: That’s dad and yeah Phyllis is in the middle and me on the end. That’ll be, I reckon, about the first time I went out in it.

SW: So did your dad go out rowing often?

MP: Oh, every weekend he went down to Sandy Bay baths to fish. And he had a little fish, he had a little uh what do you call’em now? Over the boat’s um  [long pause] He was known.  When you went to Long Beach on the trams, us kids would all go upstairs on the double decker tram and when we got to Wrest Point, “There’s Uncle Harry out there!” Everybody knew dad.

SW: Right

MP: And um he used to tell us.  I was only telling someone the other day. He always took a little bottle of water. He couldn’t swim and he never had a life jacket or anything in the boat. He took a little bottle of water with him every time and when the fish started to bite, he’d go round like that [fading voice as she turns to the side] to some …[inaudible] to come back,  he’d just put,  “I’ve just put the oil of catchem in the water,” he said. And that’s how they caught their fish. But dad with his oil of catchem. They never ever woke up to it. When we went on the trams down they’d say, “Uncle Harry, Uncle Harry!” and everybody would wave. He was well known in Sandy Bay.

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Readers: Have you ever formally interviewed a relative? What was the most difficult part of the interview?

Children in Hobart during WWII

Miss W. Oral History course , , , , , , ,

September 2, 1939 and  Hobart newspaper ‘The Mercury’ had this headline on page 1.

World poised perilously on brink of war

Would lives of children living in Hobart over 10,000 miles away change or remain the same? My parents, Robert (Bob) and Phyllis Wyatt had already written about their experiences during war time, so I interviewed Phyllis’ sister, Margaret Phillips, to get her memories on how war affected her.

By September 8, the Tasmanian government had compiled a booklet for householders  including mention of air raid shelters.[1] Margaret said:

We had a trench in the backyard. Dad built one for us. …… Dear old mum, she packed a basket full of food and we took that into the air raid shelter with us. But we never had to go.  …..  Dad had built this hole in the ground, lined it out with apple cases from uncle Arthur Stirling’s market. After the war was over, he just left it as it was. ….. Later in life, when someone bought the house, they filled it in.[2]

Source: SLQ Image 42866
Children digging trenches Source: SLQ Image 42866

Margaret couldn’t remember any practice trench drills at her high school but Bob said:

 I remember that at Goulburn Street School we had trenches dug in the school yard. We occasionally had practice runs and you had to have a rubber to put between your teeth and a sugar bag folded over your head.[3]

Phyllis remembers what happened at the school she attended.

Dad helped the fathers from the school to dig trenches in the now Albuera Street School. It had been a cemetery and when we had air raid shelter drill, you could pick bones out while you were in the trench.[4]

Ration card, image owned by author.
Ration card, image owned by author.

Each person, including children, was given ration cards for buying clothing. Phyllis cried all the time when having her first hair cut at age 7 in 1941.

I thought she would cut off my neck. I was promised a new overcoat and some of Margaret’s coupons had to be used and she wasn’t very happy.[5]

There were ration coupons for food as well but families were asked to grow their own vegetables. Margaret remembers:

Whenever Eileen or the cousins came down for a visit, they would bring rabbits and dad was great at fishing so we had plenty of food. ….. Dad grew a lot of vegetables, we had fruit trees in the back yard and grapes down the side lane.  If we wanted any more, we would go down to Wise and Stirling markets and uncle Arthur would  give us some different ones.[6]

Bob mentioned:

Some people gave the US marines a home cooked meal. I asked mum if I could invite some in. We didn’t have much meat or butter but we had plenty of fresh vegetables. The three marines enjoyed their time with us and signed my autograph book.[7]

Children were asked to help with the war effort. Families would have War Savings Certificates. Mothers and daughters would knit for the troops using khaki coloured wool. They would make scarves with balaclavas in the end  to keep soldiers warmer during winter in Europe.

My father was a member of a scout troop.

We had a camp at Gardeners Bay to pick fruit for the war effort; I was homesick as it was the first time I had ever been away from home. I only earned five shillings for picking raspberries. I gave it to mum who kept it in her purse as the first money I had ever earned.[8]

According to educators at this time, war improved the geography skills of children and they learnt to ask lots of questions about what was happening in Europe.[9]

Relatives serving in Europe would send cards home. Bob remembers:

Uncle Jack (Bomber) occasionally sent a card to my mother, it was always censored and no mention of where he was. After he came home, he was one of the Rats of Tobruk.[10]

Family life in Hobart carried on as normal but perhaps with some rationing of what you could buy. Children had to learn to be more resourceful to help their family.

Footnotes

[1]  ‘PROTECTION OF CIVILIANS IN TASMANIA’, Advocate, 8 September 1939, p. 2.

[2] Margaret Phillips, interview by Suzanne Wyatt, digital recording, Hobart, 18 November 2016, in author’s possession.

[3] Robert Wyatt to Suzanne Wyatt, letter, 1 December 2016, original held in author’s possession.

[4] Phyllis Wyatt to Suzanne Wyatt, letter, 1 December 2016, original held in author’s possession.

[5] P.Wyatt to Wyatt, letter, 1 December 2016.

[6] Margaret Phillips, interview by author.

[7] R.Wyatt to Wyatt, letter, 1 December 2016.

[8] R.Wyatt to Wyatt, letter, 1 December 2016.

[9] ‘Strange Contrast In Australian Outlook’, The Mercury , 2 April 1940, p. 3.

[10]  R.Wyatt to  Wyatt, letter, 1 December 2016.

Bibliography

Advocate

Phillips Margaret, interview by Suzanne Wyatt, digital recording, Hobart, 18 November              2016, in author’s possession.

SLQ Image 42866, Children digging trenches at Ascot State School, Brisbane, 1942.

The Mercury

Wyatt, Suzanne, Ration card, 2015. Personal collection.

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Readers: Do you have any memories as a child during war in 1939-1945? Please comment below.

 

Another new unit – Oral History

Miss W. Oral History course

About six weeks since my last post and in that time I have finished the Convicts and their Legacy course which was a lot about statistical data with convicts. I have also finished my role as tutor with the Introduction to Family History unit – only have to close down the discussions on Wednesday.

So today I started on my 5th unit in the UTAS Diploma of Family History course. It is all about Oral History.

As this is going to involve recording and transcribing an interview, I have given some thought as to who I will interview and what type of questions I will ask. Then I thought about who in my family is interested in family history and decided Taylia my 1st cousin twice removed who lives in Western Australia. Her great grandma, who she doesn’t see very often, is my aunt. So I decided to ask her were there any questions she would like me to ask her great grandma when I interview her.

Hopefully Taylia will leave the questions in the comments on this post.