Abstract H0267 DESMOND O’BRIENInterviewer: Jenny CampbellAbstracter: Judith ChristieInterview: 17 June 2016 TRACK ONE00:12 Interview identification.00.30 Born GORE in 1937. Only child of DANIEL AND KATHLEEN O’BRIEN nee CONNORS O’CONNER. Mother’s father Australian, Mother’s mother born in the KARAWAU GORGE.End of Track OneTRACK TWO00.00 Grandmother KATIE KEEN and Grandfather was FRANK O’CONNOR....

Overview In this interview James tells in detail his family history before talking of his employment in various areas of Australia and his return to Rotorua and Auckland. When he moved to Christchurch, he became a long-distance truck driver until he had an accident and decided to return come to Southland where he worked in the coal mines for 23 years before being made redundant. Safety issues in the mines were a concern of his. After leaving the mines he was employed by Brightwood Sawmill in Otautau,...

Abstract HO279 JAMES BERNARD DUNCANInterviewer: Jenny CampbellAbstracter: Judith ChristieInterview: 13 October 2016 TRACK ONE00.00 Born 1946.01.30 Father JOHN HAROLD DUNCAN. Involved in horses and worked for the MINISTRY OF WORKS as a labourer in SOCKBURN. Self in a family of 10. Mother MARGARET ELIZA DONALDSON, who was a very loving and maternal person.02.15 Mother had a lot of tragedy in her life. One child died at...

Overview This interview is part of the Awarua Radio Communications Museum collection. In this interview Jack tells his family history before going onto to describe in detail his work for the Post Office in particular his time spent at Awarua Radio Station during WW2 where he used his qualifications with morse code. During this time, he also had to learn Japanese Morse Code. After the war he returned to Post Office duties in various towns around the south before retiring at the age of 57. He speaks of...

Abstract H0277 JACK CAMPBELL KNIGHTInterviewer: Gordon DustonAbstractor: Judith ChristieInterview date: 24 November 2016TRACK ONE00.12 Interview identification. 01.40 Self born in LAWRENCE in 1925. Self’s FATHER was a baker at WAIPOURI when young, then a grocer in Lawrence. At one stage in partnership in a MOTOR GARAGE, then took over the grocery shop during the Depression, then worked with BURWOOD AND CO, a Lawrence business. ...

Abstract RUSSELL JOHN MATTHEWSInterviewer: Nancy BurnettAbstracter: Judith ChristieInterview: 13 December 2016TRACK One00:00 Interview identification00:45 Born in 1938.01.30 Born in Invercargill, lived at Waituna during school years. FATHER WILLIAM OLIVER MATTHEWS, MOTHER MARY ROBERTS NEE MUNROE. Four SIBLINGS, ELIZABETH, MARGARET, RAYMOND and KATHLEEN. Margaret died in 2014. Self oldest sibling....

Overview This interview is part of the Gorge Road Collection. In this interview Russell describes the huge changes in the landscape in the Waituna area. From the 1950s land around the Waituna Lagoon was drained and cleared of moss, manuka, flax and scrub and converted into farmland. Russell describes the machinary used and the processes involved in the conversion process and the support provided by central government.