Invercargill Archives

Overview Irene Brown was born in Riverton in 1901. Her father worked on a water race and her mother was a dressmaker. In this interview, Irene recalls the deaths of two of her brothers, school days at Wild Bush and growing up in rural Southland. She describes marrying Henry Brown and activities on their farm including keeping bees, cows, chickens and growing potatoes. She discusses clothing, going to town in a gig, horses and boating at Riverton.

Overview This interview is a topic-based interview covering ditch digging and land drainage in Southland. Ken and Catherine talk about the recollections of a common grandfather, Ernie Coster, who was a ditch digger.