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 of a Waipango/Riverton native covers her family, her home at Birch Bush farm in Waipango, Southland, her grandmother’s home in Riverton, domestic life, her schools, her family’s farm and its workers. Also covers her early employment, start in nursing, illness with tuberculosis, and experience as both a patient and nurse at Orangapai Sanatorium in Waipiata; her marriage to Charles Lake; and their life as a hired farming couple on several different farms in the Southland and...