Invercargill Archives

Overview Minty Hughes was born in Otautau in 1911. In this interview Minty discusses his father and his work in the flax mill at Pukemaori and his mother's home near Monkey Island, Orepuki. He describes travelling by steamer to Port Craig in 1923 and attending school there. Minty talks about the sawmills at Port Craig, transporting the logs, the Percy Burn viaduct, loading the boats with timber, a brief history of the Craig family and how the settlement got its name. He mentions his job as whistle boy...

Overview In this interview James gives details of his parents' backgrounds, the village in Galway, Ireland where he was born in 1906 and why he came to New Zealand. James describes leaving Galway in 1929 and his impressions of Invercargill on arriving in 1930. He describes working at the Fortification sawmill before labouring on buildings in Invercargill. He describes working on the Te Anau to Milford highway in very difficult working and living conditions. He notes that three hundred men worked on the...