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Interviewee

Jack Gilbey

Place Recorded

Coffs Harbour-NSW

Interviewer

Sheridah Melvin

Agency

Yarrila Arts & Museum (YAM)

Collection

YAM Museum Collection

Sub-Collection

Voice of Time oral history project

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Jack Gilbey Interview

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IntervieweeJack GilbeyInterview Date17 December 1986Place RecordedCoffs Harbour-NSWDuration56m09sAccession NumberLS2020.1.17Credit LineCoffs Harbour City Council, 1988.Access AdviceFor research purposes only. No reproduction without permission of Yarrila Arts and Museum.

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Description

Mr Gilbey has lived and worked through the period that saw the changeover from horse to car. His story includes his years as a teamster, a sanitation worker, banana grower, and taxi owner/driver. The township of Coffs Harbour emerges as a growing centre throughout.

InterviewerSheridah MelvinAgencyYarrila Arts & Museum (YAM)CollectionYAM Museum CollectionSub-CollectionVoice of Time oral history projectSummaryStandard disclaimer. Visit the 'Voice of Time' web site to read or listen to the disclaimer (Internet link is below). Family circumstances at Wellington Vale Station, NSW, round the time of Jack's birth in 1904. His Father worked on the station -- He was a general hand. Jack's early education -- Jack first came to Dorrigo Shire in 1921, to work on the Dorrigo-Glenreagh railway line -- Jack's father and young brother came also -- "I had 5 horses and a dray carting gravel to different culverts". He was 17 years old. "We were very lucky to have a job on the railway" -- "Dad was really a carpenter, he was building sheds and things like that -- It was a massive work effort with many men -- The roads were terrible "it was nothing to break a shaft going down". The gravel was gathered from creeks and rivers; the gravel gangs washed the stones and pebbles ready for carting. Jack's young brother was a nipper -- Jack's pay was 5 pound weekly. He carted gravel right up to outside Dorrigo. Then he went on a plough-team with 6 horses and a plough and he ploughed out the Megan Station yard -- Jack was a fine horseman. Description of making that yard -- "After that job was finished, the Government put in a steam navvy, the first they ever had on a construction job". Explanation of a steam navvy -- Jack had 6 horses and a lorry and carted wood for the navvy to build up steam. The difference in the plough used. Sam Porter, a very big man held the plough -- There were 100 or more horses involved in this work. No motor vehicles were. In wet weather they were up over their hocks in mud, as their stabling yards were just cut out of the scrub -- They were well cared for by a special man. Jack drove the wagons to get their food supplies of chaff and corn -- "The riding ganger was our boss, Walter Hill". There were about 7 or 8 wagons continually getting food -- "I used to go to a lot of dances, up round Dorrigo". "They were marvellous" -- Description of getting to a dance - "you might have to drive 8 or 10 mile" -- Evening dress for a Ball. "Some of the fellas used to take a bottle along with them, and have a drink outside". Around 1924 Jack finished work on the railway, and went back to the Station -- He returned in 1932, to work with his brother on the sanitation service for the Council -- "There was no sewerage then in Coffs. They were very hard times; the Depression was on. The terms of their contract, 6d, a pan of nightsoil -- Description of how they handled the matter; pans covered in coal tar. Disposal was at the back of the cemetery, near the present Botanic Gardens -- Digging the trenches; awareness of polluting Coffs Creek -- The universality of night soil men in Australia -- Jack did this work of 9 years, the beginning of banana work on leased land -- In 1941 bananas were a very good price. They worked all day Saturday and Sunday. Rainfall: "it was nothing for it to rain for a fortnight or 3 weeks". Description of propagation, corms and suckers -- They saw quick profits. "Nearly every businessman in Coffs Harbour had a plantation" -- Over production and the subsequent drop in prices and profit. "A lot of growers had to walk off their plantations". Comparison of best and worst prices" -- The plantation at Bruxner Park Lookout. The main concern with cultivation -- Bunchy top - a parasite that affected the genes in the Queensland crop. The Banana Growers Federation. The stores -- Lamb's banana fertiliser; a mixture of blood and bone -- The lack of disease in Coffs Harbour bananas proved a tremendous boost for the industry -- Today growers have trouble with beetle borer. Married life in town. Charlie Vost's role in finding him a house -- Neighbours. In 1932 Coffs was a very small place. "It was a pleasure to be in Coffs Harbour in those days" -- The Jetty -- Jack's children. The death of his daughter from diphtheria -- Single life; "I was so busy I never felt lonely" -- Drinking at the Hotel Coffs. His involvement in the banana industry lasted from 1941 to late 1960's -- Jack brought his first taxi in 1948 and asked his brother to work the bananas for him -- The vehicle was a 1939 Mercury -- The Public Works Department gave Jack the contract to convey their officer on their fieldwork -- Description of this actual work -- Taxi driving in Coffs -- The other operators could not wait for their money. Business expansion through profit from bananas and hard saving -- Weekend work: Top Town to the Jetty -- The Transport Department and the local Council's role -- The incident on the way to Armidale. Jack's arrangements with his drivers; commission work -- "I didn't have very much experience with meters at all". Top town to the Jetty cost 6d. in the 1940's. Coffs to Coramba was 10/- -- Multiple hire. The rank opposite the Pier Hotel. Employing aboriginal men in the bananas -- "They always wanted their money, but they didn't like to work" -- The standard of cars Jack purchased for the taxi business -- His most satisfying job; bananas. The Tasma Theatre -- Jack Gerard -- Personality Portrait: (1) Charlie Vost, the first Health Inspector; (2) Harry Bailey, the Shire President. His scheme for the Bobo water; (3) Louie La Crosse, a great fisherman.