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Interviewee

Ivan George Tyson

Place Recorded

Coffs Harbour-NSW

Interviewer

Lesley Gibbs

Collection

Agency

Yarrila Arts & Museum (YAM)

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Ivan George Tyson Interview

Details

IntervieweeIvan George TysonInterview Date9 September 1986Place RecordedCoffs Harbour-NSWDuration1h44m31sAccession NumberLS2020.1.94Credit LineCoffs Harbour City Council, 1988.

More Information

InterviewerLesley GibbsCollectionYAM Museum CollectionVoice of Time oral history projectAgencyYarrila Arts & Museum (YAM)SummaryStandard disclaimer. Visit the 'Voice of Time' web site to read or listen to the disclaimer. Ivan Tyson has covered much of his family history -- The history of the family starting from 1839 -- His descendants came to Australia as immigrants -- George Tyson, who came to Sydney 1839, was responsible for woodwork in St James Church in Sydney -- The family settled in Port Macquarie. They then came to the Bellinger River -- The difficulty in tracing the family -- Mr and Mrs Tyson now live in Sydney -- Ivan was born 25 January 1919 -- He and his mother were thrown from a sulky -- His mother spent six months in hospital -- The older children looked after him as a baby -- He went to school in Grafton at the age of 11 but didn't follow it up with university. He worked at the Courts in Kempsey -- The war years and meeting his future wife. The years spent in New Guinea. Ivan decided to follow a law career -- He didn't want to be a farmer. His older brother took over the farm -- Memories of Wal Tyson digging a well with his father and Uncle Ern. The family name of Parsonage. The sixth generation of William Parsonage Tyson -- The first William Parsonage Tyson was christened in St James Church in Sydney -- All the generations of the family were involved with woodwork -- Further family history -- When his grandmother was seven months pregnant she had to ride a horse to Kempsey because there were no midwives in the area -- Men riding down the beach to Kempsey to get supplies -- What the pioneers must have gone through! Tobacco was grown at home in the early days -- Increasing small crops for income -- A pink rose marked an early child's grave -- They moved homes up onto the hillside to avoid floods. Ocean going steamers coming up to Fernmount; also droghers -- Silt didn't fill the river or build up when the forest was growing -- Boats could only go to "Boat Harbour" in good conditions -- The loss of land due to floods and river direction change -- The 1950 flood; silt covered the land for years. Family heartbreak -- Spreading Japanese Millet to grow to feed the cattle - the land was too boggy to support animals -- Fernmount punt. Other members of the family moved to Orama -- William Parsonage Tyson selected 100 acres on North Arm of the river -- Kalang River used to be called the South Arm -- Land bought for 1 pound per acre. More Tyson family history -- School holidays spent with the workmen on the Dorrigo Mountain. Recent family history -- The confusion over family burial places. His father has two headstones. His parents, years earlier, had moved to Paddington in the hope it would help his father's health, near what is now White City Tennis Courts, but was then an Amusement Park. This was unsuccessful so they returned to Bellingen. The Tyson family history. The reunion of the Tyson family. Jimmy Tyson was the cattle king -- The difficulty in tracing the family history -- Arthur and Billy chipping corn. How their grandfather handled situation -- Their grandmother Mary-Ellen and the sick Aboriginal babies. The immigrant worker on the farm -- Aboriginal fire sticks. Tribal fights in the area -- Many whites travelled by the beaches to avoid possibly crossing sacred ground -- Floating the millable timber to the sea via the river -- Riding on the droghers. Droghers were later used to dredge the river -- The timber mills at Repton. Doepel's Mill at East End. The bullockers -- Frank Box, brother to Jack Box and his T-model Ford Coach. Grandma and all her worldly goods were lost at Kempsey when the coach fell off the punt -- Box in a box! Big Town at Fernmount. Votes were cast to change the position of the main town to boat harbour... it's now Bellingen. George Tyson gave the land to the police for Fernmount. He also built the hall and the hotel -- Keeping their feet warm on the way to school. Calling in to Blacksmith's -- The suppers at the local dances. Also Bonville Reserve Dances. Getting home for breakfast and milking time. Entertainment by Geers Orchestra -- Bottle of 'send em' slipped into ladies man's packet at the dance -- During the war, boats were kept in the Fernmount Hall to hide them -- The sentry box to guard the boats. The reaction when Jack Box once found the sentry away having a cup of tea. Jack Box lubricating his bike with Goanna Oil -- The children grew up with a great sense of humour -- Jack Box advertising for wives. They all left the same day but for the one who stayed a week and left with a new set of false teeth.