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Interviewee

Les Dutton

Place Recorded

Coffs Harbour-NSW

Interviewer

Kerri Moss

Collection

Agency

Yarrila Arts & Museum (YAM)

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Les Dutton Interview

Details

IntervieweeLes DuttonInterview Date21 July 1986Place RecordedCoffs Harbour-NSWDuration47m11sAccession NumberLS2020.1.129Credit LineCoffs Harbour City Council, 1988.

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Description

Mr Dutton was born in Cobar in 1903 and came to Coffs Harbour with his family in 1911.

InterviewerKerri MossCollectionYAM 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. The family home was in Moore Street, Coffs Jetty -- His father was caretaker of the School of Arts and his mother was a tailoress -- He had 2 brothers and 1 sister -- His brother Jack went away to World War II -- The Depression and its effects -- 6 pence is probably equal to 50 cents today -- It cost 3 pence to get into the pictures -- Mrs Dutton let boys into the pictures for 'free'. Religion - "people are a little bit bigoted now" -- "We know the good from the bad" -- Political beliefs. He rented a horse and sulky on weekends to go to Millthorpe to Orange -- He walked to the School of Arts to work -- His father carried a lantern -- Roads were pretty rough -- Bullock teams got bogged on their way to the BAT mill at the Jetty -- Coffs Harbour is built on a swamp -- Park Beach Plaza used to be swampland -- Miss Banks' private school. The Railway owned the building -- It cost 3 pence a week to attend school. There were 50 children and 2 teachers -- Les changed schools when the Railway school closed, Coffs Primary was closer to home. Mental arithmetic was his favourite subject -- Playground games included cricket and football -- Foxes and hounds -- Girls were not allowed to play with boys -- Corporal punishment at school -- "Playing the wag" -- No tuck-shops. Les left school at 13 years of age -- His parents thought farming was a better job than joining the Navy -- "Wouldn't be tempted to drink" -- Les boarded at a farm. The cost of food was taken out of his wages, so he got 10 shillings per week -- He slept in a barn -- Les worked 16 to 18 hours per day -- The farmer's wife put the clock back so as "To get as much work out of you as they possibly could" -- "Hungry Herdegen" -- "We thought our working conditions were okay" -- Light plant at Fitzroy Hotel - charcoal burners. "It was a black job alright" -- Les only saw his parents once a month -- He helped his parents financially to build a house. It cost 100 pounds for a completed room -- He felt it was the thing to do "because I was the eldest" -- Met wife at Friday Creek (when Les was a dairy-hand for Herdegens) -- He followed his wife on horseback -- They married in 1925. Les was 22 and his wife, Ivy Moran, was 21 -- "They fell in love with her the same as I did" -- They had to be home at midnight during the courtship. Social activities. They built a little house on the land left to them in father-in-laws will -- They built a cupboard from kerosene boxes -- An iron bed was given to them from the Duttons -- Power came from candles and kerosene lamps -- The wind-up gramophone -- The house had 4 rooms but they mainly used the kitchen -- The use of land. Les worked on bananas at Middle Boambee -- 1922 Rugby car. It used 4 gallons of petrol per month -- Les earned 1 shilling an hour working on the bananas -- They had four children -- Before having a car they used to come to Coffs by horse and sulky -- The grocery shop on Old Coast Road, Middle Boambee -- Charlie used to eat 1 pound of butter before bringing the other 1 pound home – Get-togethers- people brought along cakes and sandwiches. There were 160 people at their wedding -- The reception was held at Mr Byrnes’ refreshment room (High Street) -- "Good old times" -- Bread and meat was delivered to the roadside box - "If you left it there overnight it would still be there in the morning" -- "Mixed population - bit of friction" -- "Australians are good workers too" -- A typical weekday. Conversation over meals -- "Education for my children was important to me because I only had 4 years of schooling" -- His wife grew vegetables and flowers. She sold the flowers to Brays Store in Coffs Harbour -- Les got home from the bananas at dark -- Bread cost 6 pence per loaf and was brought from Repton by a horse-drawn vehicle (15 miles) -- Birthdays, Christmases and Easter. Empire Day and crackers. "Burn the old Kaiser". Ray Perkins, Les's brother in law, used to help Mr Moran around the farm because he was frightened to ask Mr Moran for his daughters hand -- Any suitors were given the brush-hook to see if they were good workers -- Newspapers. Mail came by boat until the railway came through -- The typical Aussie female in the 1930s was a "Good farm-hand and mother" -- The typical Aussie male in the 1930s "married their wives for love and loved their families" -- "Family life more important then - too much to drink now" -- "Machinery's jiggered everything, it makes people too impatient" -- "People not as happy now even though we had the Depression".