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Interviewee

Dudley Mulhearn

Place Recorded

Coffs Harbour-NSW

Interviewer

Kerri Moss

Collection

Agency

Yarrila Arts & Museum (YAM)

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Mr Dudley Mulhearn

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IntervieweeDudley MulhearnInterview Date22 December 1986Place RecordedCoffs Harbour-NSWDuration45m06sAccession NumberLS2020.1.148Credit LineCoffs Harbour City Council, 1988.

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Mr Mulhearn was born on 5 August 1914. As a young boy he lived at Ashton (between Ulong and Lowanna). Dudley and his father were owners and workers of various early sawmills.

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 property at Ashton was rented to Dudley's father - "The mill houses were of a pretty low standard" -- On the second property, Dudley's father built a better house but did not actually own the land so when the time came to move from that property they also moved the house to Lowanna -- Dudley had 6 brothers but no sisters -- Dudley and his brother Tom were the only two boys to become involved in their father's sawmill business. All the children went to Sydney for their secondary education -- His mother used to cook on a wood stove -- The water supply was by tanks -- There are probably less people living in the Ulong area now than there was when the mills were all still working -- "Most of the people who are here now don't have work". During the Depression Dudley was at school in Sydney. It cost 26 pounds per term for board and lodgings at the school. Sometimes it was hard for Dudley's father to find the money to pay those school fees. Church services were first held at private houses and later churches were built. The Presbyterian church at Ulong was the first one built -- The children used to look forward to the boats coming in at Coffs Jetty bringing the supplies every three months -- Bread and meat were bought locally and were often delivered by horse and cart. Other food items were bought from Coffs by a horse team -- "I think they used to go down one day (to Coffs) and come back the next day". School days. Dudley's first school was Gundah just over the hill from Lowanna -- They played marbles and rounders -- Dudley lived two miles from the school. He mainly walked but sometimes he rode a horse -- "I can remember myself getting the cane" -- Maths and history were his favourite subjects. St Joseph's College at Hunters Hill -- Dudley didn't like boarding school at first but after one term he "loved every minute of it" -- They used to smoke at the boarding school and raid the Brothers' fruit bowl. "When we went to school I suppose the only drug we had was to smoke a cigarette, never heard of drugs otherwise" -- His first job was in the office of his father's sawmill business. He went on to learn all facets of sawmilling -- In his first year of work Dudley earned 3 pounds per week (1934) -- Dudley's first car was a Ford. He paid 280 pounds for it -- His father had mills at Lowanna, Ulong, Upper Bobo, Lower Bobo as well as mills down the Oxley Highway. Hardwood - blackbutt, gum, brush-box, tallowood. Softwood - coachwood, sassafras, corkwood, redbean -- There were ten men in the mill. Three or four were in the bush and the rest were in the mill -- The scrub wood mill opened up just after the Second World War -- Sawmilling is a very up and down business financially. Dudley and his mother owned Bobo Case and Timber Co. They mainly cut furniture timber and a bit of hardwood -- All the timber went by rail to Sydney -- Dudley met his wife in Coffs Harbour playing tennis. Her name was Beryl Brodie and she lived in the Jetty area -- They were married in November 1942 -- The reception was held at the Coffs Hotel - "The rain poured down all day" -- "From my age point of view I thought it was time I got married" - "I was 28 when I got married". Their first house was at Ulong and it was "quite adequate" -- Their children were born at Coffs. They had five children -- His father used to go gold mining at George Ellis's place. "Jackie Doran used to give him a hand". It was all done by pick and shovel. George Ellis used to come on horseback and bring vegetables, especially pumpkins -- His brother Tom was in partnership with the schoolteacher, Mr Hancock. They didn't make much money out of gold mining "but it kept them occupied" -- Dick Harrison, a farmer and a bullock driver, bought property from the Mulhearns. Beales Mill was pretty modern and up to date then -- The equipment used in sawmilling then and now -- Most log yards were built on a slant. Accidents in sawmills -- Bush nurses -- The railway between Glenreagh and Dorrigo (1920s). The trip to Sydney by rail -- Railway workers, also called navvies, used to go to the local shows and get a bit rowdy -- Jack Finch -- O'Hanlan's Store.