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Interviewee

Daisy (Sanderson) Bentley

Place Recorded

Coffs Harbour-NSW

Interviewer

Kerri Moss

Collection

Agency

Yarrila Arts & Museum (YAM)

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Daisy Bentley Interview

Details

IntervieweeDaisy (Sanderson) BentleyInterview Date12 January 1987Place RecordedCoffs Harbour-NSWDuration42m15sAccession NumberLS2020.1.162Credit LineCoffs Harbour City Council, 1988.

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Description

Daisy was born at Bathurst on 13 April 1916. Her family came to live at Nana Glen in 1918. Daisy's father was a timber worker. She was an only child.

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. Daisy began Karangi School at 5 years of age -- Counters carved out of oak timber fell into the school toilet and were lost forever -- They moved to Brooklana and Daisy continued her schooling -- She had a bad accident when she was approximately 10 years old and had to be taken to Coffs Hospital. The accident took place on a Sunday in a friend's car (Learner driver) -- On the way to hospital the car had a puncture and because they had no spare tyre they stuffed the tyre with ferns to get them to where the tyre could be repaired -- Daisy was in hospital for 7 weeks. She had to stay in Coffs for further care -- Dr Hawke was "fantastic". The Brooklana School. Mr Fuller, Mr Fountain and M. Holloway -- "I had a very happy homelife and consequently I was a very happy kid" -- Picnics in the 'sulky and buggy' -- "I used to ride a lot" -- Daisy loved boats. She used to play with toy boats in the creek -- They had horses including "Midget". They bred horses from then on -- "They were terrors to shy". "I loved them though". Her father had a bullock team at Brooklana -- "It was a good living in fine weather" -- She helped with the housework -- Daisy also polished the floors -- They used to boil up the clothes in a kerosene tin -- They used kerosene lights and a fuel stove -- "Mum had her chooks and Pop had a garden". Coffs Primary school. "I hated maths" -- Jean Patterson was an old friend -- "The war took a lot of them" -- Daisy moved to Timmsvale and did schooling by correspondence -- She finished schooling and proceeded to do shorthand and typing -- The General Store and Post Office was Daisy's first job. She was paid 10 shillings per week -- They moved to an orchard (where Lyle Timms now lives). The dance hall at Timmsvale -- Daisy worked at the orchard picking apples -- They had a couple of cows. They sold the milk and cream -- The apples were sent to market by train -- The Depression times. "We always had enough to eat" -- "A lot of the unemployed people were sent up to the country to work". The orchestra came from Grafton for the dances -- The type of clothing worn at the dances -- The type of shoes that were worn -- Daisy and her friend used to set each other's hair in pins. She first met her future husband at Timmsvale during a sports day. Her husband was in the wood chop event -- "He and his father had timber trucks" -- Social outings, "mainly to football" -- "Well at first I thought his father didn't like me" -- The parents went to the dances too -- Women's changing role after World War Two. Daisy married in 1937 in the Presbyterian Church in Coffs Harbour -- MacGregors Bakery made the wedding cake -- The honeymoon -- World War Two. Her husband said "I'm going to war and I don't want any argument". Daisy said, "you're not getting any I'll be proud of you" -- Daisy joined the Air Force and trained in Queensland but because of her mother's illness she had to come home and look after her. When peace was declared "everyone went crazy" -- Her husband sustained a leg injury whilst in Syria" -- He became a maintenance man at a mill in Coramba. He later worked for the Forestry. They built a house on the land Daisy's father gave them -- Their first child was born when Daisy was in her 30s -- The changes in Coffs Harbour -- "Everyone knew you". "Maybe I wouldn't have got married so young" -- "I would have loved to have been a doctor" -- "I suppose it was the heart ruled the head" -- "I had a lot of home nursing experience" -- "My daughters give their children a lot of love and a lot of freedom and they trust them. So far they haven't been let down" -- "A little bit more home life on the part of a lot of parents and a lot less club life would help them a bit".