Format: Audio

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Interviewee

Bill Payne

Place Recorded

Coffs Harbour-NSW

Interviewer

Kerri Moss

Collection

Agency

Yarrila Arts & Museum (YAM)

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Bill Payne Interview

Details

IntervieweeBill PayneInterview Date3 February 1987Place RecordedCoffs Harbour-NSWDuration43m34sAccession NumberLS2020.1.163Credit LineCoffs Harbour City Council, 1988.

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Description

There were 13 children in Bill's family. Most of them were born at home. They firstly lived in North Street, Coffs Harbour. His father worked on the railway and the breakwater.

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. Bill's father grew vegetables and killed his own cattle for meat -- They used to hand down clothing from one child to another -- They used to buy 25 pound bags of flour and made clothing out of the washed bags (calico) -- Household chores -- Mum's cooking. "We thought she was the best there was" -- "Mum cooked all day Sunday" -- They walked two and a half miles to church -- His fathers work. His mother was born into a Carnival family. She used to swing clubs in the sideshow -- His father played football under a 'phony' name so the Railway Department didn't know that he had taken the day off work -- School days and the Coffs Jetty -- The alphabet was stuck up on the walls in the classroom -- They used to go and get the teachers lunch from up the road -- 'Robbo' man that worked at Anderton's Store -- "I remember getting poked in the belly with a ruler or cane". "Not enough discipline in schools today" -- Leaving school. "My thought was to get out and earn some money" -- He earned 10 shillings per week at the age of 14. He used to ride a bike out to Red Hill and work on the bananas -- Banana growing in 1937 -- Banana spraying -- He gave his mother the 10 shillings per week -- He bought his mum a Christmas present with the only money he kept -- Christmas time at Bill's house -- "Dad used to make the Christmas cake and pudding and we used to have 3 pence and 6 pence in the puddings". Fire cracker nights -- "The idea was to see who could have the biggest bonfire in the district -- Jetty Life was made up of 'Bullock teams, horse teams and buggy's' -- The steamship was pulled into the Harbour every Sunday -- His mother told Bill that out near Jeffrey Motors there was a to be a t-tree swamp and you would often see Aborigines walking with supplies on their backs. To his knowledge they were transient. Louie, a black man, had a house made out of kerosene tins -- Deafy lived at what is now Brelsford Park -- The dole -- Depression times , sometimes there was only dry bread to eat. Community spirit -- Jetty families -- Jetty Memorial Hall -- The Beach House Hotel -- The fire at the Fitzroy Hotel. Dark's corner fire -- The first fire brigade was a man drawn cart -- Carrall cottage -- House cleaning -- "Lawns never got mowed". Bill met his wife coming home on the train from Grafton -- His wife's family lived at Coramba -- The Tasma Theatre -- They heard about World War Two on the wireless -- Bill enlisted in 1942. Training was held in Dubbo, Rutherford and Maitland (Lighthorse) -- New Guinea -- Women worked in the munitions factory -- "I think it's equal rights" -- New Guinea. "The grass grows quick here but up there you only turn your back and it'll cover you if you don't keep moving" -- Bill was in the Field Ordinance at Nedang -- They used to trade 'bully beef' with the natives for fresh veggies. The end of the war -- "Opportunities sometimes came your way and you let them pass" -- "I was some of the last to leave New Guinea" -- "The sisters were only tiny tots when I left, when I came back they were young women" -- His wife's maiden name was McCormack. She worked in the Post Office. Her father was a baker. They married in 1948 in Coramba -- "Spent nearly all Saturday morning at the pub" -- They lived with his father and mother when they were first married -- Some of Bill's jobs were working for the Forestry, C.H.S.C., carrying run and a banana grower -- Tom Gregory delivered wood for 7 shillings and six pence a load -- Dickie Bent was the local policeman. "He let you know that he was the law".