Townsville City oral histories

Interview with Chrissie and Pat Prior. Chrissie and Pat discuss their childhood in the area, the council sealing the roads for the bus tours; what south Townsville used to look like, as well as Mabo’s School for Indigenous Communities.

Two part interview with Russell Butler. In the first part of the interview, Russell talks about his family history; his great-grandmother and her survival of the Bandjin massacre; the banning of Aboriginal languages and cultures; his childhood raised by his grandmother; his grandmother teaching him the ways of his people, as well as his schooling. In the second part of the interview Russell talks about dropping out of school; joining the army; teaching children and adults the traditional ways of his people; his children, as well as the local caves and story places.

Two part interview with Kathleen Ruth Nugar. In the first part of the interview, Kathleen talks about her family history and childhood; her father’s struggle to get money for the family; the other families that moved to the area; doing laundry for the American soldiers, as well as living on rations during the war. In the second part of the interview Kathleen talks about working as a fruit picker; meeting the father of her children, as well as her large family of grandchildren.

Interview with Tina Ross and Nina Benn. Tina and Nina discuss the people who lived in Townsville; their childhood in the area; their families, as well as the way the Townsville landscape has changed over the years.

Two part interview with John and Gladys Plant. John talks about his childhood in Ravenswood; the families around the area; his various work mining, cutting cane, and delivering supplies; meeting his wife and getting married, as well as getting work in the Essential Services during the war. Gladys talks about her life with John and their love of music.

Interview with George Nankivell. George talks about his experience with the depression; his childhood home; his fathers work as a builder; his father serving in WWI; surviving cyclones; fishing ; transporting ice molars for the icebox, as well as the families that came to live in the Townsville area.

Interview with Arthur Buck. Arthur talks about his childhood home; going to school; his contact with the American soldiers of the area; working on the council during the development of Townsville; barramundi fishing, as well as his father’s Aboriginal blood brother.

Interview with Bill Adams. Bill talks about buying his property at Saunders beach; the early days at the property using tanks and spear water, as well as his experience with cyclone Althea.

Interview with Mabel 'Mabs' Duncan. Mabs talks about her childhood; her family; the various work she undertook in her youth; getting married and having children, as well as her husband’s experiences in the army during the war.

Interview with Eugene 'Jack' Daly. In the interview Jack talks about the people who lived in the Townsville area when he was young; his childhood; the Chinese Gardens; his little contact with the American soldiers in the area; the army plane crashes in Townsville; the air raid shelters; his father being in the essential services meant that the war didn’t affect him as much as the other families; his time in the Townsville Juvenile Orchestra; his work in car mechanics, meatworks and the local airline, as well as meeting his wife.