Croydon Oral Histories and Report on the Cairns Timber Mill at Yungaburra

Interview with Valma Alexander, born in Croydon in 1939. In the first part of the interview Valma talks about her childhood in Croydon; small town life; going to school; her mother running a household with no electricity, as well as leaving school at 14 to go to work as a hospital laundress. In the second part of the interview Valma talks about being young in Croydon; socialising at the town dances and Gilbert races; marrying her husband and the lonely life of a drovers wife, as well as growing older in the town she spent her whole life in.

Interview with Herbert “Skeeter” Alexander, born in Normanton in 1930. In the first part of the interview Skeeter talks about his childhood in Croydon; being raised by his grandparents at “The Duke” mine; working as a fencer and going to school to get an education, as well as learning the stock man trade. In the second part of the interview Skeeter talks about droving; cattle rushes; getting injured on the job; working for the local council grading roads and driving heavy machinery, as well as his childhood experiences in a small town.

Interview with Nora Wierman, born in Mareeba in 1921, and her son Chris Wierman. In the first part of the interview Nora talks about her family background; growing up in Croydon; the Georgetown polio outbreak; going to the races and dances; Green’s Motors and working for the postal service; panning for gold, as well as having to go away for childbirth. In the second part of the interview Nora talks about her childhood with her siblings; the goat problem in Croydon, as well as working for the SES. Chris talks about his upbringing; his childhood and teen years in Croydon and teaching his mother how to drive.

Interview with Gertie and Jack Douglas, Edmond Miles, Janet Busch and Gladys Lallore. In the interview Jack discusses with the group the work he did when younger and his father’s trouble with the court. The whole group then discusses Ahlevale garden, as well as their dreaming and skins. Gertie talks about growing up on the stations; working at the hospital , as well as growing up with the Hughes family, and how they had taken her in as one of their own.

Interview with Ella Douglas. Ella talks about her childhood at Waratah; the hard work and segregation on various stations; marrying and having kids; her husband’s mail run; life in Croydon today; the coupon system; having to send her boys away to school before integration; getting out from under the Aboriginal Protection Act; Green’s Motors; the races; the lonely life of a stockman’s wife, as well her experience being raised around whites and missing out on a traditional Aboriginal upbringing.

Interview with Jack Douglas, a Tagalaka man, born in the Warratah camp in Croydon in 1914. In the first part of the interview Jack talks about his childhood working on stations; learning to muster at the age of 10; working for a butcher slaughtering cattle; working as a police tracker; the breaking and mustering horses, as well as getting out of the Aborigines Protection Act. In the second part of the interview Jack talks about his long career mustering; returning to Croydon to mine tin and finally retiring in Croydon as well as learning about the traditions, skins, dreaming and the laws of his people.

Interview with Margie Hughes, born in Croydon in 1932. Margie talks about her childhood in Croydon; her wedding to Bert Hughes; her father’s mail run; living in a home with no electricity; working at the hospital as a domestic; entertainment in town; school; married life; the difficulties of giving birth without proper medical attention; camp cooking; life back at Alehvale; using the two way radio; leaving Croydon, as well as her father’s crushing plant and death.

Interview with Bert Hughes, born in Croydon 1918. In the first part of the interview Bert talks about the mining settlements around Croydon; the mining processes he used; growing fruits and vegetables; his early life, going to school and looking after goats; the shops in Croydon, as well as his work in woodcutting and mining. In the second part of the interview Bert talks about the Chinese in Croydon; working as a carpenter with his father; working with cattle; working in the mines; the Croydon Voluntary Defence Core, as well as enlisting for the Second World War. In the third part of the interview Bert talks about training for the army; his time in the war; coming home with malaria and other medical issues after the war; courting and marrying Margie Houston; buying, droving and managing Alehvale station, as well as crocodile shooting and poddy dodging.

Interview with the Hughes family, Bert, Margie and their daughter Jean. In the interview Jean talks about going to school; growing up at Esmeralda; playing and working as a child; school break fun; going to the pictures and dances, as well as Croydon’s first tape recorder. The Family discusses how women were not seen in bars or doing stock work in those days; the availability of meat and milk; the locals in town; the nightsoil remover in the days before septic tanks, as well as the Gilbert races.

Interview with Margie Houston and Bert Hughes. Margie and Bert talk about traditional bush cooking; food shortages; the towns around Croydon; the coach road to Croydon; Greens motors delivering in the wet; Bush timbers; Native berries; dealing with snakes and toads while camping as well as clearing waterholes of predators for the cattle.

Interview with the Miles Family and Lance Owens. Born 1906, Edmond Miles, a Tagalaka man, talks with his daughters and Lance Owens about life in Croydon. The family talks about the hardships that faced the Aboriginal people of the Croydon area; getting out from under the Aboriginal Protection Act; the Croydon school and town; the Gilbert races; the work undertaken in the early days; the coupon system and low pay for Aboriginals as well as the half-caste children being taken away.

An introduction to the series ‘Never was a Ghost Town’ by its creator Suzanne Gibson.

George Priestley, Skeeter Alexander and Bert Hughes talk about their experiences mining for gold around Croydon.

Bert Hughes, George Priestley, Ella Douglas, Nora Wierman and Chris Wierman talk about the Greens Motors postal service.

Margie Hughes, Ella Douglas, Gladys Callope, Lance Owens, Janet Busch and Skeeter Alexander talk about finding wood and water, the essentials to life in the early years of Croydon.

Bert Hughes, Margie Hughes and Valma Alexander share some tips for cooking in the bush.

Valma Alexander, Jean Haines, Janet Busch and Lance Owens talk about the Croydon social dances.

Bert Hughes, George Priestly, Ella Douglas, Gladys Callope and Janet Busch talk about life around Croydon.

Bert Hughes and George Priestly talk about their experiences with the Chinese population of Croydon.

Margie Hughes, Bert Hughes, George Priestley, Skeeter Alexander and Valma Alexander talk about their experiences with the Croydon Voluntary Defence Core during WWII.

Margie Hughes, Bert Hughes, George Priestley and Jack Douglas talk about poddy dodgin’.

Jean Haines, Bert Hughes, Ella Douglas, Jack Douglas and Nora Wierman talk about the Gilbert races.

Jack Douglas, Eddie Miles, Margie Hughes, Ella Douglas and Skeeter Alexander talk about the hard work undertaken in the early days of Croydon.

Jack Douglas, Ella Douglas, Gladys Callope and Janet Busch talk about the difficulties they faced as Aborigines living in Croydon.

Margie Hughes, Valma Alexander, Gertie Douglas and Jack Douglas talk about their experiences with Croydon Hospital.

Jean Haines, Bert Hughes, George Priestly, Jack Douglas, Janet Busch and Valma Alexander talk about their experiences attending the Croydon School.

Skeeter Alexander, Jack Douglas and George Priestley talk about cattle droving.