Picture
    Sutherland Shire Historical Society
​ORAL HISTORY PAGE

​Mindful of the Past
​Focused on the Future
 ORAL HISTORIES





Oral histories are recorded planned interviews with individuals who share their memories of living through a particular period and/or place. They are valuable because they provide first-hand accounts of their experiences in that time and place under an orderly interview process. They bring meaning, perspective and insights to historical events and their impact and help explain social, economic and political values of a community. They are used in conjunction with documented history to form an important social history of an area.
Sutherland Shire Library has a collection of oral history interviews with local residents recorded from the 1990s. Some of the memories go back as far as the 1930s. They describe the changing physical landscape of the area, the impacts of war, depression, floods and bushfires, as well as the effects of political and economic changes on the community.
Below are four-minute recordings of four excerpts from interviews in the Sutherland Library’s collection, together with a link to the full interview and the interview log on the library’s website.
These four interviews are just a sample of the Library’s collection. Other oral history
interviews that have been posted to the Sutherland Shire Library’s website can be accessed at: https://localhistory.sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/6105
There are many oral history recordings in the Library’s collection not yet digitised, but can be accessed by contacting Sutherland Library’s Local Studies Librarian at 30-36 Belmont Street, Sutherland (corner of Stapleton Avenue), or phone: 02 9710 0351​

Jim and Barbara Partington
of Miranda


SYNOPSIS
Following a bitterly cold and miserable winter in northern England in 1962/63, Jim and Barbara Partington decided to migrate to Australia. In September 1963 they and their two young daughters sailed from Southampton as ‘ten pound Poms’. Settling in Miranda where they raised their family, they have never looked back. They tell of their amazement that employees in Australia were treated as equals by their bosses, but also the initial wariness of Australians towards migrants who they felt were taking their jobs, and their eventual acceptance. They have enjoyed their time in Australia and never regretted their decision to migrate.

Oral history interview conducted:
6 May 2010
Interviewer: Pauline Curby
for Telling It As It Was, a Sutherland Shire Council Oral History Project

This four-minute extract of a ninety-minute interview was compiled by Nicole Curby for Sutherland Shire Historical Society, April 2018

Erika Springstub of Miranda

SYNOPSIS
As a young married couple, Erika Springstub and her husband Kurt migrated to Australia from Germany in 1957. Erika recalls her childhood wartime experiences in the ancient town of Buxtehude. After the war she was stunned to learn: ‘For one hour’s work you can buy a whole case of bananas in Australia’. This revelation was decisive in convincing her and Kurt to migrate. Kurt was from East Germany and had refugee status, so they were given a free passage to Australia on the Dutch vessel, the Groote Beer. After a spell at Cronulla Migrant Hostel, they later settled in Miranda.

Oral history interview conducted:
​11 August 2016
Interviewer: Pauline Curby
for Telling It As It Was, a Sutherland Shire Council Oral History Program

This four-minute extract of an hour-long interview was compiled by Nicole Curby for Sutherland Shire Historical Society

Christine Shaw of Woronora


​SYNOPSIS
Christine and Tony Shaw migrated from the UK in 1966, and charmed by the rural beauty of the Woronora Valley – and low cost of housing - chose to settle in Prince Edward Park Road, Woronora. Christine tells of her adjustment as a migrant from city life in England to the remote, undeveloped hamlet she grew to love.

Oral history interview conducted: Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Interviewer: Elizabeth Craig
for Telling It As It Was, a Sutherland Shire Council Oral History Program

This four-minute extract of a ninety-minute interview was compiled by Nicole Curby for Sutherland Shire Historical Society, April 2018

Gordon and Lorraine Stone
(nee Quinlan) of Caringbah

SYNOPSIS
Caringbah Precinct was the fashion hub of the Shire in the 1960s and McDowells Department store was its centrepiece, thanks largely to the energy and vision of Gordon and Lorraine Stone. Gordon moved to the Shire when he helped Brian McDowell set up McDowells, Caringbah in 1961. Here he met Lorraine, a singer, model and store assistant for McDowells. Romance and marriage followed. Together they turned McDowells into the place to be.


Oral history interview conducted: Friday, 27 August 2010
Interviewer: Elizabeth Craig
for Telling It As It Was, a Sutherland Shire Council Oral History Program

This four-minute extract of a sixty-minute interview was compiled by Nicole Curby for Sutherland Shire Historical Society, April 2018

The full interview can be accessed from Sutherland Library,

Local Studies Collection