Mum childhood

The speaker is interviewing their mother about her childhood. She was born in Albany in 1949. She remembers being part of a child-oriented neighborhood with lots of people around. Her father worked on the railways and her mother was a house mother. They didn't have modern appliances like washing machines, so her mother had to boil clothes in a copper. Her family would often gather at her grandmother's house, and they would meet up with their cousins. She attended St. Joe's school and enjoyed math. So how are you today mum? I'm very well, thank you. I'm inbound with my son. That's good. That's good. I think just to set the scene here, it's the 26th of October, mum and dad have just arrived in Bartley last night and I've hit mum up to say, can I interview you and find out a little bit more about your childhood? Obviously because I'm interested myself, but also because I think it'll be good to have a bit of a record too. So maybe, yeah, I mean, start us off. I think you were born in Albany. I was. 1949. Yes, January. Yeah. What are your earliest memories of childhood? I don't have a lot before or opposite about three. I just remember being part of a very child-oriented neighborhood with lots of people around me. Yes. My brother was five years older than me, so he was eight when I first remember him. Yeah. So that was good. I had neighbours both sides. I was very good friends with the girl, Margaret Harris, her name was, and she was the youngest of an elderly siblings. So same as you in a way. Yes. Except, yeah, she had four siblings, three sisters and a brother, but they were significantly older than me. So she was a real afterthought. And on the other side was the family who- Those afterthoughts are quite dangerous, Karen. They can- It's a child. It's a child. Testament to that. Yes. And the other side was the family called Wiggins, and they were a little bit different. So I was never really friendly with them, although we used to, but they weren't like- And then we had a big family of 13 children down the road called the O'Connells. And I was quite friendly with a couple of them around my age, a girl and a boy around my age, Stephanie and Danny, but we spent quite a bit of time with them. Yeah. Well, that's good. That's great. And what about the home life? Like describe when you were a child, what was, paint a picture of the Lamb family and how that came together and what a day in the life of the Lamb family. Okay. So my dad worked on the railways, he was a dad on the railways, and so he worked shift work. So he was away, and he used to go to the country on the train. Okay. So he would sleep or what? Yes, at times. Yes. But when he was home, he liked to sort of experiment and cook, which was a bit of fun. And mum was a house mother, but in those days, when I was little, we didn't have washing machines and things, so mum had to boil all the clothes in a copper. And then, you know, so we'd build a fire underneath this big copper and she'd boil the clothes in there. And you had to get them out with a scoop and put them into the sink and rinse them, and then put them through a hand wringer. So everything in those days took so much longer, it's more labor intensive. And the housework, everything was labor intensive, so mum spent most of her time, you know, just looking after the family until I was about 12, I guess, and then mum got part-time work. So we had coals in Albany at that time, so mum worked part-time in coals cafeteria for a while. And then after that, she worked part-time at Cyprian Jewellers, who was the main jewellery in Albany, just serving wool. So she did that for part-time. Yeah, only ever part-time. She might have worked in coals earlier, she might have been about 10, but yeah, so she worked part-time there. But by that time, we had a fridge, and we had a washing machine, and we had a car. So when you were young, you didn't have those things, and then you got them as you, everyone grew up. So when I was little, and even when I first started school, we used to go to mass, which was about 2 or 3 km away, and I used to ride on the back of dad's bike. Bicycle. Bicycle, yeah. So we rode bikes. And to school, we caught buses. Yeah, that's great. And so in terms of the home life, was it the case where, like you obviously talked a little bit about your friends, but did the family come over? Because you had those, like Nana's siblings and their kids. And I'm not sure about on Granette's side, but what was the activity like in the home? Were they around your house, or did you meet in the middle, or at their house? So we saw a lot of our cousins, and I think we were like one big family. Most of the time, we would meet at my Nana's house. So we would all congregate there for afternoon tea after school, two or three times a week. We all walked down from our respective schools, and we'd meet up. That was their congregation? Yes. And then- That was Nana's Sussex? Nana's Sussex. So your mum's mum? Mum's mum. Okay. Yeah. So that was our main, that was what we did with our cousins. And then we used to, during the football season, we used to, every Sunday, Mum and Aunty Pat were part of the ladies' committee and made sandwiches, but us, North Albany, and all of us kids used to go to the footy and rum riot and show up or whatever it is. And then after the footy, we used to congregate at the Sterling Terrace, and the oldies would all go to the session at the White Star Hotel. And we were given desserts or whatever for a Coke and a drink. That was a lot of money. It was? Yeah. Or something like that. It was about that. But chips and a wood hat, and then we just played in the street. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So North Albany had their grounds on Merlin Road, right? Or just if you're in Merlin Road. But I wasn't thinking. Oh, that would be a big thing. Oh, that would be a big thing. All three teens shared it. Later on, after I left Albany, they moved down to Merlin Road, Prebyshire. Right. And so there was Nana Susset. Yes. And then what about your granddad on Nana's side? So he died. I do remember him, but he was quite damaged by the war because he'd been in France in the war and seen his brother killed. And he was very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, And then the boys went to Christian Brothers was right in the same school. You stayed on at St. Joe's? I stayed on at St. Joe's. So it changed when you were like nine years old, at year four it became a single-sex school? Yes. And what were you like? How did you feel about school? And also, what were you good at and what were you like at school? There wasn't any problems in there. I never struggled with anything. Junior school, yeah. Yeah. Both schools, things came fairly easily to me. A couple of years, I was chosen to go for these scholarships or whatever, and I don't remember. The other school, though, was pretty bright. And that was good. And yeah, so I didn't struggle. I loved math. Okay. So I was going to say, what was your best subject? Yeah, I really liked math. In those days, the nuns were very limited in what they could teach. And we had to learn what they taught. Yes. And in fact, when we went, I went to my, it got into year 11, after junior actually. Yeah. We taught at junior and senior then. But after, it's now at year 11, some of us wanted to do biology leaving, and the nuns couldn't teach it. So we used to have to go, I think there were about four of us, used to have to walk up to the high school four times a week to get biology from the school. And I was going to do some sort of arrangement. So we were quite limited in what we could study. I can't imagine it doing anything like that with regards to chemistry. We could. We would have to. We were lucky. I know. I was talking about my chemistry. Oh, that's good. Okay. So the teachers were nuts. Yes. All the way through. All the way through. And the brothers were all brothers. There were no mates. There were no ladies. No. Interesting. What about outside of school? What were your hobbies and interests like when you're on the weekend and you weren't with your cousins? What did you do? How did you? I played sport. I love sport. Yeah. So in the summer, I play softball. And in the winter, I play netball. So I just take sport, trained and had sport. Yeah. So I was, yeah. At school and tennis, we used to play tennis that we had tennis courts school. So every lunchtime, we were there playing tennis. So, yeah. Tennis was something I've done. Sports was something I loved all the rest of my life. Yeah. Well, that's great. And what did you, a lot of people have this idea of what they want to be when they grow up, when they're a little kid. In your mind, when you were a little girl, what did you think you wanted to be? Well, I always thought I wanted to be a radio announcer. Oh, okay. Here we go. I finally got you doing something. Sorry. I think you've still got enough time to have a good career. And the other thing that I thought I'd like to do was occupational therapy. Interesting. But to do occupational therapy... I'm going to try and remain calm and... Sorry, keep going. There's too many in-jokes on this. Keep going. Yeah. It was, in those days, quite protegent to stumble away. Yeah. And finally, and the radio announcing bit was a bit of a, you know... Quite a spell. Because back then, because we think about TV stars and movie stars, but back then the radio was a much bigger part of society. Yes. So that was the equivalent of somebody saying, I want to be on TV, wasn't it? It was the... Yeah. So when I was up, and 6BA was the local station, and people... You would have been good at that by the way. No, I don't think you were far off. You look at things and you think, I could have done that and that. You could have. Yeah. I mean, really, you wouldn't make it. I thought of it pie in the sky. Yeah. Because most of the radio announcers were men. There weren't many women at all. And in fact, Dean Cameron was at 6BA, and he started there just after me, the radio announcer. Right. Yeah. So then I decided that teaching would be a good one for me. But in those days, very few people went on to do leaving. Most people left after junior, which is sort of cool. But you stayed on? But I stayed on. Okay. I didn't want to go into a bank. A lot of people went bank after junior. I didn't want to do those sorts of things. I didn't want to do secretarial or wanted to do a professional course, which I did. And what made you want to do teaching? Well, I thought that was another option. Yeah. Yeah. And it was good. I was never unhappy about that career choice. Sure. It was a great choice for me. Yeah. So that was the reason I did teaching. Yeah. That's great. So you did teaching because it was professional. You thought you might like it. It was basically the teaching and nursing were the true thing. Every now and again, I knew someone who became a pharmacist, but that was a bit out there. Few people did business, but I wasn't interested in doing straight business. I wanted something a little bit more. I couldn't see myself sitting in an office. Yeah. Absolutely. And tell me about what you remember most about your dad and my granddad. Tell me about him. Because what was he like? Because I sort of knew him at a certain stage of his life, and I was still pretty young. But what was he actually like when you were growing up, when you were a kid? Granddad was great. I really, yeah, I loved him to bits. Yeah. He was thorough. He had a good view. He had such a good sense of humour. He was very, very lively and talkative. And Nana would always tell you that I'd take after Dad and Peter took after her. Because Nan's always been quiet and restless medicine. Granddad was always out there talking to everybody, you know, friends with everybody. And I loved that. And that was because I was probably more like him. Yeah. So, you know, he was fun and I really enjoyed it. We had very few run-ins with my dad growing up, which is most unusual. Daddy's girl. Always Daddy's girl. Yeah, he called me Bub. Wow. The very last time I saw my dad, Nana had rung me and said, Oh, Dad, the docs have said it's nearly time. And we were going down to Albany for Easter in two weeks' time. And I said to your dad, I think I've got to go. And so he said, go. So I jumped on the plane and went down and I spent the whole weekend with him. And that whole time he called me Bub. Yeah. That's lovely. Yeah. So, yeah, no, it was very special. Yeah. Oh, that's really good. And what about Nana? What are your memories of her from your childhood? Your mum. Yeah, my mum. Nana was always a tough cookie, you know. She'd put a lot of pressure on herself and she'd put a lot of pressure on the people around her. Okay, yes. You know, so- In what way? How would she pressure the people around her? Well, she'd be best, you know. Ah, like in a competitive way. Oh, very competitive. Yeah. At school or in what way? Oh, everything. Everything. She was very competitive. I'm not so sure she was the same for Peter, but she was very competitive for me. I had to be like, and I really struggled to live up to that. But, you know, I couldn't. I didn't. Do you mean competitive in terms of school results or in what other ways? Everything. Yeah. What would some of it be? Well, just the way I look, the way I dress. Behavior, like character? Behavior, everything. Yes. And then put that pressure on herself. Yeah. That was how she viewed herself. Yes. And that's how she wanted me to be. But, of course, I did have done against that from time. Yes. So, we did have our moments. But, you know, I think all mothers and daughters do, anyhow. Of course. Of course. Children, yeah. Yes. But basically, but she was very kind and she was always loving and great call, always there for me if I needed her. Yes. Yeah. So, and if anything went wrong at school, she would be up then. Oh, she would be. Oh, yes. She would be standing by me. Her protective spirit. She was quite protective in that way. Yeah. And she was very young. She had PEC 9. So, she was only just nearly 19 when Peter was born and she was 24 when I was born. So, yeah, she was pretty young. And what about Peter? What was your... Because it was an interesting age gap, quite a list. Yes. What was your relationship with him when you were growing up? Yes. So, obviously, it probably evolved when you're an adult, just like my relationship with Mel and Jeb. But what about when you were young? Peter was so much older than me. He didn't have a lot of options with me because I was their annoying little sister. Isn't that? And so, we were that typical miles apart brother and sister where we lived in the same house. And he used to be a bit of a bully to me as well. Like if he babysat me while I was going out and the other cousins, he'd be quite, you know... I always thought he was a little bit of a bully to me. But then he was also very, very kind in lots of ways. I think he just more wanted to have to tax responsibility for this annoying little sister. Yeah. So, we had pretty good relationship even though I wouldn't say we were really, really close growing up. But we looked out for each other. As I say, if somebody was built into him, I went and got a broom and fell into the person doing it. So, I was... That was... We did look out for each other. And how did that change when you got older? Because you had... Obviously, we synchronized in the time of your children. So, there was a connection. Yeah. So, Petty left home when I was 12 to come to study. Yes. And so... But I remember we dropped him off at the house in Seymour where he was going to board and I felt very sad. So, I did feel sad that he wasn't going to be around anymore. So, when he came home for holidays, it was good. It was really nice. Yes. And then he met Nita and I got on really well with Nita. I like to think. I know. So, when I did my first year of teaching, we were in Cabinia in Catania. And the next year, I came to Perth. And while I was waiting that I'm going to get married in May, I needed somewhere to live and I lived with Peter and Nita for a while until I found something. Yes. Yes. So, that was quite nice. Oh, that's... It was a bit different. But yeah, it was nice living with them. So, again, we had a pretty good relationship after. And then when they had children, you know, you just all got on really well together. But of course, Peter changed. Yes. Later. Yes. After the kids were born really, his life became very stressful for him. Yes. And he didn't cope. I remember for whatever reason, Peter could make me laugh hysterically to the point where I couldn't control. It wasn't often. He didn't joke that much. But when him and Gav were bantering, I would cry laughing. Yes. I don't know if that was just me or... No. He could be very funny when he couldn't... He could be very quick-witted when he couldn't... Yeah. He was... He had that timing going. He was very... He was a very kind person. Yeah. Yeah. No, that's great. But what about... So, you kind of... You stayed at the same school, but now you're becoming a teenager. Yes. So, it's more like you're in high school. What do you remember most about your teenage years? They were pretty fun. Yeah. Like, we used to get around with a whole group of people, like the boys and the girls all together. We were always a big group. We used to go to the beach. We used to... We used to hang out. I used to hang out with my friends and pops. Yeah. Yeah. All the kids around my age. Because in Albany, you could just, like, walk or walk to the beach or catch buses or catch up. We used to go to the movies on set that morning. Yes. Later on, we used to drive in. Very social. And then it ran down pretty good. They used to let me go. Like, it was pretty safe. They gave you the freedom. Oh, yeah. They did. And so, you were quite... You were very attractive. You became very attractive. I wouldn't have said that. They're frivolous. Yeah. No, no. I'm not sure whether you can tell. You seem like very... I was never made to feel attractive. Oh. So, you weren't starting to get interest from boys in your... Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, I think they're the judge on whether you're attractive or not. Yeah, yeah. No, I had several very little casual boyfriends through high school. And then, just before I came to Perth, I had a boyfriend by the name of John Harding. And he was nice. Really nice. Yeah. Wasn't meant to be, but he was really nice. He was far more attached to me than I was to him. But he was a very nice young man. So, he ended up going to the same college as me, teaching. So, before we went, I sort of broke it off with him. And I said, look, we're both going to a city. We need to explore our options. We can't just go out with each other. And he didn't like it very much. So, for the first six months of college, he wouldn't speak to me. But unfortunately, he was friends with the guys I wanted to know. Okay. So, I stood with Bruce a bit then. There's her eyes. Yeah. But in the end, that was fine. Yeah. So, I went out with a number of casual relationships in Albany. Yeah. And what about, did you have any jobs when you were young? Did you do any work? Yeah. Yeah. So, I think I was 14 and I worked for Middleton Beach. Oh, yeah. The one right on the corner. Yeah. So, I worked there a couple of summers. I also had a... That was hard work because they also had the restaurant. Right. But you were either serving kids with lollies and drinks and ice cream or you were waiting on the table within the restaurant. So, that was pretty hard work. And also, prior to that, I had some Italian school friends and they had a kiosk, milk bar. Ah. So, one summer, I worked in there as well. So, and then I can remember also, I think this is the year before I came away, I worked as a doctor's receptionist at that time as well. Yeah. So, that's some good experience. I did. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Well, that's really good. And you seem to have, even to this day, a very special relationship with that group of cousins. Yes. And I know Nan and her siblings are very close. What do you remember about their role in your childhood and what it was like for you as an extended family? It was amazing. Both of Nan's sisters, her younger sister, Aunty June, and I had just such the best relationship. We were more like friends even. You sounded like a real sweet. She was lovely and she was the go-getter and she was just lovely. Aunty Pat was a tyrant. She used to chase us around the house with a cord. We did something wrong or whatever. We took it for what it was. That was their time. Yes. Yes. So, Aunty Pat, she also played Phaedra as well. Okay. But you weren't one. No, no, no. I brought her three children. Oh, okay. So, Biddy was the number one boy. Yeah. And Ronnie was the baby and she was the winger. So, she got everything she wanted. Coronie was stuck in the middle. And to this day, Coronie will tell you, her mother was really hard on her. Yeah. And she was. And I used to see it. It used to annoy me. But, you know. But that's possibly why Coronie and I spoke first because we had that bond. Yeah. You know. And so, the group of the cousins were very close. We were all close. You mentioned that you spent those up. So, now the Sussexes and at the weekend, the football. Yeah. And we used to go because Uncle Bill and Uncle Jack were professional fishermen. So, they lived out at their respective beaches for three months of the year or more because of the salmon and herring season. And we used to go out there all the time just for weekends and things because they had these sprawling shacks of things. It was amazing. And the whole family would gather at Shane Beach and we'd be playing darts on the front veranda and swimming and going around the rocks fishing. And it was just what you would call an idyllic childhood, really. Yeah. And Aunty Turing used to run a little shop on her front veranda because you couldn't get stuff in their eyes. So, she used to stock it up and sell it. And we always used to help her out the shop when we were down there. And yeah, that was amazing. And we'd go out to Cullenup too. And that was similar but we didn't go there as much because it was a lot further to go. But we could go there a lot too. So, that was like our childhood. We would spend our summers and going for weekend joints out to the beaches. And of course, all the kids were there. It was amazing. Yeah. So, then we just grew up like one big family. Yeah. Which was great for me because I was nearly an only child. So, it was just nice to have those cousins. And then Mick came along 16 years after me. And so, I used to go in and talk her to do with her. Yeah. And quite often go after school and grab her, put her in a pram and take her down the street for a walk. Down Hill Street. Down the street. So, Danny G could have a rest and things like that. Yeah. So, yeah. That's lovely. And do you remember, I'm putting you a little bit on the spot here, but do you remember any particularly funny moments or things that happened in your childhood or just a funny story? Or we can circle back to that if that's hard to recall. I think that's... Yeah, that's okay. We can circle back. Well, I was going to ask in terms of your childhood and my Nana and Grandad, your parents, what lessons you learned or what were the values you think that or lessons that were sort of passed on to you? What did you sort of take away from that childhood experience? Absolutely. But family is everything and your children come first and everything. And yeah, it didn't matter how much money you have. If you have enough, that was good. Because we didn't have a lot of money. Dad was a blue collar worker and just worked part time. Yeah. And both the other families where they made a lot of money out of fishing. And then Uncle Bill, in particular, used to drive a wheat truck all through the off season. And Uncle Jack had a cray fishing boat. He used to go out to do it. Yeah. So they were never short of money. We weren't short, but we didn't have a lot of excess money either, if you know what I mean. Yes. So not that they had anything more than me, but yeah, no. Just that we never went without. We always felt very loved and it was good. So the main lesson was just the importance of family and love. Oh, absolutely. And that's the way. Yep. Absolutely. Well, I think that's a really nice note to end that off on. What better way than that sentiment? Sorry? Yeah. Sorry, I can't remember a funny story. That's all right. You need some knowledge. We can get that. We can add some. Yeah. Thank you so much, Mom. That was super interesting. Yeah. I appreciate your time. Well done.