Abstract of Jessie Buchan (Sheena) REID, 2019
Item — Box: 27
Identifier: H01770002
Abstract
Jessie Buchan Reid Interview
Abstracter: Chontelle Syme
Date Abstracted: 23 April 2019
Note: As Jessie is known as Sheena, she has been referred to as such throughout the interview.
Track 1
00.0 Introduction
00.35 Jessie Buchan Reid details. Known as Sheena, date of birth 12 October 1927.
01.25 Terms and conditions.
02.10 Scotland ancestry. Immigration to NZ. Mother from a family of bakers. Married George Reid. Moved to Invercargill where her brothers were bakers. Had three children.
03.20 George Reid was a police officer and granite polisher in Northern Ireland. Explains.
03.40 Applied for a job at First Church, Invercargill.
04.29 George Reid’s job at First Church. Explains.
06.10 Possibly the job description for the beadle. Audio obscured.
05.50 W McCaw, clerk at First Church. Told George Reid to buy house across the road at Ythan Street.
07.47 George Reid bought the house during the depression. Explains.
08.50 Rented their old house then the Ythan Street house. Explains.
09.15 Church manse and caretakers house. Describes.
10.00 Church opening hours and rosters for letting people through. Describes.
11.10 Children’s chores at the church. Explains.
11.48 Bell ringing. Describes.
12.00 Sheena was the bell ringer for a time. Music cards used. Explains.
13.50 Letter Sheena wrote to Session Clerk Lloyd Jones regarding payment. Describes.
Track 2
00.0 Sheena was a pupil at Southland Girls High School, and a friend of Rewa June Kingsland, daughter of the owners of biscuit factory. Describes biscuit factory.
00.40 Rewa and Sheena devised plan for ringing bells to Grand old Duke of York once World War II was over. Explains.
03.00 End of World War II in Invercargill. Explains.
03.40 Made friends through having access to the tower of First Church. Explains access to the tower and view.
04.30 Time keeping while playing the bells. Explains.
05.23 Electronic bells donated by the daughter of Sir Robert Anderson.
06.00 Mechanics of the bells before Sheena. Rung by tassels, not the knobs Sheena knew. Explains.
06.49 Bells still there in 2018, played electronically. Explains.
07.13 Saint Pauls Church has real bells.
07.18 First Church used tubes. Explains.
07.40 Tubes still in First Church. Quality of sound. Explains.
08.30 Service times. Explains.
09.00 Activities after church: piano and other group activities. Explains.
09.20 Sheena lived in Ythan Street house for years. Her mother died in 1958 and was living in Ythan street at that time.
09.54 Allan Gilbertson built townhouses at the back of the section. They were planned by the sister of Phyllis McKervie. Explains.
11.20 Townhouses sold to SIT. The house was divided into two flats. The SIT restaurant is in Barbara Clark’s house.
11.40 Hung out on the garage to watch people go to First Church. Explains.
12.50 Sheena was youngest of the family born 1927 in New Zealand. Baptised at First Church by Reverend Nelson [? audio difficult to decipher] Robertson. Explains.
13.35 Family doctor, David Pottinger, told Sheena’s parents that Sheena was Gaelic for Jessie or Janet, therefore she was known as Sheena.
14.45 Her sister Helen had six children, one of them was called Sheena. Sheena was dismayed.
Track 3
00.0 Helen’s daughter’s name. Explains.
00.30 Niece has called a dog JB, after Sheena.
00.55 Went to Middle School.
01.05 Sunday School at First Church. Taught by Mrs Hay. Explains.
01.20 Mrs Hay’s daughter did the handwork above the communion, known as God So Loved the World.
01.35 Mrs Hay was lovely. Describes.
02.09 Mother would give Sheena sixpence for learning.
02.20 Communion at First Church with Samoan families due to their church closing. Explains a Samoan church tradition.
03.10 Communion tokens. Explains.
04.20 Communion tradition. Explains.
04.40 Bible class. Explains.
05.10 Sunday School at First Church. Explains.
05.40 Maggie McCallum prize for an exam on Biblical History. Sheena came second. Explains.
06.10 Maggie Cahoon. Explains.
06.30 Sunday School and Bible Class activities: dances and picnics. Explains.
06.50 Mother awake waiting for Sheena to return from activities.
07.10 Ages for Sunday School and Bible Class.
07.30 Janet Peck mentored Sheena. Explains.
07.55 Advice for moving to Wellington: you must go to Saint Johns. Sheena therefore went to Saint Johns while living in Wellington. Explains.
09.00 Dental nurse training in Wellington. Explains.
09.24 When she left Janet Peck, also her Bible Class teacher, wrote Sheena a letter about teetotalling. Explains.
10.55 New clothes would be used for the church before anything else. Hats and other accessories for Sunday clothes. Explains.
12.05 Life in Wellington. Explains.
12.20 Friend made in Wellington. Explains.
13.07 Graduation from Dental School. Explains.
13.20 Was a dental nurse on Tay Street in Invercargill, Waikiwi, Gore, Mataura, overseas, then appointed to Saint Keiths [?]. Made friends with Sister Mercedes. Explains.
14.44 Life on the boat to Europe.
Track 4
00.14 Sister Mercedes told Sheena she was going to study overseas. Explains.
00.37 Sheena’s friendship with Mercedes. Explains.
02.28 End of her dental career, after 10 years as a dental nurse.
03.00 Job as a social worker until retirement. Explains.
03.45 Known as the Department of Social Welfare. Explains the department as it was in the mid-late 20th century.
04.45 Based in Menzies Building after being on Kelvin Street.
05.00 Amalgamation of child care and welfare. Explains.
05.40 Investigated beneficiaries who weren’t paying.
06.10 Coordinated adoptions. Explains.
06.45 First Church outreach. After hours medical care. Sheena worked there for ten years after retirement. Explains.
07.10 Became a real estate agent for ten years. Explains.
07.30 Jenny Grandig, dental nurse, established free dental service through First Church. Sheena was clerical assistant. Explains.
08.00 Playing bridge. Lorna and Sheena Reed, lived on Herbert Street, would get some of Sheena’s social welfare related calls.
10.25 Wage for bell ringing. Training for bell ringing. Explains.
11.30 Sheena’s sister Helen got married in First Church while Sheena lived in Yarrow Street, and Helen walked across the street.
12.10 Choir seating in First Church. Explains.
13.00 Choir entering the church. Explains. Marjory Laing and Sheena sung. Explains.
14.20 Reallocation of pews downstairs. Explains.
Track 5
00.0 What Allan Gilbertson, builder for First Church, and what he did for the First Church. Explains.
00.34 Sheena associated with First Church from infancy.
Abstracter: Chontelle Syme
Date Abstracted: 23 April 2019
Note: As Jessie is known as Sheena, she has been referred to as such throughout the interview.
Track 1
00.0 Introduction
00.35 Jessie Buchan Reid details. Known as Sheena, date of birth 12 October 1927.
01.25 Terms and conditions.
02.10 Scotland ancestry. Immigration to NZ. Mother from a family of bakers. Married George Reid. Moved to Invercargill where her brothers were bakers. Had three children.
03.20 George Reid was a police officer and granite polisher in Northern Ireland. Explains.
03.40 Applied for a job at First Church, Invercargill.
04.29 George Reid’s job at First Church. Explains.
06.10 Possibly the job description for the beadle. Audio obscured.
05.50 W McCaw, clerk at First Church. Told George Reid to buy house across the road at Ythan Street.
07.47 George Reid bought the house during the depression. Explains.
08.50 Rented their old house then the Ythan Street house. Explains.
09.15 Church manse and caretakers house. Describes.
10.00 Church opening hours and rosters for letting people through. Describes.
11.10 Children’s chores at the church. Explains.
11.48 Bell ringing. Describes.
12.00 Sheena was the bell ringer for a time. Music cards used. Explains.
13.50 Letter Sheena wrote to Session Clerk Lloyd Jones regarding payment. Describes.
Track 2
00.0 Sheena was a pupil at Southland Girls High School, and a friend of Rewa June Kingsland, daughter of the owners of biscuit factory. Describes biscuit factory.
00.40 Rewa and Sheena devised plan for ringing bells to Grand old Duke of York once World War II was over. Explains.
03.00 End of World War II in Invercargill. Explains.
03.40 Made friends through having access to the tower of First Church. Explains access to the tower and view.
04.30 Time keeping while playing the bells. Explains.
05.23 Electronic bells donated by the daughter of Sir Robert Anderson.
06.00 Mechanics of the bells before Sheena. Rung by tassels, not the knobs Sheena knew. Explains.
06.49 Bells still there in 2018, played electronically. Explains.
07.13 Saint Pauls Church has real bells.
07.18 First Church used tubes. Explains.
07.40 Tubes still in First Church. Quality of sound. Explains.
08.30 Service times. Explains.
09.00 Activities after church: piano and other group activities. Explains.
09.20 Sheena lived in Ythan Street house for years. Her mother died in 1958 and was living in Ythan street at that time.
09.54 Allan Gilbertson built townhouses at the back of the section. They were planned by the sister of Phyllis McKervie. Explains.
11.20 Townhouses sold to SIT. The house was divided into two flats. The SIT restaurant is in Barbara Clark’s house.
11.40 Hung out on the garage to watch people go to First Church. Explains.
12.50 Sheena was youngest of the family born 1927 in New Zealand. Baptised at First Church by Reverend Nelson [? audio difficult to decipher] Robertson. Explains.
13.35 Family doctor, David Pottinger, told Sheena’s parents that Sheena was Gaelic for Jessie or Janet, therefore she was known as Sheena.
14.45 Her sister Helen had six children, one of them was called Sheena. Sheena was dismayed.
Track 3
00.0 Helen’s daughter’s name. Explains.
00.30 Niece has called a dog JB, after Sheena.
00.55 Went to Middle School.
01.05 Sunday School at First Church. Taught by Mrs Hay. Explains.
01.20 Mrs Hay’s daughter did the handwork above the communion, known as God So Loved the World.
01.35 Mrs Hay was lovely. Describes.
02.09 Mother would give Sheena sixpence for learning.
02.20 Communion at First Church with Samoan families due to their church closing. Explains a Samoan church tradition.
03.10 Communion tokens. Explains.
04.20 Communion tradition. Explains.
04.40 Bible class. Explains.
05.10 Sunday School at First Church. Explains.
05.40 Maggie McCallum prize for an exam on Biblical History. Sheena came second. Explains.
06.10 Maggie Cahoon. Explains.
06.30 Sunday School and Bible Class activities: dances and picnics. Explains.
06.50 Mother awake waiting for Sheena to return from activities.
07.10 Ages for Sunday School and Bible Class.
07.30 Janet Peck mentored Sheena. Explains.
07.55 Advice for moving to Wellington: you must go to Saint Johns. Sheena therefore went to Saint Johns while living in Wellington. Explains.
09.00 Dental nurse training in Wellington. Explains.
09.24 When she left Janet Peck, also her Bible Class teacher, wrote Sheena a letter about teetotalling. Explains.
10.55 New clothes would be used for the church before anything else. Hats and other accessories for Sunday clothes. Explains.
12.05 Life in Wellington. Explains.
12.20 Friend made in Wellington. Explains.
13.07 Graduation from Dental School. Explains.
13.20 Was a dental nurse on Tay Street in Invercargill, Waikiwi, Gore, Mataura, overseas, then appointed to Saint Keiths [?]. Made friends with Sister Mercedes. Explains.
14.44 Life on the boat to Europe.
Track 4
00.14 Sister Mercedes told Sheena she was going to study overseas. Explains.
00.37 Sheena’s friendship with Mercedes. Explains.
02.28 End of her dental career, after 10 years as a dental nurse.
03.00 Job as a social worker until retirement. Explains.
03.45 Known as the Department of Social Welfare. Explains the department as it was in the mid-late 20th century.
04.45 Based in Menzies Building after being on Kelvin Street.
05.00 Amalgamation of child care and welfare. Explains.
05.40 Investigated beneficiaries who weren’t paying.
06.10 Coordinated adoptions. Explains.
06.45 First Church outreach. After hours medical care. Sheena worked there for ten years after retirement. Explains.
07.10 Became a real estate agent for ten years. Explains.
07.30 Jenny Grandig, dental nurse, established free dental service through First Church. Sheena was clerical assistant. Explains.
08.00 Playing bridge. Lorna and Sheena Reed, lived on Herbert Street, would get some of Sheena’s social welfare related calls.
10.25 Wage for bell ringing. Training for bell ringing. Explains.
11.30 Sheena’s sister Helen got married in First Church while Sheena lived in Yarrow Street, and Helen walked across the street.
12.10 Choir seating in First Church. Explains.
13.00 Choir entering the church. Explains. Marjory Laing and Sheena sung. Explains.
14.20 Reallocation of pews downstairs. Explains.
Track 5
00.0 What Allan Gilbertson, builder for First Church, and what he did for the First Church. Explains.
00.34 Sheena associated with First Church from infancy.
Dates
- 2019
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Conditions Governing Use
This material is copyright of the Invercargill City Libraries and Archives. In accordance with agreements held with interviewees, it is strictly prohibited to reproduce (copy) oral history recordings, abstracts, audio extracts or photographs without prior written consent. Applications for the reproduction of these recordings and associated materials, in whole or part, must be made in writing to the Southland Oral History Project Co-ordinator, c/o Invercargill City Libraries and Archives.
Extent
From the Record Group: 1 folder(s)
Language of Materials
English
Creator
- From the Record Group: McCallum, Merren (Interviewer, Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Southland Oral History Project Repository
