H0443

Wilfrid Alvey (Donald) GORDON

Handwritten notes from original interview – February 2003 - with tape timings

Tape 1, Side 1

1916

000 Early years/birth/name and Kingston flyer

1922

035 Begin primary school

049 Burnside farm/naming

074 Collecting mail off the Kingston flyer (also for Wraytt’s)

1932

090 Leaving secondary school/working in woolshed at Home Peak

147 Secondary School/Gore High School

174 Leaving secondary School/summer work/winter work

228 Garston Cemetery Trust

238 Grandfather to Garston 1876 to build home and family moves in 1877

252 Agne’s block bought. Building/butter making

273 Nevis/selling butter to goldmines

301 Takeover share in farm from father

310 Cropping

322 Grandfather increases land/William Sinclair Trotter/Otago Lands Lease Board

Tape 1, Side 2

379 Father inherits farm 1921

390 Bought more land at the foot of Nevis Hill

397 Mining at Gabriel’s Gully

400 Moved from Back Creek, Bendigo, Australia

411 Mining at Molyneaux (Clyde with Ben Knight and Willie Low for 7 years living in tent)

420 Spoon Dredges

428 Build stables for horses

435 Grandfather retires

442 Gore High School – agriculture class – Mr McGregory, Mosgiel Woollen Mill tutoring for woolclassing, W Ladbrook’s farm at Howes on the Waikaia railway line

472 Shearing gangs – Christies of Inverlochy, Waikaia and Gordon Charteris of Glenlapa

518 Wage 1 shilling per hour

521 Goldmining at Hokomai Golden Lion Sluicing co bought Kum Poy Sew Hoy

550 Nokomai Gold Mining Co

560 Chinese cut race to Foster’s Creek then on until Diggers Creek

575 Dec 1933 finished secondary School. Jan 1934 Wool pressing at Lorne Peak Station then home to work off farm, 30 shillings per week. Harvesting, winter work, rabbiting

710 Ploughing with six horse team

736 Horses in binder

Tape 2, Side 1

000 Harvesting continued

040 Brightwater Creek/Spring/Poplar tree/Remains hut/Agne’s Block – Rogers – Glenquioch – Fairlight

080 John Gordon sells out to William Gordon Jnr. And two Brothers John and George

101 Tractors introduced, first in Garston

193 Working on own section Nuffield Tractor

214 Blacksmithing

235 Roadman – Lake County Council, road grading

301 Barney Butson – roadman – Athol – Lumsden

334 Boats to Kingston – Earnslaw/Ben Lomond

359 4 April 1936 Lake road opened from Kinston to Frankton

Tape 2, Side 2

486 New bridges built over creek

602 Driving sheep to Athol sale then to Speargrass flat via Earnslaw

890 Electricity – introduction 1928, own generator, water wheel 1930, own race 1934, Southland 1957, Electric Power Supply

Tape 3, side 1

000 Electricity continued

010 Garston PO/Telephone automatic exchange

068 Health/emergencies

107 Firewood (no trees in area)

273 Cemetery Trust

360 Churches in Garston

Tape 3, Side 2

490 Churches continued

590 Rabbits

923 School Committee

Tape 4, Side 1

004 School committee continued

248 Chinese Race keeping – to end of side 2

Tape 5, Side 1 only

Staircase school

Summary