Oral Histories

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Waitaki Archive Oral History Collection

Waitaki Museum & Archive has undertaken and collected oral history interviews from the North Otago and wider Waitaki community since the 1980s. The collection includes both life-history interviews and topic-based projects documenting local occupations, industries, organisations, and community experiences.

A number of projects were undertaken by the former North Otago Museum between 1985 and 2004. These included interviews relating to the North Otago poultry industry, North Otago musicians, and a range of individual life histories. The quality and format of recordings, transcripts, and abstracts varies across the collection, reflecting differences in interviewers, recording equipment, and the resources available at the time.

Since 2005, Waitaki Museum & Archive have led the Waitaki Museum & Archive Oral History Project, commissioning oral histories of local identities by freelance interviewers from the National Oral History Association of New Zealand. Thanks go especially to Jacqui Foley and Nathalie Brown. In this collection, personal life histories feature strongly alongside histories of local industries and organisations such as the North Otago Irrigation Company, Dooley's Masonry, Alliance Textiles, the Oamaru Amateur Swimming Club, the Waitaki Resource Recovery Trust, Gillies Foundry, the Lower Waitaki Irrigation Company, the Forrester Gallery, Rainbow Confectionary Ltd., the Kurow Motor Company, the Penguin Club, and more. A select number of histories are added to the collection each year. 

Access to Oral History Recordings

If you would like access to an oral history recording in this collection, or require further information regarding the subject matter of certain oral histories, please contact Waitaki Archive at archive@waitaki.govt.nz.

Oral histories are available to listen to on-site at Waitaki Archive. Please contact the Archive before visiting, as some recordings have access restrictions or may require permission from the interviewee, their family, or other rights holders before they can be made available.

List of Oral History Interviews Held by Waitaki Archive:

  • Jeanette Aker

  • Bob and Phyllis Allan

  • Zélie Allan

  • Ian Malcolm (Ginger) Anderson

  • Douglas John (Doug) Appleby

  • Alliance Textiles (Sam Biggs, Nelly Botherway, George Napier, Henry Watson)

  • Mary Beck and Dora Malthus

  • Alistaire Berry

  • Carol Berry

  • George Berry

  • William (Bill) Bews

  • Sam Biggs

  • William Evan Blair

  • Bill Blakey

  • Michael Blyth

  • Vera Bodie

  • Robert Borst

  • Mervyn Boyes

  • Hans Brienesse

  • Alan Briggs

  • Edna Briggs nee Kippenberger

  • John Francis (John) Browne

  • David Bruce

  • Victor Frederick and George Lawrence Bulleid

  • Noeline Bunn and Jean Shepherd

  • Stewart and Noeline Bunn

  • Diana Caldwell

  • James Stanley (Jim) Caldwell

  • Hugh Cameron

  • Jim Cameron

  • Rhona Campbell and Merle Patrick

  • Albert Carlson

  • Jessie K. Chittock

  • Spencer Church

  • Ian Clark

  • Ian Clark and Rochelle Andrew

  • Warwick Clark

  • William Richard Charles (Chum) Cleave

  • Margaret Cox

  • Yvonne Margaret Cox

  • Anna Elizabeth Craig

  • John Bevan Crombie

  • John Cunningham

  • Nola Irene Currie nee Newton

  • Trevor Curry

  • Jim Dennison

  • Betty Dick

  • William John Cyrus (Bill) Dooley

  • John and Kerry Dooley

  • Dorothy Roberta (Pat) Doran nee Weir

  • George Elliot

  • Gordon Familton

  • Kathleen Familton nee Plunket

  • Graeme Ferris

  • Caroline Frame

  • Charlie (Charles) Fraser

  • Donald Fraser

  • Molly Fraser

  • Hilda Gardiner

  • Joyce Gemmell

  • Ken Gemmell

  • Archibald Walter (Archie) Gibb

  • Ernest James Gilchrist

  • George Alan Gilles

  • Shirley Gillies

  • Henry Rowland Gore

  • Ian Grant

  • John Grant

  • Rodney Grater

  • Halleys Comet Project

  • Elly Harris

  • David Harrowfield

  • Ruth Hemera

  • Kathleen EJ Henderson

  • Beverley (Bev) Hill

  • Trish Hill

  • Margaret Holley

  • Thomas Copeland (Tom) Holmes

  • George Rowland Hore

  • Marjorie Laurie Hore nee Firman

  • Sister Mary Dominica Horn

  • Frederick (Fred) and Josie Howard

  • Frederick Soward (Fred) Howard

  • Josephine Bertha Howard

  • George Culmer Hurst

  • Ian Hurst

  • Jack and Bob Hutton

  • Nancy Johnson

  • John Joiner & Alliance Textiles

  • John (Jack) Jones

  • Wendy Jones

  • Irvine Jopson

  • Jim Kong

  • Peter (Bak Fong) and Betty (Shui Ling) Lee

  • GP Lindsay

  • Alan Lowe, Graham Jones, Merle Patrick, Rhona Campbell

  • Jack MacKay

  • Grace Marshall

  • Cyril Fairfax Maude

  • Sheila McCaughan and Marjorie Goodger

  • Dorothy McKenzie

  • Grania McKenzie

  • Stephen McLaren

  • Alan John McLay

  • John McLellan

  • John Pringle (Jack) McLeod

  • Angus McMillan

  • Doreen McMullan

  • Alan McNaught

  • Richard McWha

  • Graham Mills

  • Joe Mitchell

  • Edna Morgan nee Mathieson

  • Ena Muirhead

  • Sydney Archibald (Syd) Muirhead

  • Dawson Murphy

  • Jane Naish

  • Gilbert Nisbet

  • Cuthbert James Nisbit

  • Tim Nichols

  • Hilda Nicholson

  • Mildred O’Brien nee MacGuinness

  • Paul O’Connell and Laurie Sullivan

  • Irene Olorenshaw

  • Faye Ormandy

  • Czeslawa Panek

  • Keith and Aileen Parker and Yvonne Foster

  • Kieran Pavletich

  • William (Bill) Pile

  • Bruce Plant

  • Burns Pollock

  • Owen Port

  • Mary E. Pringle

  • Bob Proctor

  • Betty Quested

  • Walter Quested

  • Sister Margaret Quinn

  • John Ramsey

  • Irvine Rapson

  • Joan Robb

  • Stan Roney

  • Jack Rowell

  • Joyce Roy

  • Stanley Arthur (Stan) Rusbatch

  • Dorothy Russell

  • Margaret Sheat

  • Ivan Alfred Sherwin

  • Ron Sherwin

  • Ron and Eric Sherwin

  • Marian Shore

  • Barbara Simpson

  • Judith (Judy) Smith

  • Terrence Patrick (Terry) Smith

  • Warwick Smith

  • Helen Stead

  • Harry Steenson

  • Paul O’Connell and Laurie Sullivan

  • Anne Sutherland

  • Heather Sutton

  • Sydney Thomas (Syd) Tangney

  • Judy Te Aho

  • Rangimarie Te Maiharoa

  • Martin Tonkin

  • Bob Turner

  • Florence Turvey and Wensley Dimick

  • Bert Walker

  • Jock Webster

  • Colin Wheeler

  • Allan Willetts

  • Colin Willetts

  • Catherine Isobel (Kate) Wills

  • Jessie Thelma Wills

  • Arthur Douglas Wilson

  • Arthur George Wilson

  • Robert Wilson

  • Sister Mary Winefride

  • Aileen Woods

Puketapu Oral Histories

The Puketapu Community Trust Oral Histories were created to document and preserve the stories and experiences of the Puketapu community. The recordings were made available online through Waitaki District Libraries in November 2022. A copy of the recordings was also deposited with Waitaki Museum and Archive by the Puketapu Community Trust. The recordings can be accessed at this link: The Puketapu Oral History Recordings | Waitaki District Libraries

Hampden Histories

The Hampden Histories project was a community-led oral history project undertaken between 2021 and 2023 to record the stories and experiences of people with connections to Hampden. Twelve subjects were identified and interviewed, with the interviews recorded as video. The project was led by volunteers from the Hampden community, with support from Waitaki District Libraries. Waitaki Archive holds copies of these recordings on behalf of the Hampden community and project contributors. Access to the recordings is subject to the permissions and conditions associated with the individual interviews. Please contact the Archive before requesting access.

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