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Sue Henthorn interviewed by Criena Fitzgerald in the Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants oral history project [sound recording]
Bib ID 5099894
Format AudioAudio, OnlineOnline [sound recording]
Author
Henthorn, Sue, 1956-, Interviewee
 
Online Access
Access Conditions Access open for research, personal copies and public use. 
Description 2011 
5 sound files (ca. 294 min.) 
Series

Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants oral history project.

Technical Details

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web. 

Summary

Sue Henthorn talks about having no memory of early home life; her earliest memories, her and siblings, Stephen, Paul and Toni being placed the orphanage and babies home; her memories of the Ballarat Orphanage, grounds, buildings, routines, dormitories; sibling contact; orphanage food; eating disorders; staff food; health checks, vaccinations; nursing staff; teenage carers; Indigenous children and their treatment; orphans and institutionalised children; bath time and hair washing; canings and belting; behaviour of adults at the orphanage; personal hygiene among children, clothing and footwear; Stephen running away from Orphanage and subsequent treatment; mother's visits to orphanage; nurse carers and abuse; institutional timetable and routine; their schooling, outside the orphanage; games at the orphanage; Guy Fawkes night; pocket money; religious instruction; funeral services; the bond between the Stevens children; the annual trip to Queenscliff holiday camp; leaving the orphanage, living in Brunswick, mother's home; local criminal gangs; her High school education (1970s); starting work at fourteen and a half; Stephen’s apprenticeship as carpenter; reasons for moving houses; meeting grandmother and father.

Henthorn discusses her working life, achievements and success; leaving home; sibling drug taking; her first husband, his work and children; the Newcastle earthquake; after effects of an accident; moving to Perth; work and life ambitions; breakup of marriage; home ownership and meeting second husband; moving to Sydney and then to Perth; her role as a mother; the death of her brother Stephen; a change of career, becoming a marriage celebrant (2004); death of her mother and her funeral; working as a funeral celebrant, planning a funeral; music; writing poetry and about her life; discovering and applying to join CLAN (Care Leavers Australia Network); the National apology; applying for funding to go to a reunion in Victoria; getting and reading own files; discovering the length of stay in the orphanage; talking about past with brother, Paul; writing memoirs; attending the First Anniversary of the National Apology; the relevance of own story; Western Australian Government and redress; sibling’s dealing with the past; the Ballarat reunion and the benefits; Open University course; CLAN, being a part of inquiries into suicides; reading a poem about the unmarked graves and unidentified babies.

Notes

Recorded on 2 and 16 February 2011, at Kinross, W.A.

Index/Finding Aid Note Timed summary (10 p.) 
Subjects Henthorn, Sue, - 1956- - Interviews.  |  Ballarat Orphanage - History.  |  Care Leavers of Australia Network.  |  Children - Institutional care - Victoria - History - 20th century.  |  Orphanages - Victoria - Ballarat - Psychological aspects.
Other authors/contributors Fitzgerald, Criena, Interviewer

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Details Collect From
ORAL TRC 6200/49
Copy: Recording
Petherick Reading Room (Oral History)

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Members of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Maori communities are advised that this catalogue contains names and images of deceased people. All users of the catalogue should also be aware that certain words, terms or descriptions may be culturally sensitive and may be considered inappropriate today, but may have reflected the author's/creator's attitude or that of the period in which they were written.