Tom Carson interviewed by Gwenda Davey in the Tradition bearers oral history project [sound recording]
- Bib ID:
- 2634630
- Format:
- Audio
- Author:
- Carson, Tom, 1959-, interviewee
- Access Conditions:
- Access open for research, personal copies and public use.
- Description:
-
- 2003
- 2 digital audio tapes (ca. 101 min.)
- Series:
- Tradition bearers oral history project.
- Summary:
-
Tom Carson, stonemason and managing director of Ad Astra Stone (Fairfield, Vic.) recalls his family history; his schooling and early years of travel& work around Australia; his return to Melbourne and work with homeless men, etc.; living in a lay Catholic religious community in Richmond, Vic. for 16 years, doing an apprenticeship in bricklaying and stonemasonry; living in a L'Arche (The Ark) a multi religious community in the south of France, working as a mason on a mill; returning to Australia around 1984, living in a community in Buchan, Vic. where he ran his own business in stone (Buchan and in Daylesford, Vic.). He speaks about the creation of Ad Astra Stone, a heritage restoration company, specialising in stonemasonry, solid plastering, architectural sculpture & cleaning; the company's connection with Thomann Henry (a French firm), expansion into New South Wales and the personal changes it brought upon Carson, from an artisan to a business man.
Carson speaks about Ad Astra's development as a building company in the early 1990s; Carson's partnership with Nicholas Simpson, a director with a building licence; the type of work his company undertook, eg cleaning & restoration of St. Paul's Cathedral, State Library of Victoria, the interior of the GPO, Melbourne, Vic.; expanding the business into South Australia; machinery and tools of trade, there still being a fair proporation of use for hand or air tools, the use of power tools not having diminished the level of skill needed to produce the final product; recent projects such as the new entrance at Sydney Town Hall, digging up Australia's first cementary; the Company's newsletter, Heritage works (produced by Ad Astra Stone).; his stone cartoon carvings in stone; passing on the traditions, employing 5 apprentices and keeping the older more experienced staff; the future of stonemasonry, getting more involved in new ways of using traditional materials.
- Notes:
-
- Recorded on September 27, 2003 at Fairfield, Victoria.
- Digital master available National Library of Australia;
- Index/Finding Aid Note:
- Timed summary (6 p.)
- Subject:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Davey, Gwenda, 1932-, interviewer
- Related Records:
-
This belongs to the Tradition bearers oral history project.
This collection contains 31 records. - Copyright:
-
In Copyright
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- Reason for copyright status:
- Until 2073 [Created/Published Date + 70 Years]
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Sound Recording
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 2003
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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