Ray Prosser interviewed by Madonna Grehan in the Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants oral history project [sound recording]
- Bib ID:
- 5974786
- Format:
- Audio
- Author:
- Prosser, Ray, 1927-, interviewee
- Online Access:
- National Library of Australia digitised item
- Access Conditions:
- Access open for research, personal copies and public use.
- Description:
-
- 2012
- 3 sound files (ca. 228 min.)
- Series:
- Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants oral history project.
- Technical Details:
- Mode of access: Online.
- Summary:
-
Ray Prosser speaks about entering care aged six months; travelling to Kalgoorlie to visit people who knew his mother; learning about his mother's life in Kalgoorlie; being given photographs of her and mementoes; his father's background; his parents' circumstances; being cared for by Mr and Mrs Elliot for ten years in Melbourne; the Black Cat Bookshop; moving into Box Hill Boys' Home via the Royal Park Depot; working at Kiewa Valley doing farm work; joining a road gang at Apollo Bay at seventeen and making friends; life with the Elliots; schooling; outings; Box Hill Boys Home; sexual abuse; responding to a solicitor's advertisement investigating assault; his payout from the Salvation Army; Salvation Army Officers; living conditions in the Home; punishment; work and recreation at the Home; Mrs Elliot's visits; food at the Home; going to Bayswater Boys Home for three months; Lysterfield Boys Farm; running away; timber clearing in Wongarra; the Saturday night dances at Apollo Bay; joining the Country Roads Board gang; joining the Navy; supplying the occupation force at Hiroshima; seeing the devastation at Hiroshima; Navy life; returning women and children to Indonesia after the war; witnessing starving children; tram driving in Melbourne; using his birth name Prosser; his car accident in the Lockyer Valley; working in Queensland as a mason; Mrs Elliot's death; working for Ansett Airlines.
Ray Prosser speaks about the relationship between his institutionalised upbringing and his inability to settle; his brother Jack who was in care at Menzies Home and was fostered by Mrs Elliot; working for Fred Skinner driving to the wharves; retiring to Mooroopna after hurting his back; meeting his wife Hettie and taking on her children; having two sons with his wife; parenting; the Care Leavers Australia Network (CLAN); married life; driving taxis; his approach to discipline; truck driving; his last job with Rocklea Transport delivering to the Snowy Mountain Hydro-electric Authority and revisiting that trip on a holiday; his attitude to life; his wife's death from lung cancer; his relationship with his granddaughter and her fiancé; his new partner Wendy and their search for information about his mother; music; the importance in his life of membership to various clubs; his children; writing "The Closing of the Door" about what happened to him as a child; the role of CLAN, VANISH and Open House in finding out about his parents; telling his family about his upbringing; Box Hill Boys Home reunions; becoming an activist for Forgotten Australians; his activism with CLAN; his voluntary roles; how he feels about finding his family history; local community support; the Apology to the Forgotten Australians and former Child Migrants; mementoes and hoarding.
- Notes:
- Recorded on 8 and 9 May 2012 in Noble Park, Vic.
- Index/Finding Aid Note:
- Timed summary (11 p.)
- Subject:
-
- Prosser, Ray, 1927- -- Interviews
- Salvation Army Boys' Home (Box Hill, Vic.)
- Royal Park Depot (Parkville, Vic.)
- Salvation Army Boys' Home (Bayswater, Vic.)
- Lysterfield Boys Farm (Lysterfield, Vic.)
- Care Leavers of Australia Network
- National Apology to the Forgotten Australians and former Child Migrants (16 Nov. 2009 : Canberra)
- Children -- Institutional care -- Australia -- History -- 20th century
- Children -- Institutional care -- Australia -- Psychological aspects
- Apologies -- Australia
- Other authors/contributors:
- Grehan, Madonna, interviewer
- Related Records:
-
This belongs to the Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants oral history project.
This collection contains 208 records. - Copyright:
-
In Copyright
You may copy under some circumstances, for example you may copy a portion for research or study. Order a copy through Copies Direct to the extent allowed under fair dealing. Contact us for further information about copying.
- Reason for copyright status:
- Until 2082 [Created/Published Date + 70 Years]
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Sound Recording
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 2012
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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