COMMISSION: Transcript [Ian and Cynthia]

MACA INTERVIEWS FOR BLACK HISTORY LIVE ORAL REPORT

INTERVIEW DATE: 28/11

INTERVIEWER: Zak Wilkins

RECORDED BY: Victoria Simmonds

Interviewee: Ian Goddard (78)

00:00:20.Barbados.

00:00:27 I grew up there, I was educated there.

00:00:32 Um, I was 21. I think I was 21, because I came in 1959.

00:01:38 My first impression of Britain? You don’t want to know. (Laughs) I think my first impression of Britain was travelling to .. some say London but you know the train was travelling the backyards of people. (Laughs) People’s backyards, ya know, ya know? I thought is this London, ya know?

00:02:04 I came to Medway through the military. I was in the army.

00:02:13 In 1959-60 I came to England. Bought a house - well I didn’t buy a house but I … we shared a house in umm, in Battersea. Ownership of a house in battersea all of us, because we’re immigrants ya know. Just come in so we bought a house in Battersea.

00:02:39 I assume that house now, probably wouldn’t be able to afford it now.

00:02:44 It was a good house but it was .. was a dump. If you know what I mean? Because Battersea post station was still working. Those four chimneys ya know, belting out all the smoke. (Laughs) And um, and the trains ya know. The steam trains coming up and down from Clapham junction. Didn’t help either. So that’s why we got it so cheap.

00:03:27 Just adventure.

00:03:33 Coming from Barbados. Because Barbados is so tiny so there isn’t a lot .. a lot to do.

(Audio problems render 00:03:42-00:06:26  mostly unusable)

00:06:52 Europe and half the countries in Europe. Middle east, Cyprus, Malta.

00:07:42 I just been back to Cyprus

00:07:46 After fifty years, been back to the camp I was serving in 50 years ago. 50-60 years ago! Well no, yeah, yeah 50-something years ago. And um, obviously things have changed a lot. In my days in Cyprus, it was a mixture of Turks and Greeks living together. And I was there as a peacekeeper ya know, makes it feel like it was all for nothing, ya know.

00:08:47 the comradeship is very very, ya know. People die for you ya know, not because they know you but because you’re in the same regiment. (Laughs)

00:09:23 That’s the army all together.

00:11:58 I came to England late December and joined the army just after Christmas and in February I was camping out in the North of England in the snow.

00:12:43 Barbados, again, as I said it was Little England but it was still under colonial rule. And a lot of people don’t know this but all the vicars and the priests were all white! (Laughs) And they were the eyes and ears - they were English or Scots or whoever came over from Britain to do these jobs. But they were the ears and they eyes, anything that was slightly to go awry they would .. you know they’d step in. Just to stop us from rioting.

00:14:19 but people had issues with, in fact one of the fellas I came with went straight back home. Given his job up, came to England, didn’t like it then went back within four weeks.

INTERVIEWEE: Cynthia OConnor (76)
00:00:32 I’m from Kingston Jamaica

00:00:42 I was twenty four

00:00:56 When I lived in jamaica, Jamaica was a successful country. We never had the hardship that hurts it now. Because we used to - I came here just before independence. And we used the same currency as England, because England made our pound. The same pound I use in jamaica is the same one I spend here. It’s changed a lot, because when England went decimal and we went dollars that’s when it began to slide. But still I don’t think it’s as bad as other countries. Because you have other countries in the Caribbean that’s worse than jamaica.

00:02:02 My husband came here first and then, as always with jobs and all those things it’s hard. And even now it’s hard. And his father send him here because his older brother was here and he sent for me for a better life. We only came here to spend about five years and go home but (laughs) because I had two children in jamaica and before you know it I came here had another two. And then you sort of get stuck into everyday life in England. Work, Family and all that. So what we wanted to go home in 5 years, I didn’t happen.

00:03:04 My first job was working into a carburetor company, that used to make carburetors for cars. Because I came to Lewisham. It was a carburetor company and I had a job there. It wasn’t long before I got pregnant and I had to go off and have maternity leave. I … I had a lady who would look after her when she was six months old and I went back to work. I didn’t go back to the same job I went to a job polishing darts up stanstead road. And the I got pregnant again (laughs). And then and now was the same sort of situtaion. After one or two children, the cost living wasn’t that high but the wages weren’t that high, it balances out.

00:04:40 I stayed home and looked after the children and when they go off to school, I trained as a chef. What I wanted was to go into auto catering. But the children were still at school so I went into school meals. I come home same time as them in the day and I see them go to school before I went to work. I was in the job for a long .. quite a while. Can’t even remember how many years now (laughs)

00:05:42 My mom was ill in jamaica and I took time off and I went to take care of her so the children then was big enough. And the father took care of them. I was out there 3,4,5 months and then I came back and change job again. (laughs)

00:06:06 I went to work in tesco, their canteen. The worker’s canteen. I did umm, days there - i was assistant manager in the canteen. They wanted someone to do night because the lady who was working with me, I was working with her, she never seemed to like me so I had a clash with her so I changed my job to work the nights and I worked with the boys (laughs)

00:07:04 I been there for quite a while before I decided, umm my husband and I seperated and he got married and moved back to Jamaica with his wife and I had the children. If I know then what I know now I send them back to him (laughs) No, i miss tem too much anyway.

0007:34 After decided to buy this house down here because the money I had I couldn’t afford to live in London so I live in Kent. When I first come here I lived just by the hospital. I’ve been down here now for nearly 20-30 years, something like that.

00:08:13 it’s different to London, it’s slower pace. When I came down at first the people were more friendly, everything changed (laugh) I don’t have too much problem with people. Because i’m the friendliest sort because if I say good morning to you and you don’t want to answer don’t make it your problem because some people aren’t morning people but I’m a morning person - if you talk to me at this time of day I get grumpy ( Laughs)

00:08:56 Down here there’s a lot of coloured people, it was mostly Asian people and the native or white people are much for friendly. If you only get certain type of aggravation from a certain kind of people you can’t help but pass it on. That’s how I look at it, they been having a hard time from the black youths and all that. But one thing I know for sure: when the sun’s shining you get a lot more happy people! Maybe it’s my disposition but I didn’t have a hard time. It was more, In Jamaica you’ve got a couple of kids you’ve got the backup. We didn’t come with our parents, we were adults so we had brother and cousins or whatever but we didn’t have any family to look after your children. You have to work and have nannies or these little ladies who retire, we had a lovely one called ‘Nora’. She was really good, my babygirl was at home and I could leave her there and I’d go off to parties with my husband She was a really nice lady.

00:11:40 In kingston, you can trust the child you put out front playing and if she wanders off there#’s eyes they’ve seen where she goes who she goes with but up here it was quite different.

00:12:15 It wasn’t scary, you just know that it’s what’s happening and the situation you’re in., You find a solution by finding somebody you trust with your child or you do it yourself. It was hard, you didn’t have money to chuck about. It’s an education, a life experience to realise the money you have you want to save some and spend a bit - i’m no good at it. (Laughs)