Page 9 - W.E. West Robert Smith Flip Book Interior

W E West
Anyone who met Grandfather would be in no doubt that he was a good raconteur. He was always good for a yarn. Apparently, he was asked on a number of occasions to record his experiences, but he always declined to do so. Then in mid-1966, he agreed for me to record his recollections. His first task was to develop a list of events that he was going to relate, and the order in which they were to be recorded. Once the list was prepared, away he went. In total we recorded for 3 hours and 20 minutes over a number of days. It was not an inter- view, just his recollections as he wanted to present them.
A copy of the tapes was sent to the National Library, and one or two tapes were also given to my cousins. Margaret Tarbottom from Campbelltown tran- scribed them for me. The tapes and transcripts then lay dormant for nearly 45 years, and it was always in the back of my mind to publish them. Modern tech- nology has made that much more of an option than it was 45 years ago. When the worldwide COVID-19 restrictions stopped me from travelling to my over- seas consulting projects, it gave me time for writing.
This book is a social history through the eyes of an Orange resident who lived from 1886 to 1974. It is not a family history, nor is it a definitive history of Orange. It is a series of recollections or yarns that provide the human side to events that were formally described in the Orange Leader. Where names have been provided, I have checked them where possible and used them to set the timeline of that recollection. I found Grandfather’s recollection of events, names and dates fairly reliable. Did all of these events happen? All I can say is that they probably did. If they did not, they still make good yarns. Did all of the reported conversations take place as recorded? Very unlikely!
My role at the time of recording the recollections was that of a facilitator. I have refined the text and added some context. Where possible, I have added biographical information on those cited in the text and provided details of the events recorded therein. The text has been broken up into the discrete yarns.
After reading through the early draft, it became clear to me that there were two glaring omissions. Firstly, there is very little mention of family life except for Grandfather’s wedding and the visit to Orange of the Governor-General. The second is that there is nothing from the war years of 1939 to 1945. To remedy
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