Interviewee: Mrs Elizabeth King Dawe
Date of Birth: 1909
Interviewer : Valerie Spence
Date of Interview: 16 April 1986
Date of Death: 4 April 1994
Verbatim Transcript: Valerie Spence/Elaine Gorddard
BOHG No: 1986-005
Total Length: 47 mins 25 secs
Mrs. Dawe was born in Victoria in 1909, the daughter of Elizabeth Lennox Finlayson and James Donaldson. She came to Bunbury with her parents in 1923.
Her grandfather used to be the Captain of a sailing ship, and her father was the Harbour Master in Bunbury.
Mrs Dawe speaks about what she remembers in connection with their occupations. She describes her parents government house, the experience of being a foundation pupil of Bunbury Senior High School, and Bunbury in the Depression.
She was among the first members of the Bunbury Women’s Club and the Penguin Club (group 11). When speaking about these clubs, she reveals some modern day attitudes towards feminism.
Among other interesting items, she discusses old characters in Bunbury, recreation by the estuary, and the import of cattle for the group settlements.