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Les Pitcairn (1896-1985) - Greta/Branxton Funeral Director. Recorded 16 October 1984. Part 1/2.

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SummaryLES PITCAIRN
Recorded 16 October 1984
Part 1/2

0:32
Les Pitcairn was born in Telarah in 1896, He attended Holmeville Public School, and had to walk to Maitland school. Started work at the age of 14 at East Greta pit work shop in 1910. At 15 he was driving the "stack engine" at the coal ridge. He had left before the fire at East Greta. Left just before turning 16.

2:21
Father worked as Chief Engineer, he worked Old Maitland Colliery, during 1893 flood, flooded out at Maitland pit.

4:10
Arthur Mounter drove the old puff puff. Les’s father began working East Greta pit in 1893 around when they opened. He used to walk to East Greta pit with his father. They had to get up at 3:30am to start work at 5:45. He got $15 a week. Discussion of the route of early road to East Greta pit they took.

6:03
Ryan's milk delivery used to take the little bridge over the creek, as did the workers when walking to work. McInerney's Crossing was named after the man who was the coal carter, delivering the coal to them, in Maitland.

6:45
Engine workshops were not at East Greta Junction in 1910. The first engine called "Old Daisy", they would light the boiler at 5 am. Teddy Wright was the engine driver.

8:43
Bob Robinson, "Donkey" Ross, and Charlie King were still out there when Jack Delaney went out there. When Les went to work out there they had No.2 engine and No.3 engine and "Old Murrumbidgee" engine, and another tanked engine, stabled up on Mount D in a shed. They had no work shop for the engines at that time. No.7 tank engine was also there and Les was out at the Old Greta workshop when the No.14 tank engine came. The workshop was at East Greta for the engines. 60 men worked there on the engine workshop including the man in charge, Jimmy Smith.

11:34
He worked with the steam pumps and boilers used to pump out the dam up to the next dam, from No.1 up to No. 2. They used oil engines for a few years and Freddy Lachlan drove it.

12:52
East Greta generated their own electricity, Les’s father was involved in working on it, but only on the machinery. Les believes he was about 10 or 12 years old at the time. They came from the East Greta back to the East Greta Junction, to the engine sheds and the station. Mr. Sainsbury’s old house was out along the route they took to work, he was a stockman

15:18
A flag pole signalled work at the pit, if there were “two white monkeys up the pole” (as his mother used to say) it meant work, if there was one red and one white no work. But they weren’t flags they were oil drums. If there was an accident they would run a black flag with a white cross up the pole. This would let the hospital could see an accident was coming in. The mines had their own horse-drawn ambulance. Les’s grandfather Pont owned the first brickworks over at East Maitland Arthur Pont was his Pont’s Grandson and is Les’s cousin.

17:51
Reg and Hector Fielding were brothers. They built the Fielding house, the old Tom Fielding used to be station master at East Fielding. The workshop built in East Greta around 1918. Charlie Simms was there on the drilling machine, drilling the stuff they built the shed out of. He recalls the arrival of No.10 class engine.

19:45
Assembly of No. 10 engines Les got stuck in red lead while working in the manhole. Told them to send "Mousey" Harvey into the hole and he knocked his head and knocked himself out so they had to pull him out. They were going to put an electric light in but Walter "Spot" Howes stopped them because it would have electrocuted them all. Les got out by cutting his shirt. They had to assemble the No. 10 engine themselves.

25:27
Jim Ryan was the electrician at the pit at the time. They generated direct current electricity. East Greta Colliery closed, 1929. Les did his first funeral in 1915 at the age of 19 as an undertaker. He worked for the Fry Bros. undertakers, Fry Bros. began in Cessnock in 1912. Cecil Smythe was the manager. Les recalls accident while working when timber fell on him. They had no parlour in Cessnock. George Pring, was the first undertaker, the Frys took over in 1912. They had a horse-drawn hearse

30:34
Billy Johnson, started his business, Barringham & Johnson while Les was still at Cessnock. Les built the first motor hearse, for himself in 1924. Les started coach making business and talked Cecil into going into business for himself. Wages for being a coach builder were 20 quid from Frye. Les married Charlie Moore’s daughter from east Maitland, in September 1921. They had a daughter first, Delma Hancock, née Pitcairn who married Stan Hancock. Then Les had a son named Len Pitcairn who married Delma Gibbs, then another daughter Betty Smith, née Pitcairn who married Eddie Smith. And one more daughter, Jenny Pitcairn, died when she was 13 and a half.

34:51
1924 Les went out to be an undertaker on his own. A year before he bought a horse and coach for 20 quid from Billy Johnson. He started when his mother died in 1923, had two men working for him, and he did a bank fitting job at Cessnock for the ABC Bank. Jim Andrews asked if Les could make his windows look decent - he owned a shop on the corner in 1923

36:24
Bellbird explosion occurred when he finished the job on the 1st of September 1923. Les bought a sewing machine off Jim for 25 pounds, so he subtracted the price from the job and sent it to him. Les got into the undertaking trade after his mother died in February from a flu she couldn’t get over. His mother’s funeral cost his father 60 pounds. When he did the job at the bank they got 50 pounds for a week and a half of work between 10 men and himself.

39:14
First funeral as undertaker was a girl of 16. Needed four horses, two black horses, he paid 10 bob for the use of them. Les went on a trip to Sydney to buy hearse, he went and watched one being built, none of them believed he was an undertaker - he was only 28 years old, they thought he was too young. While his father is an engineer out at the pit.

45:55
End (Tape 218/Side A) Part 1 of 2 Last edited by: Dave Trimble

SubjectTelarah (N.S.W.)Holmesville (N.S.W.)Coal mines and mining -- New South Wales.East Greta Colliery (New South Wales)Australians -- Funeral customs and rites.Pitcairn, Leslie, 1896-1985 Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

PersonJack Delaney Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Depicts or Relates ToBob Robinson Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

CreatorPitcairn, Leslie, 1896-1985Delaney, Jack, 1919-2010CollectionVoices of the HunterDate Created16th October 1984 Last edited by: Dave Trimble

Location^[1]East Greta Colliery, NSW Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Identifier218A Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

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