History
| Ken Purdham |
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BA history & Politics
Dip. Professional Writing & Editing
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I have always been fascinated by things old. Before I formalised my interest in history I would stand in a castle, or a church, or pick up something quite old like a tool or kitchen utensil and wonder who had held it and what was life like back then.
I like to imagine life before electricity, running water or toilet paper. We sit in the luxury of modern day and take it all for granted, but how was it when the First Fleet landed in Sydney Cove, when everyone stepped off the ships to begin a new life? That time has traditionally been documented by the scholars. How different that picture is when it is revealed by the convict. What was life like for the bloke who drove the bullock dray or the woman who ran flat iron over the clothes in the home while the bullocky was out on the track. A girl once asked me to write a play about the people of the First World War, then she said, not about the soldiers but those mums and dads left at home waiting. That's the way to look at history, beyond the facade.
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History or memoir? Both are about the past; both are about an interpretation of the past. When I listened to the life of Lloyd Bray and then recounted it, strictly speaking it is a memoir: life as he remembered it. When I wrote about the life of Frank McCoubrie it was not. And yet both are about the person; both are an historical record; both are a look at life in Australia's past. |
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Roots (an extract from the book By the Banks of a Glass River) |
Magic Lights (an extract from the book A Century of Struggle) |
