Interview with Noni Masters

Mabel, known by all as Noni, was born in Timaru in 1912. Her father, Andrew Davidson, was a clerk in the Post Office and her mother, was a dressmaker and a busy housewife. Noni, the eldest daughter, had two brothers and a sister. During her childhood years she was a great help to her mother as they often had a large number of student boarders in their home. From an early age Noni became very interested in singing and this, along with her participation in the Central Methodist Church, became a large part of her life. She worked as a florist, while participating in the competitions and choral work whenever she could. In 1935 Noni married William Hall Masters, a Chartered Accountant, and with their two children continued to live in Dunedin. Despite her busy married life she never lost contact with her church or with singing. While her husband pursued his professional career and served overseas Noni began to join various clubs and discovered her love of committee work and people. She became involved in, and is still involved with, several organisations such as the Royal Overseas Club, the Dunedin Music Society, the Board of Management of the Central Mission and the Otago Women's Club.

Access Contact - see oral history librarian

Venue - Dunedin

Interviewer(s) - Rosalie Clarke

Venue - Dunedin

Accompanying material - Photographs of Noni as a child; Noni aged 21 years; at Convention; Noni cutting cake at her 81st birthday. Newspaper articles "My View. On the art of getting along..." "Otago Women's Club". Chapter extract from "Women in their time; 75 years of the Otago Women's Club, 1914-1989" compiled by Brenda J. Harding.

Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-018578-018581; OHLC-010017-010020

Quantity: 8 C60 cassette(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 1 Electronic document(s). 1 Electronic document(s) recording information form. 8 Hours Duration.

Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHA-6433 and OHDL-000753.

Original recordings not available for playback. Surrogate copies will be provided.

Alternative form available: Listening copies available at LC-10017 to LC-10020

Both printed and digital versions of abstract are available