Interview with Bill Matthews

Interview with Bill (William) Matthews, born in Auckland in 1949. Refers to being adopted with his twin brother to the Matthews family in the Mangakahia Valley, Pakotai, who were relatives. Refers to his father Teuri Matthews having been wounded at Monte Casino while in the 28th Maori Batallion, and his mother Queenie leaving the family when he was a child. Discusses the small community in the valley, the communal vegetable gardens, fishing, pig hunting, and timber milling (kauri). Talks about attending the Pakotai Maori School, frienships made and playing rugby. Comments on living with various people when he attended Titoki District High and hand milking cows before and after school. Refers to his birth mother making contact with his brother when they were 47, visiting her in Rotorua and meeting their half brothers and sisters.

Refers to working as a fencing contractor and scrub-cutter before moving to Auckland to work at the Otahuhu substation. Talks about moving to Clyde with a group of 20 to work on the line between Roxburgh and Cromwell, and staying in the area for over 20 years installing pylons and high tension lines. Comments on moving into maintenance work later, moving to the Marlborough area in the mid 1970s, and running a line with a 6 man crew up Wairau Valley. Discusses the upheavals of the restructuring into SOEs (state owned enterprises) in the late 1980s, with linemen being given severance then having to rehire them. Talks about having contract training work with Transpower, including live line training, at Omaka, Indonesia and Australia. Reflects on superiors who influenced him, and that he would like to have known more about engineering.

Comments on life in the work camps, the whanau atmosphere, playing rugby, socialising in pubs, hunting and fishing. Discusses meeting his wife, a trainee nurse from Haast, in Clyde. Mentions that his wife encouraged their children to speak Maori. Talks about being diagnosed with cancer in 1992 and having bone marrow transplants and chemotherapy. Mentions the stresses from his career lifestyle, and their children's careers.

Interviewer(s) - David Young

Venue - Recorded in the TransPower Omaka Training Centre, Blenheim

Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHDL-000175

Quantity: 1 digital sound recording(s) digital sound recording(s). 1 printed abstract(s). 1 Electronic document(s) - abstract. 1 interview(s). 2.52 Hours and minutes Duration.

Physical Description: Digital sound recording - wave audio; Textual file - Microsoft word

Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHA-5932, OHDL-001512.

Search dates: 1949 - 2008

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

Alternative form available: Both printed and digital versions of the abstract are available