| Description | An interview with Jill CAMPBELL, a married woman with one daughter, who is a Deputy general manager, SBHA, born in Birmingham and now living in Birmingham. Jill CAMPBELL’s father was a factory worker, born in England and her mother a housewife born in England. In the interview, she talks about …
'MS2255/2/118 CAMPBELL, Jill, logged by Azma Shain
01
02” My name is Jillian Margaret Campbell.
07” I was born at Marston Green Hospital on 28th of the 7th 1955.
26” I was brought up in Small Heath.
48” Earliest memories are of living with my grandmother and father. Mother worked at BSA (bike factory).
1.22 Flower bedded gardens
1.35 Grandfather died at 40 years old.
2.02 Mother got pregnant before she got married - sin in those days.
2.38 School – All classrooms were around the main hall
3.12 Story about falling down in the class and doing the splits. Teachers took her knickers down to make sure nothing was injured.
3.54 Age 7 moved to Hall Green, 1962. Made friends and went to Yardley Wood Junior School
4.49 Hall Green was greener, Small Heath was more concrete.
02
Parks were grass in Hall Green and gravel in Small Heath. Hall Green had a cornfield and milk pond. The children could play freely.
1.25 Play for hours hopscotch and knock door run, silly things children got up to. Families would live together.
2.46 Story about swallowing coin. Talks about friends and boys at school.
03
12” Did not pay attention in class; teacher smacked hands with ruler in front of class.
More about school teachers
1.50 Class groups in two sections. Higher grade group were taught subjects which would steer them toward passing 11+ exam and it seems like the lower grade were not bothered with.
2.35 Went to Yardley Wood Secondary School.
04
Made new friends at secondary school.
1.04 Went on class trip to Wales, instead of studying geography group studied each other.
2.03 One of the students frightened a teacher in night with torch in the dark and the teacher passed out.
2.40 5th form – prefect toilet monitor. Would smoke with students and was given free cigarettes for her silence.
3.35 School was predominantly white until the 60’s and 70’s where more Indian and Pakistani students joined the school. New culture coming into school.
05
Did secretarial course at school.
1.43 Left school in 1972. Went for job interview on Hagley Road. Missed bus stop and got there late. Got a call the next day and was offered the job.
06
Short track
07
Differences between grammar and secondary school
1.44 First day at work, explanation of departments at work. Secretarial staff to the whole floor. Stencilling paper work.
Talks about work place, breaks canteen
8
2.08 In the work canteen it was about 10 pence for a meal.
3.06 No male secretarial workers, only females. The men would go into motor works, women did lower level of work.
3.48 Social life – Went to night-clubs quite often in 1973, era of midis and maxis and platform boots.
4.47 The actual fashion of the time was awful but we thought it was wonderful.
09
Talks about drinking too much.
Short Track
10
Arranged to date 3 boys at the same time. Mother had to lie and told her to date one at a time.
Talks about going to clubs on Saturdays.
3.10 Often went to the club, Rebeccas, which had different floors with different types of music.
11
37” Got married at 18, to one of the boys from school.
55” His mother was white and father Jamaican, one of the first coloured families to move in to the area at racially prejudiced time. Story about meeting husband because her friend liked his elder brother.
2.15 1973 they met in a pub continued to meet up, family not happy about relationship with a coloured person.
4.85 Mother found out about the relationship and asked her to choose between leaving him or leave home. Jill told her boyfriend and he asked her to marry him at the age of 18.
4.45 Told parents when the wedding would be.
12
Dad thought she was pregnant & had to get married but this was not true.
28” Lived with his family for 9 months then moved to Small Heath and had a baby girl.
Short Track
13
06” Mixed race relationships were unpopular. Verbally attacked by a black woman. Brother refused to stop visiting sister.
1.28 Parents did come to the wedding, something they had vowed to never do. The food at the wedding was a mix of both cultures.
4.35 Description of living conditions in Small Heath, fancy apartments. No community spirit, very concrete area.
14
37” Husband worked in Kings Norton.
1.18 Lived in Small Heath for 12 months and then swapped houses with someone and moved to Kings Norton.
2.00 Contrast between Kings Norton and Small Heath. Kings Norton was greener less concrete.
3.22 Went to temping agency to get a job for two weeks with South Birmingham Health Authority and ended up going back permanently with child minder looking after their daughter.
15
Talks about daughter’s nursery.
16
Talks about work with Health Authority, new computers came into the office in 1983.
17
Talks about work.
Short track
18
Work at dental hospital, computer records are now kept instead of manual records.
19
Talks about work
2.17 Daughters schooling, Family moved to Cotteridge.
20
Daughter started work.
21
Beliefs
07” My own faith is Church of England, I do believe there is a God. Everyone has a right to believe what he or she wants. Should not force your own beliefs on another.
ENDS |