| Description | An interview with Georgina MULLEN, a married woman with one son, two daughters, who is a School Building Service Supervisor, born in Birmingham and now living in Birmingham. Georgina MULLEN’s father was a Semi-skilled labourer, born in Ireland and her mother a Care worker born in Ireland. In the interview, she talks about …
' Logged by Sonia Southern
01
I was born in Birmingham in 1942
20” Father came over to Birmingham in 1937 and sent for her mother where they lived in Ladywood. Her first sister was born in 1940 and her second sister was born in 1941.
47” Her father was in the Royal Engineers and her mother was left to raise three children alone.
1.00” Her mother felt isolated with the trouble from the War and the IRA which led to her having a nervous breakdown. Consequently the children were all evacuated over to Ireland where they stayed with their Grandmother. They moved between Ireland and England four times, so they had to carry identification cards around with them.
2.00” Father's arrival in England
3.00” 1946 Settling down in Birmingham. Describes how her mother was one in a family of sixteen and one by one they all moved Birmingham and lived with them until they got a family of their own. She said they had their own little community, and more and more Irish people came over.
4.00” Explains how it was a lot easier for the Irish to settle in England when compared to West Indians due to the colour of their skin.
4.18” 1962 Georgina got married to a man from Dublin, and they moved to Kings Heath.
4.42” His move from Longbridge plant to General Motors over in Ireland…
02
…Moved to Ireland to live between 1975 and 1980.
21” In 1978 her father died, and they still lived in Birmingham. This encouraged her to move back to England nearer her family and she has lived here ever since.
03
Identity…Discusses what culture she feels that she is from.
04
Her parents employment in England.
1.30” Lived in a flat with parents in Saint Martins, Highgate, then they moved to Vauxhall Road.
2.29” Her mother and most of the family worked in Nutfields factory on Washwood Heath Road. Her mother worked there until 1975/76.
3.00” How women had to go out and work because the man’s wage just wasn’t enough. Discusses how there was more work available then, and that men got a higher wage than women.
05
The 1950s…pawn shops and having money on what she calls ‘the tick’.
1.11” The changes in the 1960s with things like the pill and equal pay for woman.
2.08” Her upbringing…role and expectation of a child.
06
Money and what they could afford.
1.35” The only holiday they had was going over to Ireland every year…recalls going to the Malvern Hills on a school trip.
3.00” Describes where she lived on Vauxhall Road…woman driving the horse and cart, people took pride in their homes. She recalls the Coronation and how it was real community.
07
The houses being knocked down and Kingshurst Estate being built.
08
Walking to Birmingham City Centre…gives description of museums and the Art Gallery.
09
Anecdote on community in Vauxhall…Irish and Italians.
1.17” Describes how the Toroni family who are now millionaires lived near to them.
10
Prejudice…How people treated the Irish…”you have to find your own place, you have to stand up and be counted and stand up for your rights”.
2.24” Schooldays…Story about teacher.
4.00” Describes how she was proud of the British Empire even though she was of Irish descent.
11
Describes how it was sad to see the decline of British Engineering, and how it was the best in the world.
12
1950’s Education…marriage was seen as a woman’s main priority not employment.
2.11”Religion and the Catholic faith…she is a practising Catholic and her mother never questioned the faith right up until she passed away in 1987. However, she does question the faith and disagrees with the idea of woman not using contraception.
13
Left school in 1957 at 15 and it was the happiest day of her life…story of first job making boots for disabled people…talks of other work.
1.37” There was no such thing as teenagers once you left school you were a grown up, the clothes went from being child-like to woma- like.
14
1960’s…When the American phase hit, such as Skiffle and Jiving.
1.06” The Locarno in Town, and wanting to spend money on clothes. Talks of different fashions and the type of dancing that took place at the Locarno.
3.35” 1960 she met him at the Locarno, he was Irish as well, the Catholic schools opened their halls for dancing.
4.05” Parents' reaction to these dances and the difference between what they were allowed to do in comparison with Ireland.
15
The different expectations between England and Ireland.
16
Meeting her husband…and describes her marriage On Boxing Day in 1962.
4.17” Her job at Lucas’s and ended up earning more money than her husband. She worked there until 1965 when she had her daughter.
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Lived in Kings Heath, Haig Place from 1965/1974, when they moved to Ireland.
18
Daughter was born in September 1965…it was the happiest day of her life. At this time they were financially well off…she had her son in 1968. She faced difficulties with her son and was advised not to have any more children. Describes how she had contraception fitted and had to confess to this in church.
2.48” She had another daughter in 1972, and was advised not to have any more because of a blood clot. She finally got sterilised when she was thirty years of age.
4.11”Raising her children.
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Discovering her son had Dyslexia, which was something that went unrecognised by the school he was attending at the time. He attended a child development unit where they discovered his disability. She contacted Margaret Newton and got Marks and Spencer’s to fund his education.
20
Concludes on encouraging her children’s education.
21
Combining work and children.
54” In 1983 they decided to buy their own home. Her husband was made redundant from Girlings, and he ended up working with his wife silver serving, at the Metropole Hotel.
2.00” Her husband contracted angina, this lead to him having to give up work, leaving her to pay the mortgage, which meant she had to work long hours.
22
The job as school caretaker, which had a bungalow included in the job, so she let her house out.
3.15” Mentions about having had breast cancer…but once you’ve been knocked down once you get on with it…Describes a bit more about how she recognised that she had breast cancer.
23
More on breast cancer…and how she continued to work all through her radiotherapy.
1.50” Gives her opinion on the National Health Service…and gives a comparison between the health service in England and America.
4.34” Politics…she used to be a shop steward in the hospital that she worked in from 1983-1990.
24
1985 Jjob as a porter…and the questions that she was asked through her interview.
25
Married life… surprised about people living together and not getting married.
2.50” Describes the school that she is working at…which is 25 years old, there are generations of the same family attending the same school. It is seen as being very community based.
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Concludes.
27
Describing the use of the Irish slang…’Feck’.
45” How the Irish community had changed after the Birmingham Bombings had taken place.
28
Experience of transport…Visited Canada and the Metro was only 20p, which you could stay on for that price for as long as you like. Believes that Britain should make public transport cheaper and safer.
2.00” Describes how she remembers the buildings that they knocked down (the Bull Ring) and how beautiful the architecture was…gives her opinion on Brindleyplace. |