Historical information
Alma Isabell Ashcroft was born on the 11th of July 1920 in Newtown, Beechworth. Her father and four of her brothers worked at the Tannery, her mother was recognised as the ‘district nurse’ in the area and the family were well known and at the heart of the local community.
Alma joined the Beechworth branch of the R.S.L. and at the time of the interview in 2000, had been with the R.S.L for 40-50 years.
This oral history recording was part of a project conducted by Jennifer Williams in the year 2000 to capture the everyday life and struggles in Beechworth during the twentieth century. This project involved recording seventy oral histories on cassette tapes of local Beechworth residents which were then published in a book titled: Listen to what they say: voices of twentieth century Beechworth.
These cassette tapes were digitised in July 2021 with funds made available by the Friends of the Burke.
Significance
Alma Ashcroft’s story is significant because of her personal and familial connections with Beechworth. Her family were at the heart of the community, and Alma’s association with the RSL in Beechworth spanned 4-5 decades. During the interview with Jennifer Williams, Alma also provided a rich history of the town, the locals and her extensive family.
Physical description
This is a digital copy of a recording that was originally captured on a cassette tape. The cassette tape is black with a horizontal white strip and is currently stored in a clear flat plastic rectangular container. It holds up 40 minutes of recordings on each side.
Subjects
References
- Listen to what they say: voices of twentieth century Beechworth ISBN/ISSN: 1920795111 Beechworth has always been known for its gold history. This is an account of more than seventy of Beechworth's less well-known residents and their everyday life and struggles. It is a record of a small country town in the twentieth century. It is the transcripts of oral history.
