Phyllis Flynn was born in 1920 and lived most of her life Millers Point. In her interview she recalls her childhood, schooling, nuns and priests, the death of a baby, neighbours, shipping lines, the building and opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the opening of the Sydney Opera House, demographic change and unpopular pub crawls. In the excerpt below she recalls sheep being brought to Dalgety’s Bond Store in the early 1930s, when wool was still a major export from the Sydney wharves.
This interview is part of Housing NSW’s 2005 Millers Point Oral History Project. The City of Sydney acknowledges the State Library of New South Wales as the archival custodian of the project and digital preserver of the masters.
Well when we were young, probably round about twelve – I can’t remember what age we really were, the horse and carts used to bring the sheep down past the butcher’s shop and the Palisade Hotel and turn up into Merriman Street and bring the sheep to Dalgety’s Bond [Store] and they used to have wool classing. The people used to come and when they’d see the carts coming the kids would sing out, ‘Oh here comes the sheep,’ and of course you’d all come out and walk up behind the horse and cart.
They used to put the sheep into the big bond and the wool classers used to come and class all the wool and then they would have a luncheon for them. Then when it was over, I think they said the food that was over they would give to the kids that were up around the bond. Yes that used to happen quite a few times; I remember it happening.
