DescriptionThis interview consists of four audio recordings and transcripts. Roy Preston was interviewed on 27 August 2003 at the Whitlam Library, Cabramatta by Shirley Kingsford McLeod.Interview SummaryRoy was born on 4 July 1918. He has an older brother and older sister, and a younger sister. Roy’s father was from New Zealand. The family lived in a weatherboard home in York Street, Fairfield. The house had two bedrooms, a lounge room, kitchen and laundry. There was no plumbing or electricity.
Roy went to Canley Vale Public School by crossing through paddocks and through the bush. He left at the end of sixth class at the age of eleven. He then went to Liverpool Tech for one year followed by Granville Tech. He then went to work in a grocery shop before applying for a job at a motor trade in 1936.
At the start of World War Two Roy tried to enlist in the Army but was two inches too short. He also applied to the Air Force, but they would not accept him because he did not have a School Leaving Certificate. A few months later Roy was called up to the Army, he spent time in New South Wales before being sent to the Middle East (Palestine and Syria). In 1942 Roy was rotated back to Australia and sometime later transitioned to the Air Force, he trained in Canada before going to England to work as a bomb manner.
Roy married his English wife, Yvonne Robson, in 1945. After the war they came to Australia. They lived with Roy’s parents, before renting a property. Roy resumed his work in the motor trade at Askew and Arnold. In 1950 he left to start a motor business with some friends.
Roy remembers Cabramatta in his childhood days was mostly bushland. There was a fire brigade. He also remembers Jack McBurney’s store on Railway Parade, a coffee shop, the picture theatre, butcher, milk bar, the chemist and the Church of England. Most food itemns were delivered in the early days, including milk, meat, groceries and bread. Roy knew members of the Stein family in Cabramatta, as well as the Chilwoods, and Dr. Lovejoy. He also knew several pastors of the church.
Roy had good relations with the Italian and Greek migrants, but less satisfactory ones with the Lebanese community.
Oral History ProjectThe Way We Were - People of FairfieldAll Oral Histories
Roy Preston Oral History . Fairfield City Heritage Collection, accessed 13/02/2026, https://heritagecollection.fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/2954
