DescriptionThis interview consists of four audio recordings and transcripts. Diana Aspinall was interviewed on 13 January 2001 at the Whitlam Library, Cabramatta by Marilyn Gallo (Oshana).Interview SummaryDiana Aspinall was born Diana Haslehurst in December 1939 at Ryde District Hospital. Her mother was Doris Edna Speding and her father was John William Haslehurst. There were 6 children in the family. She lived at Guildford during the war where she attended Granville South Public School and later Rosehill Home Science School. In her interview Diana paints us a very interesting picture of visiting her friend in Edensor Park and telling of farm life there.
After leaving school Diana attended business college and learnt to type and write Pitman’s shorthand which prepared her for her first job at David Jones in Sydney and from there to an insurance company.
Diana married in 1961 at the Guildford Baptist Church and she and her husband Ron Aspinall bought a home in Blacktown.
Before her marriage she decided that nursing would be her career and went to the old Fairfield Hospital where she enrolled as a student nurse in 1957. Her descriptions of nursing methods and the uniforms and training of the day are comprehensive. She tells of the difficulty of courtship due to the strict hospital rules. Diana describes in much detail the ins and outs of hospital employment and of her graduation there. She also tells us of other nurses and of the doctors and patients.
