Anabranch: Oral History of Carmel Chapman

Title

Anabranch: Oral History of Carmel Chapman

Description

An interview in four parts with Carmel Chapman, who works at the Wentworth Information Centre.

Born in 1941, Carmel talks about her life growing up in Merbein, near Mildura, on the Victorian side of the Murray River. She recalls fishing with family and swimming as a teenager in the Murray, "...we used to be able to see our feet in the water...". In her youth she did research on the floods; and as an adult she communicates her extensive knowledge of the river through her employment.

In the interview Carmel discusses: local history of the Murray-Darling; water allocation and building of weirs; a cofferdam; soldier settlements in Wentworth; the 1956 flood and assistance by soldiers during this time; seasons; water volumes; rainfall patterns; dependence of the Murray River on Darling River flows.

She mentions weirs at Wentworth, Burtundy, Mildura and the unique Perry Sandhills, 400 acres of shifting dunes, marked by a Murray River Red Gum Tree (Eucalyptus camaldulensis). Called the God Tree, it is over 500 years old, and covered so much by the sand that you can stroll through its canopy.

Creator

Heather Goodall
Jodi Frawley

Publisher

University of Technology, Sydney

Contributor

Murray-Darling Basin Authority
NSW Department of Primary Industries - NSW Fisheries

Rights

Copyright University of Technology, Sydney

Date

2010-11-11

Access Rights

Open access

License

Interviewer

Jodi Frawley

Interviewee

Carmel Chapman

Location

Wentworth, NSW

Duration

Part 1 00:20:19
Part 2 00:20:02
Part 3 00:07:57
Part 4 00:12:41

Item Relations

This Item Is Part Of Item: Lower Darling and the Great Anabranch
This Item Was Created By Item: Prof. Heather Goodall
Item: Dr Jodi Frawley
This Item Has Provenance Information Item: State Library of New South Wales
Item: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Archive (ATSIDA)
This Item References The Subject Item: Australian Paratya

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