McDonald Collection
Key items in the collection
Highlights from this collection demonstrate its historical significance and variety.
The collection of 205 reels, recorded between 1981 and 1989, contain:
- music
- recitations and recollections of performances
- local history.
The interviews were recorded throughout the New England region, including:
- Armidale
- Walcha
- Tenterfield
- Glen Innes
- Guyra
- Uralla.
In most of the recordings, the interviewee would:
- play an instrument (accordion, mouth organ, violin)
- whistle or sing
as well as discussing the songs, folklore and history of their town or district.
The collection also includes some letters, poems and photographs.
About Barry McDonald
Barry McDonald (born 1955) grew up in Sydney and moved to Armidale in 1976. He studied history at the University of New England and acquired a strong interest in local history, oral history and folklore. He lived next door to Professor Russel Ward, who had pioneered the collecting of folklore and bush ballads in Australia.
In the 1980s he was a schoolteacher in Armidale and later in Queanbeyan.
McDonald was a keen musician, playing the violin in the Armidale Folk Club and other groups.
McDonald got to know the collectors Chris Sullivan and Mark Rummery and this led him in 1983 to undertake a large number of recordings of folk music and oral history in the New England region.
In more recent years he has written a number of academic papers on traditional Australian music.
Background to the collection
The McDonald Collection was purchased in 1991.
A further collection of interviews, recorded in the Armidale and Guyra districts between 1993 and 1994, were acquired in 1994.
The McDonald folklore collection and additional interviews are individually catalogued and kept within the Oral History and Folklore Collection.
This guide was prepared using this reference:
- Waters Edgar, Oral history interview with Barry McDonald, 1992, ORAL TRC 2858
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