Title:
Interview with Carol Sydney, 11 January 2018
Level: Category
Sound Archive
Level: Fonds
EVEWRIGHT ARTS FOUNDATION
Level: Series
Caribbean Takeaway Takeover: Identities and Stories
Scope and Content:
Interview with Carol Sydney about her life in Jamaica and in England, and her work as a nurse and midwife.

[00:00:] Her early life in Jamaica: growing up in Westmoreland and Kingston; her mother’s move to England in 1952 and moving in with her grandparents; saying goodbye to her mother; her mother’s work nursing in Grays, preparing a home for Carol, and supporting her family in Jamaica.
[04:00:] Receiving letter from mother in 1960 inviting Carol to join her in England; train journey to Kingston and then flight to England; what she wore for the journey.
[07:20:] Training as cadet nurse when she first came to England at the age of 16 with Thurrock Technical College; different types of work including for the records department and the X-ray department; her first experience of snow; travelling to work in the winter, especially in bad winter of 1962-1963.
[12:45:] Meeting other West Indians in Grays; positive relationships with her neighbours in Grays; joining choir at local church; her mother’s work as midwife in the community.
[16:20:] Trips to London to buy West Indian food from markets; her mother and a friend Sybil who used to invite West Indians over for meals; low numbers of Black people in Grays in the 1960s; going to milkshake bar with her friends; going to parties in London when she got older; going to London to get her hair done; popular hairstyles at the time.
[22:15:] Her move into own home when she married Don Sydney; going into midwifery and her training in Ilford and Orsett; decline of Grays and West Thurrock and closure of industries.
[26:10:] Still feeling Jamaican; not being accepted as British but not feeling foreign; reflections on her life and her contribution to Britain; her children and grandchildren.
Dates of Creation:
11 January 2018
Extent:
30 minutes 27 seconds
Creator Name:
Ionie Richards and Everton Wright
Admin History:
Carol Sydney was born in Westmoreland, Jamaica in 1943. She moved in with her grandparents when her mother moved to England in 1952 to work as a nurse. Her mother, Edna Ulett, was one of the first Black midwives in Grays.

Carol joined her mother in Grays, England in 1960. She began training as a cadet nurse. She continued with her nursing training, eventually becoming a midwife as her mother had been.

Carol married Don Sydney, a mental health nurse from Trinidad, in 1967. They lived in Grays and had two children.

(Information from depositor as well as from interview.)
Archivist Note:
SJM 10 October 2018
Custodial History:
Recorded at Thameside Complex, Grays. Recording of oral history interview was edited into approximately 30 minutes before deposit.
Copyright:
Copyright Evewright Arts Foundation; ask permission before allowing publication or allowing profit-making organisations to use.
Physical Characteristics:
Digital MP3 file created from original WAV recording
Related Unit of Description:
See SA 69/1/6/1 for an interview with Carol's husband Don Sydney.
Not Available:
Use digital copy available on Soundcloud

Key terms

TypeKey termsDescription
Subjects Midwifery Interview with Carol Sydney, 11 January 2018 Former midwife
Subjects Nursing Interview with Carol Sydney, 11 January 2018 Former nurse
Personal Names Mrs
Carol
Sydney 		Interview with Carol Sydney, 11 January 2018
Place Names America, West Indies, Jamaica Interview with Carol Sydney, 11 January 2018 Former resident of Jamaica
Place Names Grays Interview with Carol Sydney, 11 January 2018 Former midwife in Grays
Document Types Sound recording Interview with Carol Sydney, 11 January 2018