Ann’s earliest memories of Redfern are of the “dirt and squalor” and hard times: “There was no sweepers, and no trees and there were horses and plenty of manure”. The brewery smelt, and “the front verandahs would be filthy”, because the brewery, Reckitts Blue and the bakery had big smoke stacks. There was a lot of bronchitis and asthma. Ann’s grandfather and uncle were horse trainers, who had stables out in Kensington, and sometimes Ann used to ride the horses on the track work: “I was a tomboy. I’d go with the horse out to Brighton Beach and swim.” She was interviewed in September 1994 by Sue Rosen as part of the South Sydney Social History Project.