Difference between revisions of "Charlie Foster"

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Charlie Foster, (1908-?), Tumbarumba, NSW was interviewed and his tunes collected by John Meredith in 1983.
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Charlie Foster, (1908-?), Tumbarumba, NSW was interviewed and his tunes collected by [[John Meredith]] in 1983.
  
Charlie learned "Foster's Lancers Tune" from his father. His father was born in Mansfield, Vic. and it was Foster Sr. who followed the gold rush to Kiandra. Gold was discovered there in 1859 and in 1860 Kiandra comprised some 15,000 miners. The alluvial gold ran out by 1861 and most of the miners moved on, but mining continued there until 1905. The town gradually dwindled in size over the years until the last of the buildings was destroyed by bush fire in 2020. It is not known when Foster Sr. arrived in Kiandra but he subsequently free-selected a block near the Willygobung hills, 50km west of Kiandra,and 10km north of Tumbarumba. Charlie was still living on the selection at the time Meredith collected his tunes in 1983. Charlie had an older brother, Arthur.  
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"Also the son of a digger, Charlie Foster's father was born in Mansfield, following the rush to Kiandra. Gold was discovered there in 1859 and in 1860 Kiandra comprised some 15,000 miners. The alluvial gold ran out by 1861 and most of the miners moved on, but mining continued there until 1905. The town gradually dwindled in size over the years until the last of the buildings was destroyed by bush fire in 2020. It is not known when Foster Sr. arrived in Kiandra but he subsequently free-selected a block near the Willygobung hills, 50km west of Kiandra, and 10km north of Tumbarumba. Charlie was still living on the selection at the time Meredith collected his tunes in 1983. Charlie had an older brother, [[Arthur Foster]], who told me that both boys were taught to play the fiddle by their father."
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-- (adapted from) J Meredith, R Covell, P Brown, Folk Songs of Australia Vol 2, UNSW Press, 1987, p260
  
Arthur Foster lived in Killarney Vale, on the Central Coast of NSW when he was interviewed by John Meredith a bit later in 1983. Arthur had worked as a linesman for the PMG, (later Telstra) and had traveled more widely. He played fiddle and mandolin and was considered a virtuoso on the leaf
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There is a recording of [https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/3408460 Charlie Foster plays the fiddle for the John Meredith folklore collection]  in the [http://www.nla.gov.au/ National Library of Australia] in Canberra, from Sept 1983.
 
 
Ref: John Meredith, Folk Songs of Australia, v.2 p260
 
  
 
== Related Tunes ==
 
== Related Tunes ==

Latest revision as of 12:13, 8 March 2025

Charlie Foster, (1908-?), Tumbarumba, NSW was interviewed and his tunes collected by John Meredith in 1983.

"Also the son of a digger, Charlie Foster's father was born in Mansfield, following the rush to Kiandra. Gold was discovered there in 1859 and in 1860 Kiandra comprised some 15,000 miners. The alluvial gold ran out by 1861 and most of the miners moved on, but mining continued there until 1905. The town gradually dwindled in size over the years until the last of the buildings was destroyed by bush fire in 2020. It is not known when Foster Sr. arrived in Kiandra but he subsequently free-selected a block near the Willygobung hills, 50km west of Kiandra, and 10km north of Tumbarumba. Charlie was still living on the selection at the time Meredith collected his tunes in 1983. Charlie had an older brother, Arthur Foster, who told me that both boys were taught to play the fiddle by their father." -- (adapted from) J Meredith, R Covell, P Brown, Folk Songs of Australia Vol 2, UNSW Press, 1987, p260

There is a recording of Charlie Foster plays the fiddle for the John Meredith folklore collection in the National Library of Australia in Canberra, from Sept 1983.

Related Tunes

You can search for tunes referring to Charlie Foster.