ORAL HISTORY (AUDIO): HIDDLESTONE, VERNON

The business Hiddlestone Electrics has been a part of the suburb of Subiaco for more than 100 years. Vern was born in 1940, educated at Rosalie School and has fond memories of growing up in the area. He talks of his early entrepreneurial business undertakings as a boy. Later he would come to join and then take on the family business, Hiddlestone Electrics which started in Subiaco in 1920. For many years the business would be based at 85 Rokeby Road. The Hiddlestone family has strong connections with Subiaco history. His father Cecil Forrest* Hiddlestone was an electrician and was responsible for doing the original electrical work for The Regal Theatre, a job that Vern has continued to be associated with. Apart from his important electrical business in Subiaco, Vern has been strongly connected to businesses in the area through his property interests and his work on Subiaco City Council. He is very interested in the heritage of the community. He talks of his concerns for the community in which he has been strongly associated, and looks at the role of council in the running of the city. In doing so he talks of his struggle with council to maintain the heritage of buildings in the area. During the interview, by relating his life experience in the suburb, Vern highlights the ever changing face of Subiaco.

Interviewee: Vern Hiddlestone

Date of Interview: 21 December 2010

Interviewer: John Bannister

Transcriber: Joe Blake

Indexer: Alicia Mackenzie