Alan Foskett

Canberra resident with memories of Acton
Interview: December 2013

“My name is Alan Foskett. I was born at West Ryde in Sydney and grew up and was educated in Sydney. When I graduated from University in 1949 I got offered a job in Canberra and moved here in 1950. My main training had been in urban geography and urban planning and I got a job in the Regional Developmental Division, which was located in the old hospital buildings at Acton. When I arrived in Canberra the population then was about 15,000. My first home in Canberra was a hostel called Reid House and that was my home for three years, it was located in Civic about where the Casino now is. In 1950 nearly a quarter of Canberra's population lived in hostels, that's how important they were.

I got to know Acton quite well, as my old work place was in the area. The old Canberra Community Hospital was on a little ridge just above where the Acton racecourse was located. I played golf on the Royal Canberra Golf Course, and cricket on the Acton flats. I worked for the National Capital Development Commission from 1958 to 1967 and that was the nine years when Canberra was changed from the bush capital to a real national capital and city of world-renown."

Alan has published numerous books on aspects of the early history of Canberra, including: On solid foundations: the building and construction of the Nation's Capital 1920 to 1950: a history of the pioneering efforts of those who built Canberra [with Phil Johnstone and David Andrew] (2001); The Molonglo Mystery (2006); Home in the capital: stories about life in Canberra's hostels (2007); The Memories Linger On: More about Canberra's historic hostel and hotel eras (2007); Homes for the Workers: The History of the Narrabundah Pre Fabs (2011); Caring for the Community: The History of District and Community Health Nursing in the ACT [with Shirley Sutton] (2013); and They Came to Build Canberra: The Story of the Turner Workmen's Hostel – the People, the Buildings and the Land 1946 to 2014 (2014).