Peter Stapleton

Canberra resident with memories of Acton
Interview: With his wife Clare Stapleton, April 2011

“I'm Peter Stapleton. We lived in Queanbeyan. My father came here to work at the Lake George mines at Captains Flat in 1942. I went to school in Queanbeyan, and then worked for the original J. B. Young Department Store in Queanbeyan. In those days it was the only department store in the area, until they opened a store in Kingston. That became the department store in Canberra in those days, before others opened in Civic and Manuka.

My first memories of Canberra really were when I used to ride a pushbike and come out this way. I particularly remember Acton of course because it was the centre of a lot of things. It had the Hotel Canberra, the golf club and the racetrack, the Acton hostels and the buildings up on the hill (Old Canberra House). I remember all that very well as a kid. Of course I wasn't thinking of the intimate relationship I would have with the area a few years later after I met Clare. We met in Cairns, while I was on a short working holiday up there and later, after a long distance romance she agreed to move to Canberra. She came here and first lived at the Acton hostel while working at the telephone exchange. We were married shortly after that and moved back to Queanbeyan, before ending up back in Canberra in Fadden, where we have lived for the past eleven years.”

Clare sadly passed away in June 2013.