Helen Melville’s mother lived to be 108 and she is out to beat that record.
Known throughout her life as Nell, she is well on the way, with two big parties to celebrate her 100th birthday recently.
The first was held at her home in Henry Kendall Serviced Apartments at Wyoming, on her actual birthday, Friday, May 26, then a large family party of 90 the next day seeing relatives from the Northern Territory, Wagga Wagga, Queensland and Sydney join local family members.
Born in Wagga Wagga after a 14-mile trip by horse and sulky from her family’s dairy farm at Gregadoo, Nell was raised in a four-room home with only a veranda for a kitchen and no facilities, running water or bathroom.
The back veranda was eventually closed in to add a kitchen and bathroom as Nell’s parents, Dave and Alice Swan, raised seven children.
She started school at the age of seven, riding a small pony the three miles to and from school each day, until she was 14 and expected to go out to work.
Nell’s first job was on a large sheep station in the area as a housemaid, after which she worked at a hotel in Wagga Wagga as a housemaid.
Meanwhile, Bryan Melville had started working on the farm next door and soon became a regular visitor to the Swan farm.
The second eldest of 14 children, he was sent out to work at 13 and earned seven shillings and sixpence (75c) per week, giving his mother five shillings, or 50 cents, each pay day.
Bryan moved on to work for the railways at Junee as a fireman on the steam engines running on the main southern line between Junee and Albury, eventually becoming a driver.
When the two married in the depression years, there was no such thing as a wedding dress; no-one could acquire such an elaborate outfit, so it was a good street outfit.
At the age of 20, Nell gave birth to Helen Margaret and 19 months later to Catherine Alice.
The couple moved to Sydney, where Bryan worked as a crane driver and truck driver at Clyde Wagon Works until his retirement, living with two of Bryan’s sisters initially, during which time their third child John arrived, before buying a block of land at Merrylands and building their own home.
Nell worked in a clothing factory making jeans for quite a few years, before moving on to work at a new factory at Hornsby for some years.
She and her friend Agnes eventually bought the business and ran it successfully for 16 years.
With only seven years of primary school to her credit, Nell ran the financial side of the business, keeping the books, making up the wages, organising staff employment and acting as the forelady.
Deciding they needed a tree change, Nell and Bryan sold up and moved to Mudgee where they opened a coffee shop, The Coffee and Cream, which they operated very successfully for some years.
After moving briefly to Queensland, the couple eventually built a home at Tuggerah to be closer to family.
But Queensland was still calling and the couple moved back to the sunshine state into a village.
When Bryan had a stroke at the age of 90 and passed away suddenly, Nell sold up and moved back to the Central Coast – settling first into Pine Needles at Erina and then Henry Kendall.
Despite a hearing loss, Nell enjoys outings with her carer Mary.
Nell has three children, 22 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren, with five generations of the family still going strong.
Source:
Helen Smyth