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When (Great) Aunt Anne was young, about 21 years old I think, she had to have a hysterectomy. This meant that she could not have children and therefore it was unlikely that she would marry. (Great) Aunt Linda made the choice to not marry either, and she remained a life-long companion to her sister.

My Grandmother Clare married Harry Warby and they had a son, Noel (born on Christmas Eve) and a daughter Nita (my mother) 7 years later. It was a pretty tough life on a sugar cane farm in Tully, Queensland. Mum’s mother died when she was 11 years old. Noel was 18 and so stayed with his father on the sugar cane farm. Mum went to live with her Aunts Linda and Anne in Sydney. Her father died a few years later.

So two maiden sisters received the gift of a young girl to bring up. And this child grew into an adult under the guidance of her new guardians. Later, she married, and brought 4 more girls into their lives. And I was one of those little girls!

When we were young and lived on the farm in central western New South Wales, we visited the Great Aunts each year for Christmas and also for the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Sometimes, not often, Mum and Dad left us with the Great Aunts while they had a short holiday.

The Great Aunts were strict but looked after us really well. Mum used to tell us how they made her wear a hat and gloves and stockings to the beach! We used to think they were eccentric, but kind, (except for grumpy Great Aunt Doris). They even taught us to say the alphabet forwards and backwards before we started school.

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