100 years not out

Mrs Nicholson celebrated her birthday at her daughter Margaret’s place in Menai with 50 family members in attendance.

Ethel Maud Edwards was born at home on February 22, 1923 to Albert and Josephine.

Home was  a property called Melbury at Salisbury near Dungog which her parents had owned since 1862. As well as being a working dairy property, Melbury later became a guest house with a maximum of 10-12 paying guests.

Ethel attended Salisbury Primary School where she completed her formal schooling and the remainder of her higher education was completed by correspondence as there was no high school at that time.

It was at age six she had her first ride in a motor car.

Growing up she helped around home both inside and in the guesthouse.  Ethel was very fond of horse riding and used to accompany her father when he escorted guests on horseback from Melbury to Barrington Tops, a distance of about seven miles.

She would ride as far as Barrington Guest House and wait there until the party returned then rode home again.

In her teens Ethel met a young man working in the district named George Alfred Nicholson. They became friends but when George’s work finished he had to move on.

George and Ethel’s friendship resumed for sometime until they married in The Warriors Chapel in Newcastle Cathedral in April 1938.

After marriage they moved to North Sydney until 1942 when George enlisted in the army.  By now they had two children – Maree and Godfrey.  Their third child, Owen, was born one month after George enlisted.

Ethel returned to Melbury to live until they were united after the war.

In 1947 George and Ethel moved again to their own dairy property, also called Melbury, where they remained until 1961.  In the years between 1945 and 1950 they had three more children, daughters Judith, Helen and Margaret making a total of six.

In 1961, with their eldest daughter teaching in Newcastle and their sons capable farmers, they again moved to Sydney to live in order to give their three youngest daughters a wider opportunity of employment.

They purchased and ran a mixed business in Fontainebleau Street, Sans Souci, and the family lived in the residence behind.

George passed away in 1965 and Ethel closed the shop but remained living in the residence until 1971.

It was after George died that Ethel applied for a job in the children’s wear department of David Jones Elizabeth Street store when she worked for 15 years.

In1971 Ethel bought a house and moved to Prince Edward Street, Carlton, where she attended St Cuthberts Church, was a member of Kogarah RSL widows club and St George Legacy.

She lived happily at Carlton until November 2010 when failing eyesight forced her to become a resident at Miranda Aged Care facility.

George and Ethel’s two sons and some of their families are still very much part of the Salisbury and Dungog communities with Owen and his wife living at and owning Melbury since the 1960s and Godfrey and his wife Eileen living in Dungog.

As well as the sadness of losing her husband in his mid-50s, Ethel suffered the loss of her eldest daughter Maree in 1990.

With six children, 14 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren, Ethel, Mum or Nan Rich as she is affectionately known, is a much loved matriarch, an inspiration and with a mind and memory as sharp as a tack, is often called upon for accurate family history.