“Nobody is throwing a book away while I’m alive,” said the flame-haired dynamo.

Such is her passion for books that a tattered old bible she retrieved from a household garbage bin in Cairns more than 20 years ago was still in her possession, until the weekend.

On Saturday, after driving to Dungog from her home in Mildura she handed over the old bible to the care of the Dungog Historical Society members at the Dungog Museum.

The bible has an inscription inside the front cover that is from the family of Stephen and Elizabeth Dark and is dated 1841.

Tucked inside the bible was a newspaper clipping detailing a funeral and a fragment of a hand-written letter regarding a family “incident” along with a photograph of two men.

After some research over the years Fred – as she prefers to be called – determined the Dark family settled in Dungog which decided the destination for her next road trip in her little camper-van  which she has named “Pepette” .

With a personality as vibrant as her hair colour, Fred, who was born in the French-speaking corner of South Africa, was determined to get the bible back to Dungog.

“This is history,” she said gently holding the remnants of the leather covered bible.

“Some family members might be looking for this, or they may not even know it exists.”

Fred came into possession of the diary when she was cleaning the home of a writer in Cairns.

She saw the book in the bin and assumed it had been discarded by mistake until the owner confirmed it was so old and tattered they didn't want it and happily agreed to Fred’s request to keep it for herself.

It lived in her bookcase alongside her much loved other tomes for years, moving with her from Cairns to Mildura and then on its final leg last week  – the 13-hour trip to Dungog.

The photograph inside the bible of two men with “Dungog” at the bottom was her first clue to where it belonged.

She found through her research – some from the pages of the Dungog Chronicle – that the Dark family were from the Dungog area. Her research also revealed some Darks moved north which may explain why it was in Cairns.

“I wanted to see if there were relatives still in the town.. it’s an historical document, it is not my decision what should become if it.”

On Friday she went to the Dungog Visitor Information Centre who referred her to the Dungog Musuem and to the Dungog Chronicle’s  office in Dowling Street  – which is in the HC Dark building.

On Saturday she delivered it to the Dungog Museum where members of the historical society will investigate, relying on records of the Dark family who had a rich history in the  Dungog and Clarence Town areas.