The hard-working volunteers of the Lawrence Museum welcomed family, friends, and special guests of the late Hope Biddle (nee Berry), on November 26, as they celebrated the launch of her book, Memories of My Life in the Clarence Valley.

A beautiful collection of poignant memories penned by the long-term Lower Southgate resident, Mrs Biddle was 93 years old when she began writing her stories in 2006, in a neat script, before entrusting them to Vois Bancroft for transcribing.

In her stories, Mrs Biddle wrote extensively of her family, and revealed a fascinating view of life in the Clarence Valley throughout her lifetime.

Mrs Biddle was a descendant of John Small.

John Small, and his brother Thomas were of Scottish descent, from Edinburgh.

After arriving in Sydney, John joined the Chown brothers ship building business, and they built a little ship called the Susan and decided to investigate stories of the Clarence and the cedar country. 

John found beautiful country and decided to set up home for himself and his wife Mary on Woodford Island, in 1838.

Mrs Biddle is a descendant of John Small through her mother Mary Berry (nee Havinden), and grandmother, John Small’s daughter Matilda Havinden.

Hope Valerie Berry was born in Grafton in 1913 to Mary and Frank Berry, and married Athol Biddle on May 16, 1939.

They spent most of their life living in the Lower Southgate area.

Athol passed away in 1983, aged 67 years, and Hope passed away in August 2009, aged 96 years.

They are survived by two children, son Frank and daughter Nance.

Many of Mrs Biddle’s family and friends attended the book launch on the weekend, and her son Frank spoke about his mother’s tenacity in teaching her children life skills.

Life was tough, and she wanted them to be resilient.

Her daughter Nance agreed, and explained that although her mother was very strict, she was fair.

Mrs Biddle’s focus in life was her family, and this is very clear in her book.

The book preserves her memories in her own words, for future generations.

It is available for purchase from the Lawrence Historical Society at the Lawrence Museum for $15.

The project was supported by the Create NSW Cultural Grants Program, a devolved funding program administered by the Royal Australian Historical Society on behalf of the NSW Government and compiled by Vois Bancroft and Peter Jones.