By Tania Phillips
Horses and buggies were still the main mode of transport when Avon Hayes and her twin sister Daphne were born 104 years ago near Warwick.
So, it was only fitting that Avon celebrate with a horse and buggy ride at home at Churches of Christ Warwick Aged Care on Saturday before a party with her family, friends, residents and staff.
While there were so many important people from her life present on the day, there was one who couldn’t be there – her twin sister Daphne, who celebrated their combined birthday in the US.
“She was a war bride and has lived in a town called Longview near Seattle for the past 70 years,” Avon’s daughter Donna L’Estrange said of her aunt.
“They were the Thompson twins, of course they both married and took their husband’s names.
“Mum grew up out on a property called Granite Hills which is just south of what is now Leslie Dam between Ironpot Creek and Sandy Creek.
“She married my dad John in 1941, he was a teacher from Brisbane. They met through Daphne, she was going to a church in Brisbane. She went to Brisbane to work, to be a tailoress, she studied tailoring while Mum stayed on the property to help there. Mum and Dad married and Dad had a posting in Rockhampton. They actually lived in Rockhampton for nine years and that’s where my brother and I were born but then my grandparents were getting older and asked if they would like to come back and take over the running over the property – which they did.
“There was a younger sister, so there was Daphne, Avon and then Betty who was eight years younger. As time went on, with the wills and everything Mum got a third of the property and eventually they paid out the other two sisters.
“My brother and his wife, Paul and Glennis still own the farm. It’s been in the family since 1870. Mum really lived there most of her life, Dad died in 2007, and Mum stayed on the property before making a very brave decision to move into Regency Park. She had lived at Granite Hills all but nine years until then, she was 89. When she was 99, we realised that she needed more care.”
It was then that she moved to Churches of Christ Warwick Aged Care where Donna said the staff had gone all out to celebrate her mother’s milestone with a small party and cake on the Thursday and a full family and friends event with the horse and buggy on the Saturday.
Family came from as far away from Melbourne to join in the fun.
“My brother and sister-on-law Paul and Glennis, my two daughters and their husbands and my three grandchildren were all there to celebrate as well as my cousin – Mum’s younger sister’s daughter Ruth – and a lot family friends,” Donna said.
“For the twins to still be alive is amazing, Betty died of a stroke, three or four years ago but their grandmother Eliza Thompson lived to 99 so there’s quite a lot of longevity in the family.
“They were hard working girls, both Daphne and Avon dressed beautifully, sewed their own clothes but also worked hard at whatever they did.”
