News

106 and still partying

By Contributed

May 16, 2023

Betty Gemmell, surrounded by her extended family, celebrates her 106th birthday at Public Dining Room in Balmoral. Photo by Graham Monro

Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Gemmell has lived through two world wars, the Great Depression, a moon landing and COVID.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

She’s seen 27 Australian Prime Ministers come and go, watched the assassination of JFK, and witnessed the arrival of life-changing domestic appliances.

Turning 106 Thursday last week, the Deniliquin-born Sydney resident is believed to be NSW’s oldest woman.

The eldest of seven children who still lives independently, Miss Gemmell puts her long life down to small meals, a regular whisky, and a sunny disposition.

She was driving and swimming daily at Balmoral until the age of 98 when the unwanted arrival of a “blasted” walking frame proved too tricky to navigate on the sand.

“Giving up swimming has been the saddest part of old age,” Miss Gemmell said.

“I used to swim every morning in winter and summer, and it is probably another reason I’ve reached 106.”

Betty Gemmell celebrated her 106th birthday with champagne and cake. Photo by Graham Monro

Born in Deniliquin in 1917, Miss Gemmell was a female pioneer of the Australian banking industry, carving out a successful career after joining the Bank of Australasia (later the ANZ Bank) as part of the war effort in 1940.

“I had been working as a bookkeeper and stenographer for a stock and station agent in Deniliquin, and when the men left to go to war, women had to fill many of their jobs,” she said.

“Much to the bank manager’s reluctance, he employed me (at half the salary of her male contemporaries). I took on fairly menial duties like filling ink wells, replacing the nibs in pens and restocking blotting paper.

“It was supposed to be a temporary job, but I stayed with the bank for 38 years.”.

Betty Gemmell in her younger days. Photo by Graham Monro

Miss Gemmell, who never married after her fiance died from the effects of World War II, was transferred to Sydney in 1954 and settled on the lower north shore.

On the occasion of her 100th birthday in 2017, Miss Gemmell told the Pastoral Times one her biggest regrets was not returning to Deniliquin after retiring.

A special lunch in Miss Gemmell’s honour was held at Balmoral on Thursday, captured by the region’s award-winning photographer Graham Monro and the Mosman Collective.

“I enjoy life, and I am thrilled to have made it to 106,” she said on the day.

Miss Gemmell was tended to by a host of well-wishers, but not before wait staff at the restaurant formed a guard on honour.

~ Contributed by Anna Usher, a journalist with the Mosman Collective with her own connection to Deniliquin through grandparents Bob and Allie Donovan. You can read extended versions of articles on Miss Gemmell at www.mosmancollective.com.