Betty Long

Betty’s very earliest memory is standing with her parents at the gate of their family home while she called out to Adjutant Barnes of the Salvation Army, “Bye Bye Barney”. He had come to pay the family a visit. That was more than ninety-two years ago; the year of the Wall Street Crash. Betty was born in Mildura on June 6, 1925, to James Henry (Harry) Usher, and Hannah, née Walker. She was the fourth child to a family of five. Her siblings included three sisters Elsie, May and Phyllis: and a brother George.When her parents asked the older children of the family to suggest a nice name to call their new little sister, Betty, was the consensus... so, Betty it was. When baptised, little did baby Betty know that she was being named after her older sister’s doll. She was highly amused some years later when she found out how she got her name, for she was to all intents and purposes, the genuine living doll.