AUSTRALIA’S history came alive for a group of Gold Coast students when they visited one of Queensland’s oldest women, 107-year-old Florence Marshall.
The students, from Marymount Primary School, Burleigh Waters, and St Augustine’s Parish Primary School, Currumbin Waters, listened intently as the former teacher, who was born in the year Australia officially became a federation, showed off her impressive memory, recalling events from her childhood and long life in great detail.
Born on April 26, 1901, Florence grew up in a mining town near Gympie, with her miner father, mother, her two brothers, George and Joseph, and sister, Mary.
The family later moved to the mining community of Calgo, where they lived in a bark hut with hessian bags for carpet and walls.
They collected water from a nearby stream in buckets, which had to be boiled, and long-distance travel was done by horse and buggy.
As a young girl Florence played games like rounders, hopscotch and tennis, and loved nothing better than to dance, the waltz being her favourite.
Florence married Frank Marshall in 1942 at the age of 29 and the marriage lasted 72 years until Frank’s death at the age of 100 years and seven months. Marriage also meant giving up her career as a teacher.
She reminisced with the students about life during two world wars, the first car she ever saw, the introduction of the gramophone, then radio and later television.
Marymount Year 6 students Mariana Viso and Hannah Beasley said they found to their amazement that Florence looked much younger than they had expected.
“She only looked about 80,” they said.
“We were surprised that she could walk and that she could read even name badges.
“Florence told us that it is important to eat well and warned us not to smoke if we wanted to live as long as she has.
“She came across as a very positive person and it was obvious that she has strong beliefs and has stuck to them throughout her long life.
“She is an amazing and extraordinary woman and we hope to visit her again one day.”
Out in the backyard students got to see and feel the metal bath Florence bathed in when she was a child.
She also showed them examples of her bark paintings, which won her many awards, her intricate embroidery work and discovered her outstanding dressmaking skills.
St Augustine’s Year 7 students Monica Esmond and Tom Beggs said it was a great experience to meet and chat with Florence.
“We learnt much about Florence’s life before electricity, television, cars and even piped water,” they said.
The students said they were amazed at how strong she was at 107 especially as she had told them she never had an injection from a doctor in her life.
“Florence was able to walk around her house and yard with us without any assistance and even went over and roused on Lucy, her dog, for barking too much,” they said.
Mariana and Hannah said when they arrived home they told their parents many of the stories about Florence.
“They kept asking lots of questions,” they said.
“They wished that they could have met Florence too.”
The students thanked Florence’s daughter Mary Bagster, who she has lived with for the past three years, for welcoming them into her home.
