A century of life

By Lachlan Ellis

The year is 1922, Vegemite was invented; King Ingoda won the Melbourne Cup and Fitzroy won the VFL grand final by 11-points over Collingwood.
In North America, Bette Webster (nee Butterworth) was born on 15 July, 100-years ago, and has lived to celebrate ten decades of blowing out the candles.
Now living in Bacchus Marsh for the past 40-years, the occasion has been celebrated with a party at her local aged car facility.
Bette Webster was joined by her only living daughter Maurise Davies, celebrating with staff at Providence Aged Care.
Ms Davies said family meant everything to her mum, and though she “could be stern when she needed to be”, she had a big heart.
From a working-class family in Northern England, Ms Davies said the Websters lived a basic life, but “Mum would always find money to buy Christmas presents”.
“She didn’t put up with nonsense, but she was loving and made do, we never had a lot. Like most people in that area, I guess we were a bit underprivileged…but she always made sure we got fed and were clothed in those cold English conditions,” Ms Davies told the Moorabool News.
“Finding money for Christmas was hard, but she always made sure we got a big Christmas present and some little ones in the stockings that hung on the fireplace.”
Bette Webster was born in Canada to English immigrants, returning to England with her family at around the age of five. At the age of 15, she won a pageant in her native Yorkshire and was named ‘Miss Industry 1938’ – an achievement Maurise says her mum would “tell anyone about who’d listen”.
She met her husband Ron at a dance, and the two married when Bette was 17 and Ron was 19, before moving to Australia in 1962.
Ms Davies said she “absolutely adored Ron” who passed away in 1992, and “loves her family…she didn’t need a lot of friends if she had family around”.
Bette Webster had five children (and has outlived all but Maurise), and has 15 grandchildren, 29 great grandchildren, and six great great grandchildren.
Turning 100 has some benefits, with Ms Webster receiving a birthday card from HRH 96-year old Queen Elizabeth II, the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Governor General David Hurley and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.