From the bush to the city: Brisbane woman celebrates 100 years
Former part-time jockey Lorna Wing has turned 100, celebrating at Carinity Hilltop with family from across Australia and Scotland. Here’s her remarkable outback story.
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A former part-time jockey who worked on cattle stations in remote Queensland and the Northern Territory has become one of Australia’s newest centenarians.
Lorna Wing celebrated her 100th birthday on 13 September at Carinity Hilltop aged care home in Brisbane, where she has lived for the past 3 years. Family travelled from across Australia and Scotland to mark the day with her.
Lorna was born in Townsville in 1926 and grew up on Van Rook and Lorraine stations in northwest Queensland. In her late teens and twenties she rode as a part-time jockey at country race meets across the Gulf Country.
“Mum rode as a jockey a few times as a young woman,” her daughter Donna Doyle said.
Station life asked a lot of her. Lorna kept the books on Lorraine Station, about 400 kilometres north of Mount Isa, and during the Second World War she worked as a plane spotter, watching the skies for enemy aircraft.
She met Bob Wing, the station’s head stockman, and the couple married in Townsville in 1954. They raised 4 children, and the family grew to 13 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
Running a household in the outback was a full day’s work on its own. Lorna cooked for 40 men, taught 3 of her children through distance education, and hosted station directors when they visited.
“Mum is a very strong and resilient woman,” Donna said.
Lorna and Bob retired to Brisbane in 1986 and settled in Browns Plains. In the years since, she has filled her time with gardening, knitting, crocheting, drawing, crosswords and Sudoku.
A century on from her start in the bush, the things Lorna holds to have stayed the same: family, hard work, and a lasting fondness for horses.
