Granny Duval: She must have come from somewhere

'My grandchildren are asking me about The Old People - but I don't know anything to tell them'. This was a Nundle Aboriginal woman's comment to the author, which sparked the detective work that led over forty years to Granny Duval. She Must Have Come From Somewhere.

This is a family history of several Aboriginal families, centring on Granny Duval, who live in the southern part of the New England tableland in New South Wales. They were part of the Anaiwan Nation. Some women married white men during the 1800s and navigated the clash of cultures. Many strong grandmothers emerge as the heroes who kept their heritage alive.

It also has a fictional story about a young Aboriginal man called Bidja, interwoven to bring their stories alive with incidents that are remembered in the oral history passed down through the generations.

The author has spent countless hours carefully listening to and recording the history of Anaiwan. She hopes this volume will illuminate some of the relationships and provide a balanced account of the traumas and triumphs that came to this part of Australia with the arrival of people from other countries.

Sue Pickrell grew up in Sydney. She married Julian from the New England Tablelands, New South Wales. He brought her to live in Papua New Guinea where he worked for the Australian government. After 7 years they moved back to Sydney with their three small children. They were both very involved in their local church. In 1986 they moved to a property southeast of Tamworth, New South Wales. As Sue began to get the 'feel' of her new home she realised that Aboriginal people must have roamed all over 'our mountains'. Later they moved off the property to settle in the village of Nundle where Sue spent many years learning about the history of their area and was given a Local Australian of the Year Award. She made many friends and worked with Landcare and several history and development projects in the Nundle area, resulting in her being given the Nundle Citizen of the year award in 2016. One of the projects she was involved with was setting up a monument to local Aboriginal families, many of whom had contributed as soldiers in WW1 and WW2. Currently, they both reside outside of Queanbeyan where they live near family including three great-grandchildren.