If not for some sort of bureaucratic mix-up, Nellie Root, nee Spinks, born in Lewisham, England, would have grown up in South Africa. Instead, in about 1912, her family sailed for South Australia and settled in Brighton. Mrs Root has never moved from the area. Her father, an ex-British Army soldier, was called back to Europe for six years during the Great War. However, by this time Nellie's mother's parents and most of their other children had also immigrated to South Australia, settled nearby, and established a carrying business. Nellie was a tomboy who deserted her grandfather's horses for motorbikes when she met her immigrant husband-to-be. However, after her mother died in about 1921 she became her father's housekeeper, and she remained in his home even after her marriage in 1931.

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