by Hazel Baron
Despite Hazel having had some misgivings when she married Bill 60 years ago, worrying about what love felt like and wondering if this was it, the couple stuck together like glue their whole lives. Hazel certainly wasn’t going to let Dulcie ruin the second half of her life as she had done the first half.
Photographs of the couple’s four children — three boys and a girl — and their six grandchildren at various ages, covered the walls. Hazel never hid from her children the truth about their grandmother, although it wasn’t something they spoke about often.
One day when Hazel was asked by them how she could have had anything to do with her mother after Dulcie had murdered Hazel’s father, Hazel had an answer that summed up, as only she could, her relationship with Dulcie: I don’t hate her; I don’t even dislike her. She was like a neighbour and I did the right thing by her,’ Hazel would say. After all those years of anguish and guilt, mixed with loyaty and disgust, she made it sound so simple.
The home she and Bill created was warm and welcoming. For many of the 101 foster children in total that the amazing couple opened up their hearts and lives to over the years, it was the only time these youngsters had been able to relax and feel safe. Even if they were in her care for only a few weeks or months, Hazel was determined to give each of them everything she never had: comfort, love, a chance to learn, and an opportunity to enjoy being kids. She cared about what they said, what they did and what they thought. A lot of those children, now grown up with their own families, still call Hazel and Bill ‘Mum and Dad’.
The tough upbringing that had shaped Hazel’s character and made her brave and strong enough to take on her mother also made her want to do something for others. Fostering children made her feel as though she was making some amends for the damage her mother had wreaked on other people’s lives.
‘I always thought that,’ Hazel said. ‘I thought if I’m doing this, I’ll make up for just a little bit of what she had done.’
And she did this even though it was not her obligation to do anything. But that’s Hazel: resilient, funny, cheeky, passionate and inspiring but, above all, decent and always responsible. A good mother — and a good daughter.
PHOTOS SECTION
Dulcie and Ted Baron on their wedding day, 1 June 1940; and their Certificate of Marriage
Dulcie Bodsworth in Korumburra with washing trolley, circa 1952
Dulcie Bodsworth Korumburra, circa 1952
Harry Bodsworth with his and Dulcie’s baby son, 1952
Mrs Green, the landlady, with Jim and baby Bodsworth at Korumburra, circa 1952
Hazel and the Nash car, in which the family had lived, 1954
Hazel, Allan and the twins, Margaret and Jim, 1954
Hazel and her bike at Wilcannia Hospital, where she worked as a nurse’s aide
Allan Baron, 1960
Harry and Dulcie on the day of their arrest, December, 1964. (Courtesy of The Daily Telegraph and News Corp)
Dulcie Bodsworth, charged with the murders of Ted Baron, Sam Overton and Tommy Tregenza. (Courtesy of The Daily Telegraph and News Corp)
Henry (Harry) Williams Bodsworth, aged 37, charged with the murder of Ted Baron in Mildura in 1950. (Courtesy of The Daily Telegraph and News Corp)
Margaret’s wedding at Hopetoun in Victoria, 1966. From left: Allan, Hazel, Bill (Margaret’s husband), Margaret and Jim
Hazel Baron
Dulcie Bodsworth at her home, aged in her 90s
Hazel Baron at home, 2016. (By Tony Zerna. Courtesy of The Daily Telegraph and News Corp)
Hazel Baron at home, 2016. (By Tony Zerna. Courtesy of The Daily Telegraph and News Corp)
Hazel and Bill’s 60th wedding anniversary, March 2017
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book would never have happened without Jeff Herdigan, who started the ball rolling by telling Hazel that it ‘should be a book’. He has been a tremendous supporter and adviser.
The first outline for what became this book was typed from Hazel’s longhand by her friend Pat Hodson. Pat handled this job with dexterity and should be proud to have been able to decipher Hazel’s handwriting.
A lot of the legwork was done by Hazel’s friends Michelle Quigley and Val Smith. Thanks also go to journalist John Rolfe, whose late mother had worked with Hazel and who got in touch with Janet Fife-Yeomans after being contacted by Ray and Monica Sanderson. His approach led to a front-page article by Janet in the Daily Telegraph and began the friendship between Janet and Hazel.
Hazel Baron’s memories form the basis of this book but the full story of Dulcie Bodsworth’s life was pieced together from a variety of sources, which included court documents and personal interviews. No-one spoken to had forgotten her even after all these years.
The authors would like to thank all the unflaggingly patient media advisers with the State’s courts who persisted in digging out relevant court judgments and transcripts that still exist. They are Georgie Loudon, Angus Huntsdale, Lisa Miller and Sonya Zadel.
Michael McGloin was happy to share his memories of his mother, Ruby, to set the record straight.
Thanks also go to retired Broken Hill police officers Gus Williams and Bob Wighton. Although they never met Dulcie or Hazel, they certainly remembered them and Ray Kelly.
Tommy Tregenza has no family left but Sam Overton certainly does, and the authors would like to thank Jeremy McClure, who now runs Netallie Station, keeping it in the family for future generations. His recollections of ‘Bodsworthville’ are gratefully included.
Journalist turned farmer Bessie Blore, who farms Burragan Station and whose husband’s family have run merinos on the same land for generations, generously shared the history she had learned about Dulcies and Harry’s time on the property.
The authors also drew on knowledge from books including Early Days of Korumburra by Dr K Bowden, The Prince and the Premier by David Hickie, and Whoever Fights Monsters by Robert K Ressler.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JANET FIFE-YEOMANS is a bestselling author and award-winning journalist who has worked in newspapers and television in Australia and her native England. She is a leading investigative writer on crime and legal issues, and is currently chief reporter for Sydney’s Daily Telegraph. This is her ninth book.
COPYRIGHT
HarperCollinsPublishers
First published in Australia in 2018
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Hazel Baron and Janet Fife-Yeomans 2018
The right of Hazel Baron and Janet Fife-Yeomans to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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ISBN 9781460754528 (paperback)
ISBN 9781460708910 (ebook)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of Australia
Cover design by Hazel Lam, HarperCollins Design Studio
Front cover image courtesy of Hazel Baron
* Deliberately not named to protect privacy.
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