Clara Rose Hapgood lived to be 103! Her notable birthday milesones were covered in the local papers, with big feature article when she turned 100 in the Sunshine Coast Advertiser on 6 July 1977.

The article has a brief biography about how she was born in Milton NSW in 1877 and married in 1897 and had 8 children, 7 of whom were still living when she turned 100. She moved to Kin Kin in 1914 and then retired to Caloundra about 12 years ago. Since her husbands death , Mrs Hapgood has been living with her second youngest daughter, Miss Stella Hapgood, in Seaview Terrace in Caloundra.

The best line in the article is: When asked why she thought she had lived so long, Mrs Hapgood laughed and said “I’m dashed if I know. I really expected to be dead long ago”. They included a photo of Clara Hapgood reading her telegram from the Queen.

Fortunately, my mother wrote to Sunshine Coast Advertiser a year later, asking for copies of the photos (for which she paid $9). The paper sent her nice A5 photos and a short letter, which are shown below.

The Sunshine Coast Advertiser notes that they found an extra photo of Clara aged 99 in their files and included a copy of this also. My mother has noted that this is Gary Bain (son of Mona Bain nee Hapgood), Clara aged 99 and Stella Hapgood.

Update: My cousin Sue and her Mum Ruth and her mum Amy Patricia also visited Clara when she turned 100 and took this photo (shared with permission):

Clara attracted more media coverage when she turned 101… By this time she was Caloundra’s oldest resident.

The original for this photo aged 101 is not in the envelope with the others. This article also has a great quote from Clara Hapgood:

“Mrs Hapgood cannot get about much, but she enjoys good health, watches television, reads and still does some crochet work.

She said yesterday she was sure there was something wrong with her having lived so long, but she was not sure what it could be.

Her daughter Stella says her mother takes a lively and intelligent interest in what is going on in the world and her her own ideas on things she finds disturbing in news telecasts”

I am not sure what the last line is referring to!

The journalist, Mrs Nildra Buzacott, who sent the photos to my mother remarked in her second letter that:

I have had the privelege of photographing and writing the story about Mrs Hapgood on each occassion. She is a very gracious old lady, and although she is very deaf now she still takes a lively interest in everything going on round her. I also have the greatest admiration for her second youngest daughter, Stella, who has cared for her mother constantly for the past 12 years.

Finally, when Clara turned 102, a newspaper (presumably a Northern NSW paper given the reference to the Newtwon family and Coopers Shoot) also marked the occasion in Dec 1979 with a small note (but no photos this time) about the longevity of the family: