Marian Huddleston holds the letter from King Charles marking her 100th birthday.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
Not many people can say they have lived through World War II bombings or that they helped fix broken war planes, but Marian Huddleston can.
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Marian has lived a full and eventful life with three children, nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, and she celebrated her 100th birthday on Monday, December 29.
She has also travelled a lot over the years, visiting many countries, including Thailand, Vanuatu and Canada.
Marian was born in 1925 in Burnley, northern England, and grew up with two loving parents and an older sister, Hazel.
She said she had many special memories with her sister, Hazel, but nothing that stood out, “She was just a mate.”
She moved to London with her family when she was a teenager, but their house in London was destroyed when the Germans started bombing England during the war, so they moved back to Burnley.
Not long after this, Marian began working at the munitions factory in Barrow, finding the parts needed for planes that had crashed and been damaged in the war.
This is where she met her husband, John, a boilermaker at the factory.
They were married in 1943 at Pennington Church in Loppergarth.
Marian and John were married for over 60 years before John passed in 2009, having three children together Terence (Terry) Huddleston, Paul Huddleston and Jennifer (Jen) McCallum.
Paul’s wife, Marilyn Huddleston, said Marian had told her about the first time she met John.
“She was working on the counter finding all the parts for the aircraft after it had crashed and John was walking past, and he looked at her, and he thought, hmm, I like that lady,” Marilyn said.
Marian and John enjoyed dancing together and danced as much as they could before he joined the Royal Navy.
“We were together all the time,” Marian said.
John was involved in the liberation of Singapore and didn’t meet their first son, Terrance, until he was 18 months old.
After the war, in 1956, the Huddlestons migrated from England to Australia for job opportunities.
Marian’s daughter, Jen, said she had a great childhood and that her parents were always supportive.
Back: Marian Huddleston’s daughter-in-law Marilyn Huddleston and daughter Jennifer McCallum. Front: sons Paul Huddleston (left) and Terence Huddleston (right) with their mum, Marian Huddleston, who celebrated her 100th birthday on December 29.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
“We did a lot of camping in Porepunkah near Bright,” she said.
Marian was excellent at sewing and made her own clothes — and Jen’s clothes as well.
“She used to make all my clothes, until I decided I was too old for homemade clothes ...I've been married twice, and she made both of my wedding dresses,” Jen said.
As she got older, Jen remained close to her parents and visited them regularly when they moved into a retirement village.
“At least once a week we'd be over there, and we'd be having coffee and doughnuts and stuff like that,” she said.
“When I got a little bit older and I had my children, I went back to work full-time, I was very lucky Mum and Dad used to look after the kids a lot.”
Marian enjoyed knitting and cooking alongside sewing.
“She knitted all through COVID and during the fires, making blankets to go to the animal shelters,” Jen said.
All of Marian’s children agreed that she was a “beautiful cook”, with many fan favourites including oven bottoms (bread), egg custard tarts and Yorkshire puddings.
“The other thing that she's famous for throughout the entire family is her stuffing at Christmas time,” Jen said.
“My niece rang me the other day and said, ‘Jen, how do I make the stuffing?’
Marian’s family describe her as “very feisty, kind, loving and thoughtful”.
“She’s always looked after us,” her eldest son, Terrance, said.
Marilyn said that Marian had lived a life full of love.
“She’s had good friends, she’s loved, she’s been kind, she’s been loving and I think her family as well has kept her going,” Marilyn said.
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