General News
25 July, 2025
Jackie Baker builds a life of service from England to Dimboola
Jacqueline 'Jackie' Baker has called Dimboola home for many years, having come across the town she loves after many adventures.
On January 11, 1971, she and her mother, Dorothy Temperley, flew from England, landing at Kingsford Smith Airport in Sydney.
For two weeks, they stayed in Marrickville before venturing out on their own and booking a trip to Norfolk Island.
"Mother was terrified that you could see the water all the way through," she said.
"I liked it, I thought it was fantastic."
They were the first English couple to visit, which was soon reported in their newspaper, the 'Government Gazette'.
"We saw everywhere and we went around the whole of the island," she said.
"They took us on tours and gave us meals in our rooms if we wanted it.
"The islanders couldn't be more welcoming.
"They love company, they love to chat, talk and entertain, and they were really nice."
Ms Baker said that her mother wanted to live on Norfolk Island but thought the life there would be too quiet for her.
They soon travelled back to Sydney before venturing to Melbourne on the Intercapital Daylight Express, which took six hours.
"The tracks were different and they had to change their tracks coming into Victoria," Ms Baker said.
After arriving at Spencer Street train station, they had to look for somewhere to stay.
"We went into what they called the Spencer Hotel on Spencer Street, right opposite the railway station, and we got in contact with our friends in Oakleigh," she said.
They joined their friends in Oakleigh, where they stayed in half a house with other tenants for about six weeks before moving to St Kilda in 1972.
The pair moved into a "very nice flat," where they stayed until 1974, owned by the parents of English comic actor John Bluthal.
She met her first husband, Robert, and was married for 12 years before they parted as friends.
"We are still friends," she said.
Ms Baker worked for the Vietnam Reunion, which led to working for the army.
In 1988, she participated in an army exercise where she flew in a plane from Avalon Airport to the Edinburgh Air Force Base, now known as the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base in South Australia, due to a malfunctioning radio.
"The radio wasn't working, so we stopped there and they fixed the radio and gave us some ration packs," Ms Baker said.
Once the issues were resolved, they continued their flight to Exmouth in Western Australia, where they stayed for around a week and a half.
After Western Australia, she stayed working for the army for 11 years before landing a job in the agriculture department, which she only lasted for six weeks.
"I did not like it, not one bit," she said.
"I liked the work, I loved the plants and everything, but the lady in charge of us wasn't very pleasant."
Ms Baker found herself drawn back to the force as she worked for an ex-service organisation in Melbourne for two to three years.
She organised and set up functions at the venue.
"I loved that I'd set the tables up, put the knives and forks down and laid out all the food and everything," she said.
"I really liked the functions that they had.
"I enjoyed working in the environment because they were all polite.
"They were all ex-service and most of them were in their 50s or 60s, but they were all very polite."
She soon moved on to a branch of the Returned Services League (RSL) where she worked as a receptionist.
From there, she moved on to the School of Nursing.
"I thoroughly enjoyed it because it was a medical environment," she said.
"When I was in England before I left school, I wanted to be an occupational therapist.
"I didn't get the school qualification, so I couldn't do it, but I was always interested in biology and medicine."
After graduating from the School of Nursing, she secured a job in the city at Gemini Recruiting, where she worked as a typist alongside another woman who handled reception duties.
"That lasted for a while, and she eventually decided to close shop because there were too many employment agencies around," she said.
Ms Baker ran her own business from home doing secretarial and typing work.
In 1989, she met her second husband, Glen, in Melbourne while he was working for the Vietnam Reunion.
The pair got together in 1992 and found themselves moving from Carnegie to Snake Valley, near Ballarat, where they built a house.
"We grew all our own vegetables, everything you could think of. Pumpkin, carrots, potatoes, beans, a whole lot," she said.
Unfortunately, Glenn started to suffer from asbestosis as a result of work, which soon led to another move, but this time, it was to Dimboola.
"We came up here and bought a house in Upper Region Street and we settled down," Ms Baker said.
In 2016, Ms Baker split from Glen, but they remained good friends, up until he passed away.
Ms Baker looked after Glen for as long as she could, bringing him home-cooked meals while he enjoyed the company of her cat.
Ms Baker continues to live in Dimboola and has been involved in various groups over the years, including the CWA for approximately five years and RSL branches in both Dimboola and Horsham.
"It's a nice little town," she said.