Reference: The Inverell Times, 29 Oct 1954 Page 10

THE LATE MRS
MARY BAKER
The death has occurred in
Inverell District Hospital of
Mrs Mary Baker ,93, mother
of the Vicar of West Tamworth
the Rev Canon G A
Baker. Mrs Baker had lived
at Mount Russell for 20 years
and previously she resided at
Oakwood and Little Plain.
Born in 1861 in the County of
Cork, Southern Ireland, she
was a daughter of an Anglican
priest there, and her grand
father was an Anglican Bishop.
When she was seven years of
age she went with her parents
to England and, after marry
ing John Gerrard Baker in
Suffolk in 1887, her father, the
Rev Samuel Dickson Sandes,
officiating, she moved to Canada
where they lived for 13
years.
Her husband was also a
member of an ecclesiastical
family. His grandfather, the
Rev. Gerrard Andrewes, was
Dean of Canterbury.
The late Mr and Mrs Baker
came to Australia in 1913. Her
husband died in 1937.
She is survived by four sons
and one daughter— Messrs.
George Sandes Baker (Inverell),
John Harold de Chair
Baker (Sydney), Ernest Malcolm
Baker (Mount Russell),
and Canon Baker (West Tam-
worth) and Mrs V L Newberry
(Hilda Catherine), of
Tamworth. A brother of the
deceased, Mr John Sandes, was
a journalist who worked for
some years as a leader writer
for the Daily Telegraph and
the Melbourne Argus. A sister,
now 80 yers of age. who lives
in England, was a nurse during
the First World War and during
the Great Retreat she joined
the fighting force of the
Serbian Army and was given
the rank of sergeant. She was
wounded in action, and later
came to Australia and took
part in recruiting campaigns.
Deceased took an active part
in the work of the church and
was the organist at Oakwood
and Little Plain. She was also
an active member of the Country
Womens' Association, being
the oldest member of the Mt
Russell branch. She was buried
n the Church of England
section of the Little Plain
cemetery after a service conducted
by the Rev R Gori in
the Little Plain Church.