Bessie Barker nee Roberts
Bessie was born at Port Fairy on the 27th March 1914, the youngest child of Frederick John Roberts and Amy Rowbottom. Bessie was educated to 8th Grade at a number of State Schools throughout Victoria.
Bessie Roberts met Allan Barker at a Church picnic, and married on 14 October 1939 at the Oakleigh Methodist Church. They lived at Worcester St., East Oakleigh until 1946 and their first three children were born at Oakleigh.
Allan left the Baking trade in Oakleigh and they purchased a 25 acre mixed farm at Ross St., Dandenong in 1946, and they lived there until 1954. Their fourth child was born while at Ross St. They moved to New St., Dandenong when Allan started working for the Dandenong Shire Council outdoor staff. The last child was born while they lived in New St.
When their eldest son moved to Harkaway, they purchased a block of land there and built the Harkaway General Store, commencing business there in 1963. They shifted back to Dandenong in the 1970s. Allan died in the Dandenong Hospital in October 1985, and was buried in the Harkaway Cemetery.
Bessie still lives in Dandenong with her 4th child Roderic.